Quiet storms
844 Words
Kieran had seen it all.
From the shadows just beyond the trees, he watched Elias reach for her. Watched her kiss him. Watched her vanish before either of them could process it.
He should’ve looked away.
He didn’t.
Now he couldn’t unsee it.
The night was still, unnaturally so, but inside Kieran’s chest there was a storm gathering. It wasn’t rage. Not entirely. It was… confusion. Conflict. Something darker and quieter than jealousy. Something more.
Elysia wasn’t supposed to be soft. Not like that.
She wasn’t supposed to kiss anyone. Not like that.
His jaw tightened. His hands were fists in his coat pockets, knuckles white from the pressure. He took a slow breath and let it burn on the way out.
Then he turned and walked back toward the mansion, each step heavier than the last, every one echoing like a challenge.
Elias hadn’t moved.
He stood exactly where she’d left him—lips tingling, chest rising and falling too fast for someone who was technically dead.
He stared at the space where Elysia had disappeared, fingers still slightly curled, as if her warmth lingered on his skin. The blood smear she'd left behind had dried like a brand.
Then a slow smirk spread across his face.
“She ran,” he murmured to the night. “She liked it.”
He licked the dried blood from his thumb, slow and deliberate, like savoring a secret.
The taste of her still buzzed in his veins.
Elysia didn’t stop running until the trees thinned and the cold air wrapped around her like punishment. She came to a halt on the cliff’s edge, breath sharp in her throat, staring out at the sleeping town below.
The wind tugged at her hair. Her coat flared behind her like wings—or a warning.
What the hell had she done?
What was wrong with her?
She clenched her jaw and turned her face to the sky. The stars didn’t answer. They just blinked down like they were mocking her.
Elias had touched her like she was human.
Kissed her like he wasn’t afraid of what she could do.
She should’ve snapped his neck for that.
But she hadn’t.
And the worst part?
She didn’t want to.
Back at the mansion, the silence shattered with the slam of the front door.
Kieran stepped into the hallway like a storm looking for something to break. And he found it—leaning casually against the wall, sipping from a blood bag like nothing had happened.
Elias.
Their eyes locked.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Kieran said, voice low but dangerous.
Elias smirked without turning. “You’ll have to be more specific. What exactly did I enjoy?”
Kieran took a step closer, fists already curled again. “Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m talking about.”
Elias’s smile widened. “Ah. The kiss.”
Kieran’s jaw flexed.
“Are you jealous, wolf?” Elias asked, eyes glittering. “Because it looked a lot like jealousy from my angle.”
Kieran scoffed. “Do you even like her? Or was that just you trying to stake a claim you know you don’t deserve?”
Elias chuckled. “That’s rich—coming from the guy who only got a kiss to seal a magical contract.”
Kieran’s expression shifted. Something darker flared behind his eyes.
Elias leaned forward, voice like poison honey. “Face it. She kissed you because she had to. Me? She kissed me because she wanted to.”
Kieran snapped.
The punch came fast, a blur of fury, slamming into Elias’s jaw with enough force to rattle bone.
Elias stumbled back, then laughed as he wiped the blood from his lip.
“Touched a nerve, did I?”
He retaliated instantly, hurling Kieran across the hall. The wolf crashed into the wall, shattering plaster, the impact echoing like thunder.
Kieran roared and surged to his feet, but before he could launch again—
“Enough!”
Elysia’s voice split the tension like lightning.
She appeared between them in a blink, her eyes glowing faintly with fury. Her hand was pressed against Kieran’s chest, holding him back with effortless strength.
Her expression was blank—but her gaze carefully avoided Elias.
“I warned you both,” she said coldly. “No fighting in this house.”
Kieran glared at Elias, chest heaving. “He—”
“I don’t care,” she cut in.
Her voice was colder than the night outside.
She turned her head just enough to meet Kieran’s eyes. “You made a contract with me. You belong to me. You don’t get to throw punches over your feelings.”
That shut him up.
Elysia stepped away. “Sort yourselves out before I sort you both.”
Without another word, she vanished again—leaving behind only tension and blood on the air.
Kieran stayed frozen, breathing hard.
Elias slowly turned his head and looked at him.
Then he smiled.
A slow, victorious, infuriating smile.
“Looks like I win this round.”
- Writer
