Iain exhales, rubbing his burnt hand over his face.
“Fuck, Ezra, you—”
“I know.”
Ezra hasn’t moved. He’s still staring, still holding that unbearable silence.
I can’t read him. Maybe he’s processing. Maybe he finally sees what I am now. Maybe he’s already halfway out the door in his mind.
And then his eyes shift and settle on mine, something flickering in all that churning grey. It’s not fear or confusion, but something sharper. He sees the fear rising behind my eyes. Sees that I’m bracing myself, waiting to be abandoned.
And that’s when he moves.
He approaches like I’m a wounded creature, bloodied and wild, too hurt to be touched but too dangerous to leave alone. Then he lowers himself in front of me, one knee pressing into the floor.
Not in surrender.
Not in worship.
Just Ezra. Kneeling like he did in the library when he called me his queen. Kneeling for me with blood on his teeth and wildflowers in his hair.
He doesn’t reach for me right away. Just lets the space between us breathe. Lets me feel the weight of his presence.
There’s restraint in his voice, but the kind that barely hides the ferocity underneath.
“I told you, little lupine. If you allowed me to touch you, I’d never be able to let you go.”
Ezra exhales hard, his jaw ticking with restraint.
“That wasn’t hyperbole. That was a fucking vow.”
His fingers twitch as he reaches out to me. Not to save me. No, his reach is gravity. It’s choice. It’s recognition … revelation.
And that’s when it clicks.
I don’t need saving. And he fucking knows it.
Ezra won’t flinch while I burn. He’ll hand me the goddamn match.
The shadows curl around us. They’re not shrinking or bristling; instead, they’re comforting and steady.
“I’m yours, Aurora Hagan. I’ve always been yours. And if you think one silly little title will scare me off”—Ezra leans in, fierceand quiet—“then you’ve severely underestimated just how far I’d go for you. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
His voice doesn’t shake, but it cuts deep.
“But this? This is something else. Something ancient. Something the world stopped whispering about after Babylon fell.”
He exhales again. One sharp, steady breath.
“Millennia pass, and so do stories. I heard the name once. Maybe twice. A firelit tale in a dying language. I didn’t hold on to it. None of them ever meant anything. But this one … this one should have stayed with me.”
Those dark, storm-grey eyes meet mine.
“I should have remembered. I should have known.”
His shadows curl tight around his shoulders, grounding him in this moment.
“I’m not going to lie. We should be scared.I… am scared.” Ezra pauses and cocks his head, the corners of his mouth curling into a defiant smile. “But I won’t run from it. And I will never fucking run from you.”
