The Triplet Alphas' Curse: Rejected by the Wolfless Luna.

Aire rested her fingers against the bronze handle and listened.

There was not a single voice beyond the chamber, but she waited anyway.

Only after another long moment did she slowly pull the door inward.

It opened without the slightest sound.

Aire smiled. She slipped toward the narrow opening.

However, the smile disappeared when she stumbled upon two guards standing directly outside.

Neither moved, nor blinked.

Their towering figures were clad in black armor. They regarded her with unreadable expressions. Their spears rested against the marble floor, but Aire had no doubt they could lift them faster than she could breathe.

For one unfortunate heartbeat, her own heartbeat stopped.

She had expected corridors, silence, and freedom. At the very least, directions.bInstead she had found a wall of muscle and steel.

Aire recovered almost instantly.

The surprise never reached her face.

Instead, her lips curved upward into the sweetest smile she had ever worn since arriving in this realm.

"Oh." She laughed softly, almost embarrassed. "I completely forgot." She began.

Neither guard answered.

Aire clasped both hands politely before herself. "I merely wanted to invite whichever one of you cared to join me for tea."

She tilted her head.

"I was offered rather more than I could possibly drink."

The lie slipped from her tongue as naturally as breathing.

There wasn’t a single cup of tea inside Lysander’s chambers. There probably hadn’t been one ever.

Still, a poor lie was infinitely better than explaining why she intended to wander the palace unescorted.

The guards looked at one another.

Aire’s heart immediately climbed into her throat.

"No." Aire begged inwardly, as her fingers trembled. "Don’t accept. Please don’t accept." She prayed.

One of them finally spoke. "Our duty is to remain at the prince’s chambers."

Aire almost sighed with relief. She widened her smile another fraction.

"I completely understand."

The second guard inclined his head once. "My lady is most gracious."

My lady? Again?

Aire stored it away quietly.

Titles mattered.

She only needed to discover which doors would be opened with that title.

"I wouldn’t dream of interrupting your duties," she said pleasantly. "Perhaps another day."

Neither guard responded.

The conversation should have ended there.

Instead, Aire remained standing in the doorway.

Just long enough to observe without being suspicious.

One of the guard had a scar running beneath his left ear, and the other favored his right leg ever so slightly whenever he shifted his weight.

She wondered whether they changed shifts every few hours. She also wondered whether meals were brought to them, and if they ever abandoned the post.

"My lady." The scarred guard interrupted her thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

Aire blinked. Had she stared too long?

She smiled again. "I was only wondering how either of you manage to stand so still."

The younger guard looked faintly confused.

The older one answered. "Training."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I should recommend the same to someone I know."

The younger guard actually looked curious.

"Who?"

Aire almost lied again before stopping herself. Not another unnecessary lie. "Someone terribly impatient." She answered instead.

Aire let the answer remain deliberately vague.

The younger guard’s curiosity faded.

She intended to ask them, and not answer them.

A comfortable silence settled between them.

Aire rested one shoulder lightly against the doorway. Her eyes sharpened in thought. "You’ve been stationed here since yesterday?"

The guards exchanged another glance.

"Yes."

"No breaks?"

"We rotate."

Aire took a mental note, and asked again. "So someone replaces you."

"Yes, My Lady."

"And you return?"

"Correct."

She nodded as though discussing the weather.

Inside, her mind immediately began building another map.

Four guards? Six? Perhaps eight? Enough to ensure someone always watched the prince’s chambers.

This could not be impossible. Just simply inconvenient. She could work inconveniently.

Inconvenience had never defeated her before.

A faint sound echoed from somewhere down the corridor. New footsteps approached the door.

The guards straightened immediately.

Not because they had been slouching, but because whoever approached outranked them.

Aire noticed the change before she saw the man responsible.

Without thinking, she stepped back inside the chamber. She made space by the door, as the footsteps grew louder.

The footsteps stopped just outside the doorway.

A familiar voice drifted through the corridor. "I leave for less than a day, and you’ve already begun charming my guards."

Aire closed her eyes for the briefest moment. She felt like retching when he mentioned the word ’charming’.

Lysander leaned one shoulder against the doorway as though he had all the time in the world.

His eyes moved from the guards, and to Aire as a slow smile appeared.

Aire hated that smile now. It wasn’t the smile itself, but how familiar it had once been.

She folded her hands neatly before herself.

His gaze drifted toward the guards. "I trust my men weren’t rude."

Both guards immediately lowered their heads. "No, Your Highness."

"Lady Aire has been most pleasant."

Lysander looked almost amused. "I’ve no doubt she has." His eyes returned to her.

Aire lifted one delicate eyebrow. Her smile remained perfectly in place.

He dismissed the guards with a small gesture.

"Leave us."

The two warriors bowed, and walked away without another word.

Aire watched them until they disappeared around the corner. She counted their footsteps until the corridor swallowed them.

Only then did she become painfully aware that she was now completely alone with him.

Lysander stepped into the chamber and quietly closed the door behind himself.

Aire instinctively took half a step backward.

His eyes softened. "I frightened you." He asked, noticing the step she took back.

"No." She lied. "You startled me."

He accepted the correction even though it made no sense to him. For a moment neither of them spoke.

Morning sunlight spilled across the chamber between them.

Lysander studied her carefully. "Did you sleep well?" He questioned.

She shrugged. "As well as one can sleep in another person’s room."

A quiet chuckle escaped him. "I suppose that’s fair."

He walked closer.

Aire remained exactly where she stood this time. Running now would only make him wonder why.

She couldn’t afford that.

His gaze lifted toward the loose strand beside her face.

"You always wrinkle your forehead when you think." Without thinking, he reached up, and touched her face.

His thumb rested lightly against the center of her brow. He gently smoothed the tiny crease away.

"What are you thinking about?"

Aire shook her head. She didn’t move. She needed him to be comfortable around her. Comfortable enough to become careless.

Lysander smiled faintly. "There you are." He murmured, as his thumb drifted lower.

It brushed lightly against her cheek in one gentle, fond and warm stroke. He looked directly into her eyes as though nothing else in the palace existed.

"You always overthink." His voice had become almost teasing. "It was one of the first things I noticed about you."

Aire’s stomach tightened. She forced herself to keep breathing evenly. He was looking at Lyse’s memories now.

His thumb gave the smallest affectionate tap against her cheek. "I want to protect you in this realm."

Aire managed the faintest smile.

Lysander searched her eyes. "If no one here could touch you. If there were a way to make everyone leave you alone..." He paused lightly, as his thumb dopped from her face to hold her wrist intimately. "Would you let me do it?"

"Do what?" Aire asked, confused.

"Marry me."

Aire smile dropped. For a heartbeat, every mask she had ever worn slipped away. Surprise softened the sharpness of her features, leaving only naked uncertainty.

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