FIRE & FROST 🔥🧊
813 Words
Fire and Frost
The training hall smelled of leather, pine, and effort. Cassius’s pack moved like a single organism around us, disciplined, precise. My boots scuffed against the wooden floor as I approached him.
“I want to go with the hunters,” I said, trying to sound casual. “I need to be where I’m needed..healing.”
Cassius stiffened. His shoulders squared, jaw tight, eyes darkening. A mix of anger and fear flickered across his face.
“Why?” His voice was low, controlled, and sharp.
“Because I’m a healer, Cassius,” I said, lifting my chin. “I need to help. I need to use my gifts.”
His brow furrowed, and before I could soften my words, he said, unintentionally offensive:
“You’re going to be Luna and queen. You don’t have time to work at hospitals or on the battlefield.”
I froze. Slowly, wrath unfurled through me like a flame. I turned to look him squarely in the eyes.
“Excuse me!” I snapped. “I have a gift, and I need to use it!”
“You don’t,” he replied, voice harsh. “It’s not safe.”
“I don’t care! I can handle it,” I shot back.
“You can’t. Unexpected things happen,” he countered, his tone brittle with the memory of losses past.
“And that’s why I need to be there!” I said, heat rising, hands clenching. “For so long, I wasn’t even sure I would be allowed—”
I stopped myself mid-sentence, taking a breath, trying to calm the fire building inside me.
Cassius’s voice dropped, low enough for me to almost not hear. “I just didn’t want to lose anyone else.”
I blinked. My chest tightened, the anger melting into understanding.
He saw it really saw it. He remembered my family’s exile, how often we had been dismissed, ignored, told to stay out of things we could help. He realized I had never truly been allowed to step into my full power before.
“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, reaching for me. He pulled me close, the warmth of him overwhelming against the cold hall.
My fire softened under his heat, but the closeness sparked something else something lighter. A teasing quirk in his lips, a subtle spark of mischief.
“You’re very irritating,” I whispered, smiling despite myself.
“Not irritating. Attractive, protective” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. His eyes held that dangerous, teasing glint, one that had nothing to do with threat and everything to do with him wanting me.
Before I could respond, a small, excited voice rang through the hall.
“Big brother! Big brother!”
I glanced toward the doorway to see a little boy barreling toward us, hair tousled, cheeks flushed from running. His tiny feet made a rhythm on the wooden floor, and for a moment, everything between Cassius and me froze.
He bent down instinctively, arms half out. “Preston! What are you doing here? You should have someone escort you.”
The boy stopped short, looked up at Cassius, then at me, his face lighting up with awe. “I wanted to find your mate. I heard she’s pwetty!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, my hands covering my mouth. “Now he’s too cute who is this little charmer?”
Cassius’s lips twitched, a mixture of pride and amusement. “My brother.”
I stepped forward, gently pushing Cassius to the side. “Sorry, I’m now giving all my attention to this adorable little boy.”
Preston grinned and stuck his tongue out at Cassius.
Cassius froze, blinked, then shook his head, smiling despite himself. “What have you been teaching him?” he asked, mock stern.
“Only the best,” I replied with a grin.
Cassius’s eyes softened, and I saw a flash of something I hadn’t expected the full warmth of his heart, filtered through his controlled exterior. The way he watched Preston mirrored the way he might one day watch me: protective, amused, utterly captivated.
Preston looked up at me, eyes wide. “You’re really pwetty.”
I ruffled his hair, laughing. “Thank you, little one. You’re pretty amazing yourself.”
Cassius stepped closer, resting a hand lightly on my back. “I swear, if you encouage him—”
“I would never” I said, giggling. “He’s perfect the way he is anyway.”
His hand lingered, brushing against me longer than necessary. I caught the slight glint of mischief in his eyes the same one that had teased me moments ago in the hall.
And I realized something dangerous.
This man, this king, this stoic, harsh, terrifyingly intense man… was already making my heart race in ways I hadn’t planned.
And he was enjoying it.
- Writer
