Chapter 7: The First Lesson
1078 Words
Lirael arrived at the study door on time.
Her hand rose, then stopped in midair. Kael's words from last night were still turning in her mind—"You are my Omega."
She took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in."
She pushed open the door. The fire in the hearth burned bright, filling the room with a warmth that made her eyelids heavy. Kael stood by the window, his back to her, moonlight falling across his shoulders and stretching his shadow long across the floor.
"Come here." He did not turn around.
Lirael walked over and stopped two steps behind him.
Kael turned. His gray eyes swept over her—taking in the cloak draped across her shoulders, the straight line of her posture, the absence of yesterday's retreat in her eyes.
"Today, we continue." He moved to the center of the room. "Stand before me."
Lirael walked over and stood in front of him. Close. Close enough to see the line of his jaw.
"Do you remember how it felt yesterday?"
"Yes."
"Then do it again. Release your pheromones."
Lirael closed her eyes and tried to reach for the gland at the base of her neck. But it felt dead again. Nothing.
She bit her lip, clenching her fists.
"I cannot feel it."
"Then try again."
She tried again. Nothing.
A third time. Nothing.
"I cannot do it." Her voice began to shake.
Kael said nothing.
Silence pressed down like a wall. Lirael felt something grip her heart—he would be disappointed. He would think she really was worthless.
"Look at me."
She looked up.
Kael stood very close. His gray eyes held no disappointment, no impatience. Only something she could not name.
"You are too tense," he said, his voice lower than usual. "What are you afraid of?"
Lirael hesitated.
"Afraid I will be disappointed?" Kael answered for her.
She said nothing, but her face gave her away.
The corner of Kael's mouth moved—not a smile, something she could not read.
"Do you think I have not seen worse than you?" he asked.
"I—"
"You are the worst." Kael cut her off. "But that does not mean you cannot improve. You are just—too eager to prove yourself."
Lirael bit her lip.
"Relax." Kael's hand came down on her shoulder, his palm warm. "Do not think about the result. Only think about your anger."
She closed her eyes.
Anger. She had plenty of anger. At Elara. At the whole clan. At the world that had ground her into the mud.
"They call me worthless," she said, her voice low and trembling.
"Yes."
"They made me drink wormwood juice. Made me kneel at doorways. Made me live like a dog."
"Yes."
"Why?" Her voice grew louder. "Why should I be treated like this?"
The gland pulsed.
Kael's hand tightened.
"That is it." His voice came from above her, low and rough. "Keep going."
Lirael's pheromones released.
This time, it was not the faint whisper of yesterday. It came like a flood held back too long, bursting from the gland—
Cold. Clear. Like spring water from deep in the mountains, carrying something beneath it that could not be named.
Kael's fingers tightened.
Lirael opened her eyes and met his gaze.
His pupils had dilated. His jaw was set, like a man holding himself back.
"Your pheromones…" His voice came out rough, almost unrecognizable. "They are not like ordinary Omegas."
"What do you mean?"
Kael did not answer. His hand left her shoulder. He stepped back. Whatever had flickered across his face vanished, replaced by the same cold mask as before.
"That is enough for today."
Lirael stood there, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.
"I…" She wanted to say something, but the words would not come.
"Go rest."
She turned toward the door. Her hand on the handle, she stopped.
"Kael."
"Yes."
"What you said yesterday… that I am your Omega. Did you mean it?"
Silence.
Lirael did not turn around. She was afraid of what she might see on his face.
"What do you think?" His voice came from behind her, giving nothing away.
She pushed the door open and walked out.
The hallway was cold. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
"What do you think?"
She had no answer.
But she knew one thing—she wanted those words to be true.
---
In the study.
Kael stood at the window, his fingers pressed to his chest.
His heart was beating too fast.
Her pheromones—that cold, clear taste, like mountain spring water—still lingered in the air. He drew a breath, then another.
Not like ordinary Omegas.
Not like any Omega he had ever scented.
He closed his eyes and saw her as she had been moments ago. Eyes shut, lashes trembling, lips slightly parted, her face a mixture of rage and defiance.
When she said "Why should I be treated like this," he had almost—
Almost what?
Kael opened his eyes and looked at the moon outside his window.
"What are you doing?" he asked himself in a low voice.
No one answered.
But his fingers were still pressed to his chest. His heart had not yet slowed.
---
At the same moment.
At the other end of the hallway, Elara stood before her window.
She had not slept. She was waiting.
Waiting for footsteps at the end of the hall.
Waiting for Lirael to leave Kael's study.
The door opened. Footsteps echoed. Through the c***k in her door, Elara watched Lirael walk down the corridor—the cloak draped over her shoulders, her face carrying something Elara had never seen there before.
It was not humility. Not fear.
It was light.
Lirael's eyes held light.
Elara's hands clenched. Her nails dug into her palms, but she felt no pain.
"You think he wants you?" she whispered, her voice like venom. "You think you deserve him?"
She turned and walked to the mirror.
The woman in the mirror was beautiful. Moonlight-colored hair, pale blue eyes, perfect features.
But there was no gentleness on that face. Only cold, bone-deep hatred.
"I will show you," Elara said, smiling at her reflection. That smile was a blade. "What true despair means."
Moonlight fell across her face. Her shadow twisted on the wall, writhing like something alive beneath her skin.
That thing—the parasite—was smiling.
- Writer
