Evaline:

I didn't even realize when an entire month slipped past me.

One whole month.

A month since I holidays started.

A month since Draven's… incident.

And even now, the pain hadn't dulled. It didn't fade. It had just gone quiet.

I wasn't the shattered mess I had been four weeks ago - crying on and off, unable to sleep, barely eating, feeling like my soul was bruising from the inside out. No, I had somehow climbed out of that suffocating darkness, but the ache remained. A deep, quiet wound that reopened at the slightest touch.

But life had changed drastically in these few weeks.

I got to spend real time with my son... hours and hours with Lioren that filled places inside me I didn't realize existed. I was now officially a member of the Soul Death Investigation Team, doing actual work beside my mates instead of being left behind. And my training lessons - stars, those lessons - had made me improve so much.

But with all the progress, I had also grown to absolutely hate every single hour of the exhausting routine they put me through. My healing sessions left me mentally and emotionally drained, and combat training squeezed the little energy left out of my bones.

And the worst part?

I hadn't received a single day off in three whole weeks.

My body was done. My mind was done. My soul - with all its protesting - was screaming for a break.

So when River texted me this morning-

No physical training today. Oscar and I are leaving for the council. Enjoy the rest, Angel.

I was on cloud nine.

Floating. Practically glowing.

I even hummed while feeding Lioren.

And then - like a bucket of ice water dumped straight on my head - Kieran looked up from his plate during lunch and said casually, "We'll do two hours of healing practice today."

Two hours.

Not usual sixty minutes.

Not seventy.

Two. Whole. Hours.

I stared at him like he had personally betrayed my ancestors.

Misery didn't even come close to describing the emotion that hit me.

As the clock ticked closer to training time, my chest tightened. I couldn't waste such a rare chance to skip combat training only to be tortured for double the usual time in healing sessions.

No.

Absolutely not.

I needed to do something.

And that thought pushed me onto my feet, out of the room, and down the hallway.

I found Kieran in his room.

I knocked once and his deep voice answered, "Come in."

The moment I stepped inside, the warmth of the room enveloped me. Soft lighting. A faint scent of cedar and clean linen. Kieran sat on the wide couch, laptop open on the table in front of him.

An empty coffee cup sat beside it, telling me he had been at this for a while.

His dark green shirt had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing veiny forearms that should honestly be illegal. His reading glasses rested perfectly on his nose. And his shoulder-length hair was loose, falling around his face in soft, golden strands.

He looked devastating.

And deeply focused.

He glanced up the moment he sensed me. "Evaline?" A flicker of curiosity crossed his eyes. "You need something?"

Instead of answering, I walked straight toward him and... ignoring the shock on his face... sat down on the thick rug right between his legs, my back almost brushing his shin.

His hands paused above the keyboard.

His eyes widened slightly.

But he didn't say anything.

Pretending innocence, I tilted my head. "What are you working on?"

"Writing a report," he answered, still staring at me like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or scold me.

Without warning, his hand reached out... his fingers sliding gently through my hair once, brushing the strands away from my shoulder. A soft, absentminded touch that sent a warm shiver down my spine.

Then he leaned forward again, returning his hands to the laptop, continuing to type.

The sound of keys clicking filled the room. And the warmth radiating from him surrounded me.

I turned slightly to look up at his face.

He arched a brow at me, clearly amused, before returning his attention to his screen like nothing was odd about me sitting between his legs on the floor like some clingy cat.

"Is the report urgent?" I asked casually.

"No." His tone was distracted. Focused.

He kept typing, his voice calm as he added, "But I want to finish another page before we begin training."

I froze.

There was barely half an hour left before we were supposed to start.

If I didn't change his mind soon, I would be stuck practicing until my body melted. If it was just healing part, I could have handled it, even enjoyed it, but these days most of my healing lessons were filled with reading, writing, taking tests, and... a little bit of healing. It was really draining.

No. No, no, no. Not happening.

It was clearly time for desperate measures.

I reached forward and rested my forearms on his knee, leaning slightly into his space... just enough to get his attention but not enough to be obvious.

He paused again.

His eyes dropped to look at me over the rim of his glasses.

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I said sweetly.

He narrowed his eyes.

Damn it.

He always noticed everything.

I reached up and gently tugged one of the loose strands of his blonde hair. "You look good with your hair down."

His fingers halted over the keys.

He stared at me like I had just spoken in an unknown ancient language.

"…Thank you?" he said slowly.

I smiled innocently.

I leaned back again, pretending I wasn't planning treason against today's training session.

"You worked a lot today," I murmured. "Maybe you are tired?"

"No." He resumed typing immediately. "I'm perfectly fine."

Ugh.

Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn man.

Fine. It was time for Plan B.

It's the Kieran Thorne I was dealing with. Of course, I had to put in extra work to tame him.