Chapter 88 CHAPTER 88
For a long moment, Lisa sat on the picnic blanket without knowing what to do with her hands. Her fingers kept brushing the edge of the fabric, then curling into her lap, then reaching for a piece of fruit she had no intention of eating. Her nerves had followed her all the way from the palace, clinging stubbornly to her chest. Even surrounded by soft grass and the quiet lapping of water against the lake shore, she felt the weight of school pressing at the back of her mind.
Liam watched her for a moment, studying the tension in her shoulders. When he finally spoke, his voice was gentle enough to settle the roots of her nerves.
“Lisa,” he said, breaking a berry in half between his fingers, “you know you’re the brightest person I’ve ever met.”
She looked up slowly, unsure whether he was teasing her. He wasn’t.
“I’m not saying that because you’re a princess,” he continued. “I’m saying it because you taught yourself everything you know. Most wolves train under tutors, in real classrooms, with books and schedules and teachers guiding every step. You did it alone, from scraps and borrowed pieces of knowledge, and still outperformed every trained student your age.”
His words washed over her like warm sunlight, and she lowered her gaze to the blanket, her cheeks warming. “That doesn’t mean I’m ready,” she whispered.
“It means you’re more ready than any of them,” Liam said. “You earned your place. Not because someone gave it to you, but because you are extraordinary.”
Her throat tightened. She tried to form a reply, but different fears surfaced instead.
“I’m still scared,” she admitted quietly. “Not just of the classes. It’s… the people. The Silverpine kids. They spent years treating me like nothing. I don’t want to walk into a room and feel like that girl again. I don’t want them to look at me like I’m dumb.”
Liam didn’t laugh. He didn’t dismiss her feelings. He leaned back on one hand, looking at her as though he needed her to understand something important.
“They won’t look at you the same way,” he said. “If anything, when you walk into Lunaris, they’ll be the ones scrambling for a place. Not because you’re the princess - though that alone would make half the school want to be your friend - but because they didn’t see you for who you were. They had a treasure sitting in their pack and they treated you like dirt. They’ll realize that now.”
Lisa swallowed. “Liam…”
“You’re powerful,” he said simply. “You’re intelligent. You’re… more than they ever deserved. And trust me, if anyone looks like a moron, it won’t be you.”
Her heart fluttered at his certainty, but it was the quiet pause afterward that made it stumble completely.
His eyes softened, lingering on her face rather than the lake behind her.
“And you’re beautiful, Lisa,” he said quietly. “Anyone with eyes can see that.”
The blush hit her cheeks instantly. It wasn’t loud or dramatic - just a warm bloom that made her look down and tuck her hair behind her ear. She didn’t know how to respond, didn’t know how to hold the softness of the moment without shaking.
Inside her mind, Celia’s delighted voice chimed, “You still want to tell me he feels nothing? Look at him, Lisa. Look.”
Lisa didn’t lift her head right away. She was too aware of him, his presence, his steady breathing, the warmth in his voice that lingered long after the words faded.
Across from her, Liam felt Kane nudge at the edge of his thoughts.
“Careful,” Kane murmured, quiet but firm. “Don’t scare her away. Whatever you’re feeling… move gently.”
Liam exhaled slowly, trying to ground himself. He hadn’t planned any of this. All he wanted was to ease her nerves. But sitting here with her, watching her soften under the sunlight, something inside him shifted in a way he couldn’t ignore.
He reached out with a hesitation that made his fingertips tremble slightly. When his knuckles brushed her cheek, Lisa lifted her eyes, startled but not pulling away.
His hand cupped her jaw lightly, thumb grazing her cheekbone as though testing whether the moment was real. She leaned into his touch without meaning to, and the smallest breath escaped her - soft, uncertain, hopeful.
Their eyes held.
The world around them muted, leaving nothing but the rustle of leaves and the quiet pulse of something new forming between them. It stretched softly, gently, as if asking permission to exist.
Liam leaned in a little, giving her every chance to move away. She didn’t. She only blinked up at him with wide, nervous eyes and parted lips.
Her heart thudded once, hard, and she felt Celia whisper, “It’s alright.”
His forehead brushed hers.
Lisa inhaled shakily.
And then, slowly, carefully, he closed the distance.
The kiss was soft. Warm. Almost fragile. His lips met hers with a tenderness that felt like a question rather than an answer. Lisa’s breath caught, and she kissed him back with the same hesitant gentleness, as if afraid the moment would break if she pushed too hard.
The world seemed to still completely, just the faint splash of water in the distance, the soft shake of leaves above them, and the trembling warmth where their mouths met.
It wasn’t a hungry kiss. It wasn’t rushed.
It was thoughtful, slow, and filled with all the things neither of them had dared say aloud.
When they finally pulled back, their foreheads rested together, both of them breathless in the quietest way.
Lisa’s eyes remained closed for a moment, her pulse fluttering beneath her skin.
Liam whispered, barely above the breeze, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
But she shook her head softly before he could finish. “Don’t apologize.”
He searched her face, uncertain, but she offered him a small, trembling smile, one that held fear and warmth and something deeper she wasn’t ready to name yet.
And just like that, the world felt different.
Something had shifted.
Something had started.
Something neither of them could take back.