Chapter Two — Confront
1011 Words
° AUTHOR'S POV °
Standing at the top of the stone staircase.
Valerian.
He was the kind of man who made every other man seem ordinary.
Standing well over six-foot-eight, his sheer height was enough to make me tilt my head just to meet his gaze, the top of my head barely reaching his collarbone.
Broad shoulders, a powerful frame, and years of battle had sculpted him into the perfect image of an Alpha.
His snow-white hair was thick and slightly tousled, pulled into a loose warrior's bun with a few stubborn strands falling over his forehead, giving him a dangerously handsome edge.
Then there were his eyes—brilliant molten gold, glowing like captured sunlight.
They were sharp enough to command an army with a single glance, yet impossibly gentle whenever they looked at me.
His sharp jaw, high cheekbones, and perfectly sculpted features looked as though the Moon Goddess herself had carved him from marble.
Every scar he carried only made him more breathtaking.
To everyone else, he was the Alpha King.
To me, he was the man who always noticed when I'd skipped a meal, quietly placed food in front of me without a word, and made me feel safe with nothing more than his presence.
And somehow... that only him still him.
Still impossibly composed.
Still devastatingly handsome.
Still wearing black leather gloves.
He always wore gloves.
Always.
She'd never questioned it.
Now...
He simply looked at her.
For one endless heartbeat.
Then descended the stairs.
"Welcome home, Lorianna."
Lorianna.
He never called her Lorianna.
It was always Lioreal or Anna.
Never Lorianna.
His voice hadn't changed.
Neither had his smile.
Yet something...
Something felt wrong.
She stepped forward instinctively.
He did too.
For years...
He'd greeted her with a brief embrace.
Always.
Without fail.
Instead...
He stopped just beyond arm's reach.
A careful distance.
Deliberate.
Controlled.
His gloved hands remained behind his back.
"I'm glad you're safe."
That was all.
No hug.
No touch.
Nothing.
The emptiness settled somewhere deep inside her chest.
°°°
Days passed.
She tried convincing herself she'd imagined it.
Except...
She hadn't.
Valerian remained polite.
Kind.
Attentive.
Yet distant.
Every interaction felt measured.
He no longer rested a reassuring hand against her shoulder.
No playful ruffling of her hair after winning arguments.
No guiding touch through crowded gatherings.
Nothing.
It was as though an invisible wall now stood between them.
She couldn't understand it.
Had she offended him?
Did he know about Adrian?
About the relationship?
Would that matter?
Why would it matter?
The questions multiplied.
Answers never came.
°°°
One evening she entered his library.
He stood before the fire reading.
He glanced up.
"You couldn't sleep."
It wasn't a question.
"You remembered."
"I do."
She smiled weakly.
"So..."
She poured herself tea.
"...what's changed?"
He remained silent.
"You've been avoiding me."
"I haven't."
"You have."
"I've simply been occupied."
She laughed bitterly.
"That's a lie."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't lie."
"No."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"...you omit."
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Almost unbearable.
Finally she whispered,
"Did I do something wrong?"
His expression changed.
Pain flickered across features usually impossible to read.
"No."
"Then why won't you even hug me anymore?"
His breathing stopped.
Only for a second.
But she noticed.
"I didn't realize it mattered."
"It does."
More silence.
"I missed you."
The confession escaped before she could stop it.
"So much."
Valerian looked away.
Toward the fire.
Toward anything except her.
"I missed you too."
"Then why does it feel like you're saying goodbye every time we speak?"
His fingers curled into fists beneath the leather gloves.
For the first time since she'd returned...
She noticed they were trembling.
Only slightly.
Almost imperceptibly.
He hid them immediately.
"Some distances," he said quietly, "are necessary."
Her heart sank.
"I don't understand."
"I know."
She wanted to cross the room.
To stand beside him.
To ask him what secret had stolen the easiest friendship she'd ever known.
Instead...
She stayed where she was.
Because somehow...
Instinct warned her not to close the distance.
Not tonight.
°°°
When she left the library, Kaiden was waiting outside.
"You two are arguing."
"We talked."
"Worse."
She sighed.
"Is he angry with me?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Kaiden looked toward the closed door.
"I wish I knew."
"You've noticed?"
"We all have."
"Kieran too?"
He nodded.
"Our father changed shortly before you returned."
"Why?"
"I don't think it started then."
"When?"
Kaiden's expression darkened.
"When you left then it became worse when he heard the news of you coming back."
°°°
That night...
Lorianna lay awake staring at the ceiling.
She replayed every conversation.
Every smile.
Every silence.
Every careful step backward.
Every moment his gloved hands disappeared behind his back instead of reaching toward her.
He had always worn gloves.
Always.
Yet suddenly...
They felt less like clothing.
More like armor.
A barrier.
Protection.
Against what?
Against whom?
Against her?
She closed her eyes.
For two years she'd convinced herself distance would erase feelings she never should have developed.
Instead...
Distance had only sharpened them.
And now she'd returned to find the one person who had always been her constant treating her like something fragile.
Or dangerous.
She didn't know which possibility frightened her more.
Outside, the moon climbed high above the Dragonstone forest, bathing the estate in silver light.
Inside another wing of the manor, Valerian stood alone on his balcony, hands gripping the stone railing so tightly the leather of his gloves creaked.
He watched the light burning in Lorianna's bedroom window.
He did not move toward it.
He did not allow himself to.
Because after two years apart, the truth had become impossible to deny.
Distance had not weakened what he felt.
It had only taught him how desperately he needed to hide it.
And until he learned how to bury those feelings completely...
He would keep his gloves on.
He would keep his distance.
Even if it shattered the oldest friendship either of them had ever known.
#Vote#
- Writer
