Elis
Eunice was quietly refilling my goblet when I caught the faintest sound, soft steps in the corridor, hesitant yet deliberate.
Then she appeared.
Lily didn't materialize out of thin air this time; no flash of magic, no sudden ripple in the air. She simply… walked in, like she belonged in this room and in my world, without fanfare.
It stunned me more than I care to admit.
Lately, she'd only come to me by teleportation, appearing as if she'd been plucked from another moment in time and dropped into mine.
"Alpha King," she greeted.
That title; so formal and deliberate was the second signal something was off. No, not Alpha King. Elis. That's what she called me when her guard was down. Even Eunice glanced at her, surprised.
"Eat with me," I said, my voice coming out more like a command than an invitation.
She sat, but her eyes didn't stray to the food. She wasn't here for that.
"I saw her coming from your quarters," she said at last.
She didn't have to name her. I knew who.
Zeena.
I set down my fork, watching her, studying the subtle tension in her shoulders, the guarded calm in her face. "I didn't see her," I admitted, "she was told I was busy."
Silence.
My lips curved faintly, though I couldn't quite tell if I was teasing her or testing her. "Are you now jealous?"
"Should I be?"
"No."
That single word carried more weight than I intended.
When I finished my meal, she still hadn't touched hers. Instead, she leaned back slightly, her gaze steady.
"I want to tell you something," she said.
The tone is quiet but edged with gravity, making me push my chair back without hesitation. Whatever it was, it wasn't meant for ears beyond mine.
I rose and held her gaze. "Come."
I led her through the archway, down the short corridor that led to my inner chamber, a place few ever stepped into, a place where my walls lowered and we had shared intimate moments.
Once we were inside, I reached for her, wanting to ease the tension, to tease her into softness but she wasn't having it.
"I need to leave the palace, Elis."
The words froze me mid-breath.
"Why?"
"I need space to train. I need the woods behind my grandmother's cabin."
I stared at her, my heartbeat ticking loud in my ears. "I won't let you leave. It's too dangerous to be in the woods by yourself."
"I have to complete my training, Elis. You're running out of time."
My voice hardened. "Let me deal with my curse myself. I won't have you exposed to… Zal, or whatever he's called." I hesitated, the thought itself enough to make my skin crawl. "I won't let him get close to you, let alone touch you. You're mine, Lily."
I could feel the heat rising in me, the restless frustration. I started pacing, fingers twitching with the urge to break something I couldn't name.
She came to me then, small but steady, and took my hand. "Elis, I've completed my first circle training. I have a rank now. The second circle is important and very necessary. I've made my presence known in the supernatural realm. The forces out there know about me, and you will still lose me—us—if I don't finish what I started." She hesitated, then added quietly, "Zal will still come for me, sooner or later. In here or out there. It will be worse if he finds me half-baked."
The thought made my jaw lock. "Then he'll have to go through me to get to you." I could feel my face tightening with strain.
"Elis, you can't fight him with strength alone."
Silence fell between us. The truth in her words was a weight I couldn't ignore.
I finally forced the question out. "When do you want to leave?"
"In two days."
I looked at her; hard and long, memorizing her face, as if I could keep her here with my gaze alone.
"Let me send some guards with you," I say.
"No!" Her voice cuts through me; sharp, alarmed and final.
"How could you even think of it? How would I explain to them what I'm doing in the woods, especially at night, under the full moon?"
She's right, but it doesn't make it any easier. I rake my hand through my hair, feeling like I'm already losing my mind just thinking about her leaving.
"How long are you going to stay away?" I ask.
"Three months."
Three months? I gasp before I can stop myself. "That's too long. How am I supposed to live without you, Lily?"
"We have to do this, Elis. It's for both our own good."
"Can you come visiting? I mean… through teleportation?" I ask, half-teasing, half-desperate.
"No, Elis. Within this period, you and I must not meet."
Her words hit like a punch. "What do you mean?"
"I have to stay without sex."
I frown. "Tika won't survive it. I won't function well, Lily. Is there no shortcut?"
She ignores me completely, and that's somehow worse than a no.
"I don't want anyone to know I'm gone. So I'm going to cast my first serious and dangerous spell before I leave."
My chest tightens. Dangerous spell? "And what's that?"