Chapter 103 CHAPTER 103
Morning came softly, almost gently, as if the world itself had decided to offer mercy for once.
Lisa had been awake long before the light reached her room.
Sleep had refused to come no matter how still she lay. Every time she closed her eyes, the Wolf Realm returned to her - emerald grass bending beneath silver skies, Kael’s unmoving body, and the sharp cry Kane had made when he touched him. The memory replayed over and over, not as a dream, but as something unfinished.
Why had it happened like that?
Why had Kane’s touch eased Kael’s pain and yet broken something inside him at the same time?
None of it made sense.
Lisa eventually gave up trying to sleep. She sat up, ran her hands down her face, and breathed slowly until the tightness in her chest loosened. Today was not about the Wolf Realm. It could not be.
Today was school.
That thought alone sent a flutter of nerves through her stomach.
She dressed carefully, smoothing the fabric of her Lunaris uniform more than necessary. The clothes felt strange on her body - not because they were new, but because they carried memories. Lunaris meant Silverpine. It meant familiar hallways and unfamiliar stares. It meant returning to a place where she had once learned how invisible a person could be.
She paused in front of the mirror.
For a moment, she saw Cindy - the quiet girl who walked with her head down, who learned to take up as little space as possible. The girl who endured because she had no choice.
Lisa straightened.
She was not that girl anymore.
When she stepped outside, Liam was already waiting by the car.
He leaned against it with his arms crossed, his posture rigid in the way it always was when his thoughts were too heavy. He looked tired - really tired. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his jaw was set like he had been holding tension there all night.
When he saw Lisa, his expression softened. He tried to smile.
He crossed the distance between them before she could say anything, pulling her gently into his arms. His embrace was firm, grounding, as if he needed to confirm she was real. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips - brief, careful, but unmistakably affectionate - before resting his forehead against hers for a moment.
Lisa stepped back slightly, studying his face.
“You look tired,” she said quietly.
A corner of his mouth lifted. “So do you.”
She let out a small breath. “Long night.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Their gazes met then, and neither of them said anything else.
They both knew.
Neither of them had slept.
The drive to Lunaris began quietly.
The car sped past the countryside and into the city. Early vendors opening stalls, guards changing shifts, people beginning another ordinary day. The world moved on as if nothing monumental had shifted beneath it.
Lisa watched the streets blur together in the rear view as the car headed toward the green lands where Lunaris was located, her reflection faint in the glass. For a while, she allowed herself to forget. She let her mind rest on simple things - classrooms, books, schedules, bells ringing at predictable times.
Normal things.
Inside the car, the silence held - not uncomfortable, but full. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, circling the same unanswered questions without daring to voice them.
Liam’s mind kept drifting back to the Wolf Realm.
He had never felt anything like what had happened there.
Kane touching Kael should not have mattered. There was no bond. No ritual. No claim between them. And yet, the moment Kane made contact, Kael had stirred, breath coming easier - while Kane himself had cried out in pain.
It broke every law Liam knew.
And that frightened him more than he wanted to admit.
He had never found his fated mate. Never felt the certainty other wolves spoke of with reverence. What if the goddess had chosen something else for him? Something twisted and unfamiliar?
What if bonds were forming where they should not?
What if the goddess could bind two male wolves together? Is that why he had never sensed his mate?
The thought unsettled him - not because of what it meant, but because of what it could unravel. He was not like that and he was sure Kane was also straight. What kind of twisted games would the goddess be playing on both Kane and him?
Lisa, beside him, was thinking much the same.
Liam should not have mattered to Kael. Kane should not have mattered to Celia. None of it aligned with what she understood of bonds or fate. And yet, her chest had tightened when it happened, as though something deep inside her had recognized the moment even if her mind could not.
The silence finally broke.
“Do you have any idea,” Lisa asked softly, “why it happened like that?”
Liam kept his eyes on the road. He exhaled slowly before answering. “No,” he said honestly. “I don’t. And pretending I do would only make it worse.”
Lisa nodded, her fingers tightening in her lap.
“It’s too much to understand all at once,” Liam continued. “Ancient things don’t explain themselves easily. For now, we let it rest. We research. Quietly.”
He glanced at her briefly. “And we don’t tell anyone what happened in the Wolf Realm. Not yet. If the council finds out we crossed without permission, they won’t just be angry. They’ll ban us from ever going back.”
Lisa swallowed. “I know.”
Liam softened his tone. “Today doesn’t have to be about any of that. Today is about you. About school.”
Lisa gave a small, almost humorless smile. “I’m thinking about yesterday because I don’t want to think about today,” she admitted. “I’m nervous. I don’t know how they’ll look at me. What they’ll say.”
Liam shook his head gently. “The Cindy they knew doesn’t exist anymore.”
She turned to look at him.
“You’re not the servant of Silverpine,” he said firmly. “You’re the princess of Mooncrest. Walk in there like you know it.”
Then, with a faint smirk, he added, “And besides, I’ll be there. Anyone tries anything, they deal with me first.”
The image made Lisa laugh softly despite herself.
“I know you would,” she said. “You’d scare them without even trying.”
“Of course! I’m not just protecting the princess – you’re my girlfriend too.” He said as a matter of fact.
There was a wave of warmth in Lisa’s heart just hearing him say that. Liam’s words had ease the tension and anxiety she felt a little.
She settled and leaned back on her seat as Lunaris school came to view. A familiar structure of stone and glass, standing unchanged as if time itself had left it alone. Seeing it again made Lisa’s heart race.
The car slowed to a stop at the entrance.
Principal Aeron was already waiting.
He greeted them warmly, bowing his head slightly when he saw Lisa. “Princess Lisa,” he said kindly. “Welcome back to Lunaris. We are honored to have you.”
His words were respectful but not heavy, and Lisa appreciated that more than she expected.
As they walked inside, the halls buzzed with early-morning chatter. Some students glanced her way. Others stared openly. Whispers followed in soft waves, curious rather than cruel.
Just before she was led to her class, the principal paused. “There is one small coincidence,” he said. “Another transfer student joined today as well. You’ll be in the same class.”
They began walking down the hallway together.
The girl beside her smiled nervously. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Elara.”
Lisa returned the smile. “Lisa.”
The classroom door came into view.