Chapter 7- No Space Between Us
1634 Words
Elara paused outside the room for half a second before stepping inside.
Cedar, pine, whiskey.
His scent filled the suite strongly enough to irritate her immediately. Traces of him sat everywhere she looked, from the reports scattered across the table to the jacket hanging over the back of a chair near the windows.
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin the moment she crossed fully into the room, instinct moving restlessly through her body until her jaw tightened against the reaction.
That only worsened her mood.
Elara moved further inside, taking everything in properly. A large bed sat against the far wall while maps, patrol routes, and unfinished notes covered most of the table nearby. A pair of boots rested beside the couch as though he had kicked them off after a long day and never bothered moving them again.
For the first time since arriving in Draegon, something here actually looked personal.
The realization made the situation feel far too real.
Nothing about the suite suggested anyone had planned to share it.
Her gaze shifted toward the closet, and the imbalance stood out immediately. A narrow section had been cleared beside his clothes, barely enough space to count as effort while everything else remained untouched.
Elara walked over and pulled the door open wider.
The cramped space left for her things irritated her instantly. It felt like someone had carved out the smallest possible place for her inside a life already built without her in it.
She let the door slide shut harder than intended before crossing toward the bed. Her bag still rested near the entrance where Kaia had left it earlier.
Elara grabbed it and dropped it onto the side nearest the windows.
Movement brushed lightly across her awareness.
She turned quickly.
Seren stood near the doorway, quiet enough that Elara hadn’t heard her enter.
“You move quietly,” Elara said.
A small smile touched Seren’s mouth.
“I’ve been told that before.”
Unlike the others, Seren didn’t study her with suspicion twisted into hostility. Her attention felt calmer than that, more thoughtful, as though she noticed things most people overlooked.
Elara remained near the bed, still keeping distance between them.
“Why are you here?”
Seren glanced briefly around the suite before answering.
“I thought your first night in here probably shouldn’t happen alone.”
The honesty in the answer caught Elara off guard.
The room still pressed around her while the bond lingered low beneath her ribs, impossible to ignore with his scent woven through every corner of the suite.
Seren stepped further inside before leaning lightly against the wall near the door.
“People are going to test you,” she said quietly. “Some out of loyalty. Some because they’re angry. Others because they want to see whether you break.”
Elara watched her carefully.
“You say that like you already know the answer.”
Seren’s expression eased slightly.
“I think you’re carrying more than people realize.”
The observation landed uncomfortably close to the truth.
Elara looked away first, reaching down to unzip her bag mostly to avoid holding Seren’s gaze too long.
Trust had always cost her something eventually.
Even so, Seren felt different from the hostility waiting outside this room. There was something quieter about her presence, something genuine that didn’t feel forced.
“I’ll manage,” Elara said after a moment.
“I know,” Seren replied simply, without trying to reassure her.
That somehow made it easier to believe.
A faint noise drifted through the corridor outside before Seren straightened slightly.
“And if you need advice,” she added, “ask literally anyone except Rafe.”
Despite herself, Elara almost smiled while pulling a sweater from her bag.
“That bad?”
“He means well,” Seren replied carefully. “Unfortunately, he enjoys conflict far more than he should.”
That sounded about right.
A faint hint of amusement crossed Seren’s face before she stepped back toward the hallway.
“You should try getting some rest while the territory’s still quiet.”
Elara glanced toward her while placing the sweater across the foot of the bed.
“You make it sound temporary.”
“It is.”
Then Seren slipped back into the corridor, the door closing softly behind her.
Elara crossed toward the windows instead, needing movement more than silence while distant voices drifted up from the territory below. Patrol vehicles rolled along the outer roads, headlights cutting through the dark beyond the trees.
Draegon never fully slept.
The bond shifted suddenly beneath her ribs, drawing her attention toward the door a second before footsteps approached outside the suite.
She already knew who it was.
The door opened.
Cold night air drifted inside with Thorne, carrying rain and smoke while the room seemed smaller the moment he entered. A glass of whiskey rested loosely in one hand, though his attention fixed on her immediately.
