Wren never expected her life to change the moment she set foot in the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College. But everything shifted when she met Liam Mairi. Loving him was effortless, bright, and full of promise. Losing him was shattering.
His dea...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Liam has been Violet's shadow for the past few days, a strange, unspoken order Riorson laid down after Tairn and Andarna bonded to her, and people tried to kill her. With Liam's dragon bonded to the same flight, Riorson decided he needed eyes on Violet at all times, someone steady to watch her back. So, Liam hovers. Always a step behind her, always scanning the room like a soldier on duty.
It should feel suffocating, or at least odd. But it doesn't. Not to me.
Because it means Liam is around. A lot.
Not that I should be thinking about him. Gods, I know better. I'm supposed to be focused on survival and strategy, on keeping my squad alive, not on the way Liam's smile shows that dimple or how his voice gets warm when he says my name.
But still... when he noticed my chair wobbling the other night during study session, and by the time everyone left he had quietly fixed it without being asked? Yeah. My heart's been unruly ever since.
Now in physics, he slips into the seat behind Violet and Rhiannon, his knife already working at a block of wood. I know the spot was chosen for bodyguard duties, but my stomach doesn't care. It swoops anyway. At this point I've memorized the exposed swirls of his relic, the intricate lines etched into his skin. Beautiful. Dangerous. And absolutely not mine.
He whittles, leaving tiny curls of wood scattered across the desk, and I can't stop staring at his hands.
"You're really good at that," I whisper.
He pauses, flashing that dimple, and looks up. "Thank you."
The butterflies in my chest riot when his sky-blue eyes find mine.
"Do you have any hobbies?" he asks, studying me with that same unshakable focus.
I wrinkle my nose. "I used to draw. Haven't in a while."
"Your flirting needs work, little bird," Ryuu's dry voice cuts through the bond, smug as sin.
"Shut up."
"If you're going to drool, at least have the dignity to own it," he needles.
My cheeks burn, gaze darting away from Liam's. "There's no chance a guy like him would even be interested in me," I mutter to myself. "His type is probably some like Veyra, gorgeous, deadly, and the whole package."
Ryuu huffs. "Not that I meddle in the affairs of young love," He says dryly, "but you don't lack deadliness. You are strong, vicious, and lethal.... even with that soft heart of yours. You are the whole package, and if this marked boy can't see that, then he is the one unworthy."
The swell of pride in my chest almost drowns out my embarrassment. "You meddling? Never," I tease him silently.
