CHAPTER 241: OURS

"Where are you going, Alpha?" Lyla tried to grab Kieran by his elbow.

He only spared her a half hearted smile, brushing her hand away gently.

" Go enjoy the party, Lyla. I have some work to do! "

" But... but, Alpha... " Lyla wanted to say, "I hardly know anybody else here. Please don’t leave me alone! " But instead she took a step back. She gulped down that fear, that neglect and then turned back towards the dance floor... because chasing Kieran, was worse than chasing ghosts.

The laughter and clinking of goblets faded the deeper Kieran walked into the luminous corridors.

Everyone else was too busy drinking and dancing, yet his attention kept snagging on to the boys who darted through the crowd with trays of that sparkling wine.

He had noticed it once, then twice...sometimes they disappeared into the alcoves as shadows swallowed them there before they returned again with brimming chalices.

He followed... clearly because he needed to see more... know more.

And then there was that faintest shimmer...barely there...an aura like blue smoke curling in the corner of his eye. His wolf stirred at it, restless, low growls murmuring inside his chest.

He quickened his steps.

The alcove he slipped into was quiet, softened by the spill of moonlight from the high crystal windows. And there...sitting on the edge of a stone ledge, legs dangling, a tune humming faintly under his breath...was a small boy. All alone.

Kieran stilled.

Around that little boy, the air was alive.

Instruments floated, suspended mid-air, bowstrings sliding, harps singing, flutes sighing. Invisible hands played a melody too perfect, too haunting. The boy swayed to it, lost in his own little world.

Then Jasper hopped down, his eyes drawn to the harp that shimmered at the far end of the alcove. Too high for him to reach. But that didn’t stop him. He climbed, fingers finding edges where none seemed to exist. His giggle echoed, bright as the notes themselves.

"Careful..." The word tore from Kieran before he could think, hands drawn out with caution.

The boy turned his neck,almost startled...and that’s when he slipped...just slightly, but the height was much... he almost tumbled.

Kieran moved.Literally lunged.

His hands caught him before gravity could. The small weight pressed into his arms, fragile yet warm. The boy blinked up at him, a little dazed for only a heartbeat before smiling.

And Kieran... froze. Something deep, something buried, clawed at his chest.

His wolf’s voice rumbled, low, insistent.

Nonsense. He shut it down with a snarl only he could hear.

The boy tilted his head. " Whoah! You are from the party, aren’t you? Hhmmm, you are not that scary up close."

Kieran almost laughed. " Are you saying I am scary from afar? You think so? "

"Not me." Jasper wriggled until Kieran let him stand on his feet again. But he didn’t step back.

Instead, those small little fingers reached up and brushed lightly against the scar running across Kieran’s jaw. The touch was feather light, yet Kieran went utterly still. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away.

"That’s a bad cut.Does it hurt?" Jasper asked softly.

"No." His own voice sounded rougher than usual. "Not anymore."

"That’s good." Jasper nodded with the gravity only children could manage. Then his gaze lifted, innocent and piercing all at once. "Why are you standing all alone? Everyone else is dancing."

Kieran’s throat tightened. He should have turned away, left, because this was not what he had come looking for...he was looking for the source of this fortress...this over flowing power...but the boy’s eyes pinned him. "I don’t... dance." The words came out gruff, almost defensive.

Jasper’s mouth curved. "That’s okay. I can teach you."

Kieran huffed. "Teach me?"

"Yes." Jasper grinned, flashing those mesmerizing dimples. "Everyone can learn. Even big scary men."

Kieran felt it then...subtle...the aura flicker.

Just a second, a shimmer of blue wrapping around the boy like an afterimage. He blinked, and it was gone. But it left his wolf restless, pacing inside his skin again. "Ours!" It grumbled for no reason.

"You are a strange little one," Kieran muttered.

Jasper’s smile only widened. He reached again, this time curling his small hand around one of Kieran’s thick fingers, squeezing like it was the most natural thing.

For once, Kieran froze but then he inclined, as if naturally.

Jasper tilted his head at him, studying Kieran far longer than most grown men dared. "You look sad," he announced suddenly.

Kieran blinked, taken aback. "I am not."

"You are." Jasper’s little finger poked at his chest, right where his heart thudded. "It’s heavy here. I can feel it."

The wolf inside him stilled, ears pricked. Kieran swallowed, unnerved by how the boy’s words seemed to scrape at the things he buried. He crouched without thinking, lowering himself until their eyes were level. It was instinct...affection, deference even. Something he had never offered any Alpha in his life.

It came like rain comes down on dry earth, even when Autumn had shielded the boy heavily with a masking spell and potion. Kieran still felt that pull.

"Maybe I am just tired," he said, softer now.

Jasper considered this, lips pursed, then suddenly rummaged inside the sash tied around his waist. He pulled out a tiny, crumpled sweet wrapped in blue paper. In his other hand, a small flower from one of the garlands that had been hanging around the hall earlier. He held both out with urgency.

"Here," Jasper said. "You look like you need this more than me."

Kieran stared at the offering. A flower. A child’s sweet. Ridiculous. Insignificant. And yet... his hand closed around them as if they were priceless. He didn’t understand why it mattered...only that it did.

"Thank you," he murmured, surprising himself.

Jasper beamed, his face lighting up like dawn once more. That smile hit Kieran in the gut, just like the last time, leaving him unsteady. He reached out before he could stop himself...his fingers brushing through the boy’s hair, ruffling it gently.

The small head leaned into the touch, as if it was the most natural thing in the world... like an affectionate little pup.

"Run along," Kieran said, voice low, almost reluctant. "Before someone realises you are missing from the line up." ( Shoot! Kieran clearly thought he was one of those celestial looking boys!Can’t blame him, Jasper did look like a cherub!)

"Okay!" Jasper giggled, clutching the harp string he had been so fascinated by earlier, and skipped off down the corridor with that springy, child like gait.

Kieran stayed crouched long after the boy had vanished from sight. His palm closed tight around the candy and the flower, knuckles whitening, as an emptiness spread inside him. Oddly... hollow.

His wolf stirred again."Ours."

Kieran’s jaw clenched. He shoved the thought down...how could a celestial child be his...his wolf was already love sick, suffering...maybe he was now on the verge of loosing it all together...but for the first time, he wasn’t sure if he meant what he believed.