His gaze moved once through the suite, catching the closet, her bag sitting near the bed, and finally her.
Something unreadable crossed his expression before disappearing again.
“The council placed spies inside my territory,” he said while shutting the door behind him. “Until I find them, this arrangement stays.”
Elara leaned lightly against the edge of the window frame.
“You deal with spies by forcing people into shared bedrooms?”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“I didn’t make the decision.”
“But you’re clearly thrilled about it.”
Brief irritation crossed his face before fading again.
Thorne crossed toward the table and set the whiskey down beside the reports spread across the surface. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt higher before glancing toward the bed.
His attention stopped briefly on her bag before shifting away again.
“They cleared space for you.”
Elara looked toward the closet before returning her gaze to him.
“That might be the least welcoming thing I’ve ever seen.”
Something close to amusement threatened to surface before he pushed it aside again.
“The suite stays shared,” he said. “Beyond that, we stay out of each other’s way.”
Elara folded her arms.
“And where exactly do you expect me to sleep?”
His eyes flicked briefly toward the couch.
The answer irritated her immediately.
“That won’t be happening.”
His gaze returned to hers.
“It’s one couch.”
“It’s your couch.”
“And apparently I’m the unwanted guest occupying your room.”
“You’re twisting the conversation.”
“Am I?”
The air between them tightened while Thorne dragged a hand through his hair before moving back toward the table.
“The east side of the suite is yours,” he said. “Stay out of my office space, don’t interfere with patrol reports, and don’t involve yourself in pack disputes unless Kaia brings you in.”
Elara stared at him.
“So now I get rules.”
“You get boundaries.”
A quiet laugh escaped her while she crossed toward the dresser beside the bed.
“That sounds suspiciously close to panic.”
His attention returned to her immediately.
“You step into Luna duties tomorrow,” he said. “The pack starts treating you like their Luna the second that happens. I don’t have time to manage mistakes while dealing with spies inside Draegon.”
The words landed differently than she expected.
Until now, Luna had only existed as a title forced onto her by the council.
Tomorrow made it real because the pack would be watching, judging, and waiting for her to fail.
Elara opened one of the dresser drawers before shutting it again.
A Luna was usually earned through loyalty, trust, and years spent proving herself to the pack standing behind her.
She had walked into Draegon carrying the bloodline of the enemy responsible for years of death and loss, and every wolf in the territory knew exactly where she came from.
Some of them had probably buried family because of Valamere.
The thought pressed heavily against her chest and brought a wave of nervousness she immediately resented.
“You already have Kaia,” she said more quietly. “Why exactly does this pack need a Luna?”
His expression changed slightly at the question.
“The council expects visible unity between the packs,” he replied. “A Luna stabilizes hierarchy, alliances, appearances. Whether either of us cares about it changes nothing.”
“So I’m political decoration.”
“That’s your interpretation.”
“It feels accurate enough.”
He exhaled slowly before speaking again.
“Kaia starts introducing you to territory operations tomorrow morning. Training grounds first. Then the lower sectors.”
Elara leaned lightly against the dresser.
“That sounds suspiciously close to a threat.”
“It’s preparation.”
“For what?”
His attention remained fixed on her while something unreadable moved briefly across his expression before disappearing behind restraint again.
“For the moment the pack starts treating you like their Luna.”
Rain tapped softly against the windows while silence stretched between them.
Her wolf shifted uneasily at the thought of facing the territory in the morning. She could already feel the weight waiting outside this room, carried in distrust, grief, and years of hatred that a council order would never erase.
Neither of them looked away.
The bond pulled tighter the longer the quiet lasted, threading awareness between them in ways Elara still didn’t know how to untangle from herself.
Standing there inside the room they had been forced to share, surrounded by pieces of a life neither of them wanted disrupted, Elara realized proximity had stopped being the real problem.
What unsettled her was how quickly the distance between them kept disappearing.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD