Chapter 52 Fine enough
~ Taren's POV ~
Last night when Alpha had said we would go together to Lyra's room, I hadn't thought much about it. The only thing my mind could come up with at that time was that he wanted to make sure that I wasn't lying about helping her practice her magic.
But what went down gave me the most confusion of my life. So many questions registered in my mind that I wished I could get answers to. Why was he acting and speaking that way with her?
The thoughts continued to swirl around my head even as I carried Lyra’s breakfast through the quiet corridor the next morning. I could understand if Lyra obeyed him as he was her captor. But the one I couldn't understand at all was Alpha.
The look on his face when he stopped her from hugging me, the patting of the sofa for her to sit beside him, and worst of all, feeding her. What was he up to?
I stopped in front of Lyra’s door and took a slow breath before knocking. When I stepped inside, I found her already awake, sitting upright on the bed with her back straight and her hands folded in her lap. Her hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and though her face was calm, her eyes told a different story.
“Good morning, my lady,” I gave a small bow before moving closer, bringing the trolley to the exact spot where she always wanted it.
“Good morning, Taren,” she replied softly.
I straightened and studied her more closely than I probably should have. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but was weighing whether to say it or not.
“You look troubled,” I pointed it out in the gentlest way I could. “Are you alright?”
She hesitated for just a moment, then nodded. “I’m alright. Just worried.”
That answer did nothing to reassure me. “Worried about what.”
She lifted her eyes to mine, and there was no mistaking the concern there. “Um… has Kael returned to the pack house.”
“Yes,” I answered. “He returned in the early hours of the morning, but he is in a meeting right now. A high stake one.”
I watched relief flicker across her face, only to be quickly replaced by fresh anxiety. It was clear that knowing he had returned was not enough to put her mind at ease.
“Why are you asking about Alpha? Did he do something?” I asked.
She drew in a slow breath. “He told me about the attack last night before he left. I didn't hear from him again, that's why I got worried. Was the attack a serious one?”
I couldn't give her exact details because I was not part of the people who went to the site of the attack. However, from the information I got, I knew it was pretty bad.
“It was serious,” I responded to her in all honesty. “But it's under control now.”
Her fingers tightened in her lap. “What happened? Who was the attacker?”
“Shadow pack warriors. We lost two warriors. Several others were badly injured. We managed to capture some members of the Shadow pack during the attack.”
The room grew heavy with silence. Her expression fell, her eyes darkening as she absorbed the weight of my words. She nodded slowly, her lips pressing together as though she were holding back something she did not want to say.
“Okay. Thanks for telling me,” she said quietly, then reached for the food and began to eat with slow movements. She didn't look at me again, and she didn't speak.
I stayed where I was, watching her chew without appetite, watching the way her shoulders remained tense even as she tried to appear calm.
Standing there, my thoughts drifted back to the night before and to the conversation she had with Kael. I saw the way he looked when he spoke to her, the way his usual steel had softened around the edges. Part of me wanted to ask her what was going on between them, but the heaviness in her posture warned me away from that path.
Some conversations required the right moment, and this was not it.
When she finished eating, she finally looked up at me. “Did you come with the next lesson?”
“I did.”
Relief touched her face, subtle but unmistakable. I took a step closer and lowered my voice. “But I need you to stop worrying. You need to be in the best place emotionally to perfect your practice.”
She smiled at me then, a small but genuine smile. “I am fine enough to handle it.”
I studied her for a moment, searching for any sign that she was pushing herself too hard, then nodded. From my pocket, I retrieved the folded sheet of paper I had prepared and handed it to her. She took it carefully, as she always did, treating it with the kind of respect that told me she understood the weight of what she was learning.
She moved to the open space near the window and began to study the writing, her eyes moving steadily across the page. Her lips moved silently as she memorized each symbol and phrase.
I leaned against the wall and watched her, my thoughts drifting between her progress and the picture of her and Kael that has refused to leave my head.
When she finally lowered the paper, there was a quiet confidence in her posture that had not been there earlier.
“The water element,” she said softly.
She closed her eyes and began to chant, her voice, low and controlled, sounded like music to my ears. Her hands lifted, moving with deliberate precision.
I felt the change in the air almost immediately, a cool shift that brushed against my skin. Moisture gathered around her, invisible at first until it became unmistakable.
The glass of water on the trolley began to tremble slightly. Moments later, the water lifted from it, pulled toward her along with droplets pulled straight from the air itself. The liquid gathered between her palms, forming a perfectly shaped ball that hovered without spilling a single drop.
I held my breath as I watched. The control she displayed was impressive, especially considering the emotional strain she was under. The water shimmered in the light, obedient to her will, and alive with power she was only beginning to understand.
Then, just as carefully, she released it. The water dispersed smoothly, flowing back to where it had come from. The glass refilled, the air dried, and the room returned to stillness as if nothing had happened.
She opened her eyes and looked at me, a bright smile settling on her face. “How did I do?”
“Perfectly well. At this rate, you'll become a pro before you know it.”
A proud smile softened her features, and for the first time that morning, I saw her shoulders relax.
As I watched her, I felt a familiar resolve settle in my chest. No matter how dark the threats gathering around us became, I would do everything in my power to make sure she survived long enough to reach her full potential.
“I'm ready for the next one,” she said, confidence dripping from her tone.