CHAPTER 11
1170 Words
(Aira’s POV)
The door didn’t just open.
Pumasok muna ang mahinang ugong—isang mahabang groooan na parang mismong bahay na ang nagbababala sa kanya na huwag mong ituloy ‘yan, Alpha… hindi ka dapat pumasok dito.
Pero pumasok pa rin si Cassian.
The moment he stepped inside, parang may humigop ng init mula sa buong kwarto. The temperature crashed—bumagsak, sumadsad—so fast na nag-c***k ang lamig sa hangin. Yung lantern sa likod niya nag-hiss, tumiklop, at namatay bigla.
Darkness swallowed the room.
For one heartbeat, wala akong nakita kundi itim.
Hanggang sa maramdaman ko.
Yung frost na gumagapang sa balat ko—nag-glow. A faint, icy light. Parang may sariling buhay. Parang tinatawag ko siya… o tinatakbuhan niya ako.
It reacted to him.
Or maybe… it feared him.
Cassian’s boots crunched when he stepped on the ice forming on my floor. His breath fogged out in white clouds. His shoulders lifted—small, tense—before his eyes finally met mine.
And he froze.
Hindi dahil sa lamig.
But because of how I looked.
“Aira.”
Just my name. Pero Diyos ko… the way he said it—soft, raw, halos parang nasaktan siya sa nakita niya. Hindi iyon boses ng Alpha King. Hindi iyon ang boses ng isang taong dapat matapang at malamig.
It was the voice of a man who saw something he wasn’t prepared for.
“I told you,” I whispered, shaking. “Sabi ko naman sayo… you didn’t need to come in.”
He clenched his jaw.
“You really think I could stand outside while you—”
He glanced around, eyes sharp.
“—while this was happening?”
“This is nothing,” I lied.
Lamang-loob ko alam na hindi iyon totoo. The cold was pulsing, breathing, reacting like some ancient thing waking up inside me.
He took a step toward me.
Agad nagreact ang frost—kumislap, kumurba, parang biglang naging buhay. They reached for him, warning him to stay back.
Pero wala. Hindi siya tumigil.
“Cassian,” I choked out, “don’t. Please. Hindi ko ‘to makontrol. I don’t know what it’ll do if you get closer.”
“I’m already close.”
And he was.
Too close.
Close enough para marinig ko yung uneven drag ng breathing niya. Yung scent niya—cedar, cold wind, at init na hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit hinahanap ng katawan ko.
Close enough na naramdaman ko yung pull.
Yung connection na hindi ko maintindihan pero hindi ko rin ma-deny.
“Look at me,” he said quietly.
“I can’t,” I whispered shakily. “Not like this.”
“Too late,” he murmured. “I already see you.”
My chest twisted so painfully I almost gasped.
He reached for me slowly—sobrang dahan-dahan—pero mabilis ang response ng lamig. The cold lashed out, brute and sudden. The wind slammed outward, knocking a chair over, shattering the lantern glass. Snow spun in the air like tiny, sharp stars.
I flinched. “God—Cassian, stop! Please—”
But Cassian didn’t even blink.
He walked straight through the storm.
“Aira,” he said firmly, “breathe.”
“I am breathing—”
“No, you’re panicking.”
His voice gentled, softening in a way that only made everything worse—worse because I felt it too much.
“And you’re doing it alone. Let me in.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“I don’t know how!”
My voice cracked open—raw and painful.
“Cassian… every emotion I feel, every fear—every time Bella smiles at me, every time you talk to me in that voice you don’t even realize you use… this thing inside me reacts. It gets stronger. Colder.”
May nag-shift sa mukha niya.
Recognition.
Awareness.
Fear—but not for himself.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Because I don’t want you looking at me the way you’re looking at me now.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.”
“I’m not,” he repeated, slower, deeper. “Because it’s you.”
The words hit something inside me so violently na parang may pumutok sa dibdib ko.
Frost cracked across the wall—white lightning spreading.
“Cassian…” I whispered.
“Let me in.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
Another violent pulse ripped out of me—storm bursting outward.
Cassian moved first.
Before I could stop him—
He grabbed my wrist.
Skin to skin.
The warmth slammed into me.
And the cold—
exploded.
Frost surged out in a blinding wave, but instead of hurting him, instead of slicing through flesh—
The storm curled around him.
Soft.
Swirling.
Almost gentle.
I stared in horror.
He stared in disbelief.
“…Aira.”
Something pulled inside me—dangerous, familiar, terrifying.
I ripped my hand away.
Agad tumaas ang lamig—violent again, scared, desperate.
He frowned.
“Why did you pull away?”
“Because,” I whispered, trembling, “I don’t want you to see what I become when you touch me.”
“And what exactly are you?”
Before I could answer—
Agony stabbed behind my eyes.
A flash.
White.
A crown of ice.
Wind screaming.
A voice calling my name—cold and ancient.
My knees buckled.
Cassian lunged forward.
“Aira!”
“I’m fine,” I forced out.
“You’re not.”
I opened my eyes—
And the way Cassian looked at me…
Like he was seeing something terrifying.
And beautiful.
Because my eyes—
were glowing.
Not blue.
Not silver.
But crystalline white.
Snowborn white.
Cassian’s breath caught.
“Aira… what are you?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Pero whatever it is… your world has every reason to fear it.”
He stepped closer—slow, determined.
“Then let me be the one who helps you face it.”
For a moment, hindi alam ng storm sa loob ko kung tatakbo ba ako…
or if I should reach for him.
But he still wasn’t done.
“Aira…” His voice dropped lower. “Your eyes. Your power. The storm.”
He swallowed.
“I’ve felt this before.”
My blood froze.
“What do you mean?” I asked, voice barely there.
His jaw locked.
“The night my mate was killed… the Snow Court unleashed a storm exactly like this.”
My world shattered.
“Cassian…” My voice broke. “Please don’t say that.”
But he had already seen.
He cupped the back of my head—gentle, steady—forcing my gaze to his.
“Aira,” he breathed, “you’re Snowborn.”
“No,” I whispered, shaking. “No, I can’t be—”
But the storm inside me surged—
violently
overwhelming
uncontainable—
—and the world went white.
- Writer
