Chapter 133 Floating on air
IRIS
The air in the room feels heavier today than the previous days, almost suffocating, and I realize I’ve been sitting in the same spot for hours. Even the sunlight slanting through the curtains doesn’t make it feel lighter.
Resting, yes. Darian insisted. And I’ve done exactly that… maybe too well.
I glance down at the floor, trying to convince myself that standing up will make a difference. It’s not just the room. It’s the stillness, the quiet.
I need air. I need space. Even my meals were brought here, my comfort wrapped in silver trays and delicate notes. I’ve become something ornamental, something precious, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m wilting, trapped in a cage made of soft pillows and white sheets.
I push myself up, legs stiff and shoulders tight, and reach for the door. Just a few steps outside the room, a breath of fresh air, maybe even a small walk through the balcony… that should be enough.
I twist the handle, but my foot barely clears the threshold before I see him.
Darian. Standing there, casual, hands in his pockets, that half-smile that he doesn’t show to anyone else playing on his lips. My heart leaps. I stumble back a step, my chest tightening as if I’ve run into a wall of heat.
“D-Darian!” I stammer, voice higher than I intended. “I—I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
He tilts his head, amused, watching me with those golden eyes that always seem to see too much. “Oh? Where were you running off to, Iris? Sneaking out on me?” His tone is teasing, but there’s that undercurrent, the softness he never lets anyone else see.
“I… I just… I wanted some air,” I admit, fumbling for words, feeling like a schoolgirl caught sneaking out at night. “I was starting to… suffocate a little, in here.”
He steps closer, deliberately slow, and my wolf growls softly under my ribs. My heart hammers against my chest as his hand lifts, brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture is tender, almost intimate, and I shiver.
“You’ve been cooped up too long,” he murmurs, his voice low, close. My name rolls off his tongue in a way that feels like it belongs only to him. “Even I can see it in your eyes.”
I glance down, cheeks burning. “I didn’t want to bother you,” I whisper. “You’ve been busy with pack duties…”
“Busy?” He chuckles, a rich, warm sound that makes my chest flutter. “I always have time for you.” And then, without warning, he leans in and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. Just a kiss. Yet my knees feel weaker than they should, and I breathe in his scent.
I stare at him, dumbstruck, before managing, “Y-you’re back earlier than I expected…”
He smiles, the kind that lights his entire face. “Then the timing is perfect.” He steps back slightly, just enough to make me aware of the space between us, yet close enough that my body aches for it. “Because I have a date planned out for you tonight.”
My chest tightens, and I blink at him, trying to make sure I heard him right. “R-really?” I manage, voice trembling on the edge of disbelief. “A date? For… for me?”
He nods, reaching behind him for a small shopping bag, which he hands to me. “Really,” he says simply, that mischievous glint in his eyes hiding something, maybe a surprise. “Get ready. I’ll handle the rest.”
I hold the bag in both hands, feeling weightless yet tethered, my wolf humming softly beneath my skin like she’s sharing in my exhilaration. “I… I can’t believe this,” I murmur, almost to myself. “You… planned a date for me?”
He tilts his head, amused. “You look like you just saw a ghost.” He steps closer, close enough that we’re breathing the same air, and he straightens the strap of my dress. “You deserve it, Iris. You deserve to have a night where you don’t have to think about anything but being… well, being you.”
My throat tightens. I want to say something more, something that would capture the entire chaos of my emotions, the awe, the nervous excitement, the fluttering heartbeat, but my words get caught. I nod instead, fingers curling around the bag like it’s an anchor.
“Tonight,” he continues, his voice softer now, almost intimate, “you let me take care of everything. No thinking, no planning. Just you. Just… us.”
“Us…” The word tastes foreign and thrilling on my lips. My wolf stirs restlessly, pushing against my chest, excited, protective, wanting to pull me closer to him, even if just in thought.
“D-Darian, I…” I stumble over words, caught in the gravity of his presence. “I don’t know what to say…”
“Then don’t,” he says softly, leaning just enough that I can feel the brush of his breath against my skin. “Just get ready. Smile. And let me worry about the rest.”
“I… I don’t want to disappoint you,” I admit, voice breaking a little.
“You won’t,” he assures me, standing, his hand brushing mine again as if the contact will tether me to reality. “Not ever. You could never disappoint me. Okay, baby?.”
Baby? He’s never called me that outside if sex. My wolf practically purs at the endearment and I couldn’t blame her either as heat rises to my cheeks.
“Now, go. Get ready. I’ll be back to fetch you. And Iris?”
“Yes?”
“Try not to float too far while you wait. You might start thinking you can fly.”
I laugh, a soft, airy sound that feels as though it carries some of my tension out of the room. “I’ll try,” I whisper, though my feet feel as if they’re barely touching the ground.
He gives me one last small smile, a brush of his fingers against mine, and then he’s gone, the door closing quietly behind him.
A date. With him. Darian. The man whose presence has been reshaping my world since the moment we bonded. My stomach flips and flutters, a delicious nervous excitement, and I feel… whole.
And I’m literally floating on air.