Mated to you

Chapter 2 - Still learning

Thea sucked in a breath the moment Reign stepped into the training area. She managed not to react, her face calm despite the storm tightening in her chest. The brutal sprints they had just finished, gave her a convenient excuse for her racing heart, though she knew it wasn’t the cardio.

“Who’s that?” she asked Cael, keeping her voice steady.

“Oh, right. You haven’t met her yet. That’s Vivian, our second in command. She’s always with Reign. Where he goes, she follows.”

Thea nodded; eyes fixed on the ground as if it held some tactical secret. She didn’t flinch, didn’t glance, didn’t let the jealousy show, but inside, she was burning.

Vivian looked like she had stepped off a runway, effortless beauty, sharp confidence, and that maddening ease beside Reign. Thea clenched her jaw, pretending not to notice the way they moved together, like they belonged, and the comfortable ease they held as they spoke.

She hated how much it bothered her.

“So, where was she when Reign and I were alone without you guys?” Thea asked, her voice quiet but pointed.

Cael looked over toward them, Reign and Vivian, now caught in conversation with Lillian, who was still giving Thea the cold shoulder. But Thea didn’t let it bother her, even when she embraced them both. Reign seemed less interested in the exchange than Vivian, whose attention clung to every word which made her smile and look even more beautiful.

Finally, Cael turned back to her. “Like I said, everywhere he goes, she goes.”

He said, catching the slight shift in Thea’s expression, it was barely a flicker, but enough. He quickly added, “She was just nearby. Not watching or anything. Mostly there for protection… his protection.” Thea didn’t respond. She just gathered her things like she always did after training, precise, silent, unreadable, and left without a word. She had other things to do right now and being jealous wasn't one, she wasn’t going to waste anymore time on it.

“Have you seen my brother yet?” River asked.

River hummed, a quiet sound, but it landed heavy. “Hmm. I figured if he hasn’t taken the time to see me, he most definitely saw you…”

“No, but I saw him as I left the training grounds. He was with Vivian, stuck in conversation with Lillian,” Thea said, just as River sat beside her, placing another stack of books down.

“I want you to read these ones now,” River said, pointing to the top book before continuing. “Yeah, Viv is Lil’s mother. She’s always with Lil whenever Reign’s home.”

Thea’s eyes widened. “Shut up…” she said, pushing the books aside and turning to face River. “They look the same age. How old is she?”

River laughed at her stunned expression. “Umm, I was going to ask about you and Reign." She said with a smile before continuing. "Well, let me think… from memory, she served with Pa,”

“Wait. Pa? Like your father?” Thea interrupted.

River chuckled. “No. Like my grandpa.”

“What!” Thea blurted, a little too loud. “Oh my god, how old are you?”

River laughed again. “Okay, human… we age differently than you, so don’t think of me as some old lady. I’m still a pup in our world,” she said, grinning. “But, if you must know, I have been alive on this planet for forty-nine years.”

Thea was speechless, jaw dropped, hand resting on River’s shoulder like she needed something to hold onto before her disbelief slipped out of her grasp.

“Okay, you can close your mouth now,” River teased with a chuckle.

“Sorry,” Thea muttered, still stunned. “Wait, if you’re forty-nine… how old is Reign?”

River stood, pointing to the top book. “Read that by dinner, and I’ll tell you, his age.”

Thea scoffed, watching River smirk and disappear down the hall. “Unfair,” she called after her, but River didn’t look back.

Just when Thea thought she was beginning to piece things together, the ground shifted again. Every answer seemed to birth another question, and the world she’d stepped into felt older, deeper, and far more tangled than she had imagined.

She glanced at the stack of books, her fingers brushing the top one. Whatever River was withholding, it wasn’t just about Reign, it was about all of them. Their kind. Their history. Their rules, and suddenly, Thea wasn’t just frustrated, she needed to know more. Since choosing to leave her old life behind, Thea had built a rhythm, mornings spent training with Cael, afternoons immersed in River’s teachings. They hadn’t rushed her. Instead, they had let her ease into their world, layer by layer, at a pace she could actually absorb. It made her feel capable. Respected. Like she belonged, even if she was still learning what that meant, and now that Reign was back would her routine need to change… She wasn’t opposed to it. If anything, the thought intrigued her, this life fascinated her. The more she learned, the deeper she fell into it. Every lesson, every sparring match, every story River shared pulled her further from the girl she used to be, and closer to something she couldn’t quite name yet.

She had been in the library for nearly three hours since River left. Her mind steeped in the weight of their history. Her legs tingled beneath her, numb from sitting too long. She closed the book and stood slowly. Pins and needles. Great, she thought, wincing as she shook them out.

Gathering the books into her arms, she made her way down the hall toward her room, well, Reign’s room. At least, it had been hers since he left. She hesitated at the door, fingers resting on the handle.

She opened the door slowly, breath held, unsure what she would find on the other side.