_Anya's POV_
When Alpha Jacob pulled back, I could not breathe properly.
My chest rose and fell too fast. My lips still tingled where his had been. My fingers were still clutching his shirt and I did not even remember when I had grabbed him like that.
For a moment, I just stood there and stared at him. His eyes were still on me. They were dark and intense....like he was not finished.
Heat rushed to my face so quickly that it almost hurt.
What did I just do?
Maya sounded far too pleased. You kissed him back.
"I did not mean to," I whispered under my breath.
Liar.
I swallowed hard and finally let go of his shirt. My hands felt strange....like they did not belong to me anymore. I took a small step back, then another.
"I..." I started, but the words would not come out right.
Alpha Jacob watched me. His expression was softer now but there was something else there too....something dangerous.
"You kissed me back," he said quietly.
I froze. "I know."
"And you did not run."
My heart jumped. "I might still."
His mouth curved slightly. "But you have not yet."
I did not know what to say to that. My thoughts were tangled. My feelings made no sense. Everything felt too fast.
Maya spoke again, softer this time. You liked it.
I closed my eyes for a second. "I should not have done that," I said.
"Why not?" he asked.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Because this is complicated."
"Everything is complicated," he said calmly.
"That does not make it right."
His gaze held mine. "Does it make it wrong?"
I hesitated.
Before I could answer, a voice broke through the moment.
"Alpha."
We both turned. A guard stood at the edge of the training space. His head was slightly bowed but there was urgency in his posture.
"What is it?" Alpha Jacob asked, his tone shifting at once.
"Someone has come to meet you," the guard said. "It is urgent."
The Alpha's expression sharpened. "Who?"
"They did not say, Alpha. Only that it cannot wait."
I watched him closely. He seemed slightly annoyed but not alarmed. That meant he did not expect trouble.
"Very well," he said.
His gaze returned to me.
For a brief second, something passed between us again. That same tension. That same pull.
Then he stepped back, putting distance between us. "Continue training. I will be back shortly."
I blinked. "Now?"
"Yes."
"I..." I hesitated. "I am tired."
"That is the point of training," he said simply.
I frowned. "You just kissed me and now you want me to train like nothing happened?"
A faint smile touched his lips. "Can you not?"
"No."
"That is unfortunate," he said, though he did not sound sorry at all. "Train anyway."
I crossed my arms. "You are very annoying."
"And you are very distracted," he replied.
I huffed softly.
He turned to leave, then paused. "Do not disappear," he added without looking back.
"I was not planning to."
"Good."
Then he walked away with the guard, leaving me alone in the quiet training space. For a few seconds, I just stood there, staring at the place where he had been.
Maya spoke again. You are thinking about him.
"I am trying not to."
You are failing.
I picked up the wooden stick from the ground and tried to focus. I moved through the steps he had shown me. Foot forward. Turn. Block.
But my body felt heavy. My mind would not stay still.
Every time I moved, I remembered his hands on me. His voice near my ear. The way he had looked at me before he kissed me. I stopped and pressed my lips together.
"This is not helping," I muttered.
After a while, my arms started to ache. My breathing grew uneven. The early morning air no longer felt cold. I felt tired...really tired. I lowered the stick and sighed.
"He said he would come back," I told myself.
But time passed....and passed....and he did not return.
I looked toward the path he had taken. It was quiet.
"He must be busy," I said softly.
Maya hummed in agreement. You can go back.
"I should stay."
You are tired.
"I am."
And he said shortly, not forever.
I hesitated. Then I nodded to myself. "He will understand."
I placed the training stick back on the rack and turned away from the clearing. The path through the trees felt longer this time. The sky had lightened and the first soft glow of morning touched the edges of the world.
When I reached the outer side of the mansion, I slowed down. Instead of going inside, I walked along the stone pavement that ran beside the outer wall. Tall windows lined the wall. Most of them were closed, their glass reflecting the pale light of dawn.
It was quiet here. I wrapped my arms lightly around myself as I walked.
My mind drifted again, even though I tried to stop it. It went back to him. To the kiss. To the way everything had changed in just one moment. Nothing felt the same anymore and I did not know what to do with that feeling.
Then something shifted inside me.
It was sudden and strange. A pull that I could not explain. It was not a thought. It was not a memory. It felt real and it made my chest tighten. My steps slowed on their own and I turned my head slowly, as if something was calling me.
Maya went very still inside me. I could feel her attention sharpen at once.
Anya...
I frowned slightly and looked toward the mansion. My eyes moved across the tall windows without thinking too much about it.
And then I saw him.
He was standing inside, just behind the glass. He was watching me.
Leon.
My heart stopped so suddenly that I forgot how to breathe.
For a few seconds, I could not move at all. My body felt frozen and my mind went empty. I just stood there and stared at him like I had forgotten everything else in the world.
He looked the same as before. The same face I had seen so many times.
But something was different too. I could see it in his eyes. There was something deeper there. Something I could not name.
His gaze did not leave mine. He looked at me like I was not real, like I might disappear if he blinked.
"Leon..." I whispered softly.
Maya's voice shook inside me. It is him.
I blinked once. Then again. I was trying to make sense of what I was seeing. I wanted to believe that this was not real. That I was just imagining things.
But he did not disappear.
Instead, he took a slow step closer to the window. My breath caught in my throat.
It is real.
Panic rushed through me at once. My heart started beating too fast and I could feel it in my chest, in my ears and everywhere.
What is he doing here?
Why is he here?
Did Alpha Jacob know?
The questions came one after another and I could not answer any of them. My thoughts were a mess.
Leon kept looking at me. His lips parted slightly like he was about to speak.....like he was about to call my name.
I took a step back without thinking. Then another.
"No," I whispered under my breath.
I turned and ran.
I did not stop to think. My body moved on its own. I rushed toward the nearest place I could hide. My breathing was fast and uneven.
I dropped behind a cluster of bushes near the wall and crouched low. My hands shook as I covered my mouth, trying to quiet my breathing. It sounded too loud to me. Everything felt too loud.
Maya spoke quickly. He saw you.
"I know," I whispered.
My heart kept pounding hard. "He saw me."
I lowered myself even more, trying to stay hidden. My thoughts ran in circles.
What do I do?
Slowly, I lifted my head just a little and looked back toward the window. I needed to see if he was still there. I needed to be sure.
But when I looked, my body went cold.
The window was empty. Leon was gone.
Maya's voice dropped to a low whisper. He is coming.
My breath caught again.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps.
They were getting closer.
And I was still there, hiding behind thin bushes with nowhere to go.
