Chapter 3
1117 Words
Nymera’s POV
The girl looked disappointed and Astra immediately smirked into her drink. But before she could say anything smug, another girl spoke.
“Then maybe Nymera can teach you.”
The entire table went quiet. I nearly choked on my juice.
“M-Me?”
The girls exchanged looks before one shrugged carelessly.
“You two are always together anyway.”
Astra’s fingers tightened slightly around her cup while Kaelith looked completely unbothered. “Nymera doesn’t like crowded dances.”
I stared at him in surprise.
He remembered that?
The girl sighed dramatically. “See? This is exactly what I mean.”
Astra suddenly stood up.
“Well, this conversation is boring.” She grabbed my wrist before I could react. “Come on, Nymera. Let’s get dessert.”
I stumbled after her in confusion while she dragged me away from the table. Once we reached the dessert tables, she finally released my wrist.
“Are you okay?” she asked
me casually while cutting herself a slice of cake.
I blinked. “Of course.”
“Hm.”
She kept her eyes on the cake instead of me. Then, after a few seconds, she forced a grin onto her face again.
“At least those annoying girls stopped talking.”
I smiled a little. “You hate it when girls flirt with Kaelith.”
Astra immediately scoffed. “Please. I just hate annoying people.”
But something about the way she said it felt slightly off. Before I could think too deeply about it, Kaelith suddenly appeared beside us.
“You disappeared.”
Astra shoved a plate toward him. “Here. Eat something and stop looking so serious all the time.”
“I don’t always look serious.”
“You absolutely do.”
He ignored her and looked at me instead.
“Your father said he’ll be late tonight. I’m supposed to walk you home.” My chest warmed instantly. Astra smiled again. But this time, the smile didn’t fully reach her eyes.
After that night, things between Kaelith and me changed without either of us saying anything about it. He started finding excuses to spend more time with me outside our usual trio. Sometimes he came to the archives where Daddy worked just to “return a book”, even though the palace servants could have easily done it for him. Other times, he dragged me to watch warrior training because he claimed I spent “too much time indoors.”
“I like indoors,” I complained one afternoon while following him through the palace courtyard.
“You also like books so much that you forget sunlight exists.”
“There’s nothing wrong with books.”
“There is when you start squinting at daylight like a vampire.”
I gasped softly while Astra burst into laughter beside us.
“You finally made Nymera offended,” she teased him.
Kaelith looked entirely unapologetic. “Good. Maybe now she’ll stop hiding in libraries.”
I glared at him while he smiled slightly. That smile always ruined my ability to stay annoyed at him. By sixteen, Kaelith had already become one of the strongest young wolves in the pack. Even older warriors praised him during training sessions. Everyone respected him and they listened when he spoke. And I fell more and more with the way he treated me.
Like how he always sat beside me during gatherings, even when there were empty seats everywhere else. Or how he unconsciously searched for me first whenever he entered a room. Or the way his entire mood changed anytime I looked upset.
One evening, the three of us sat together on the palace balcony while Astra aggressively peeled oranges.
“You know people talk about you two constantly now, right?” she suddenly said.
I nearly dropped the cup in my hands.
Kaelith barely reacted. “People talk too much.”
Astra snorted. “You literally stare at Nymera like she hung the moon.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
I quickly looked away before either of them saw my face heating up.
Astra tossed an orange slice into her mouth before continuing casually, “Even the palace maids gossip about it.”
Kaelith frowned slightly. “About what?”
Astra stared at him for a long moment before laughing.
“Never mind. You’re hopeless.”
He rolled his eyes while I tried very hard not to smile into my drink.
Truthfully, everyone in the pack had already started assuming I would become Kaelith’s future mate someday. At first, people found it ridiculous. A wolfless omega with the future Alpha? Impossible. But Kaelith made things worse by openly staying attached to me no matter what others thought. Once, during a harvest festival, one drunken warrior laughed and asked Kaelith if he planned on carrying me around forever since I “couldn’t even shift.”
Kaelith punched him so hard that the man lost a tooth. After that, people became more careful with their comments around us. Not because they respected me. Because they feared Kaelith.
Still, whispers followed me everywhere.
“She’s lucky.”
“How can a wolfless omega catch the prince’s attention?”
“He’ll eventually choose someone stronger.”
I heard everything.
Even when they whispered.
Sometimes it hurt badly enough that I avoided gatherings completely.
But Kaelith always came looking for me.
Like tonight.
I sat alone near the back gardens with a book in my lap when footsteps approached.
“You disappeared again.”
I looked up to see Kaelith holding two cups of tea.
“I didn’t disappear.”
“You left without telling anyone.”
I shrugged softly. “The gathering was loud.”
He sat beside me anyway.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he handed me one of the cups.
I smiled quietly. “Thank you.”
“You’ve been avoiding people lately.”
I stared down at the tea. “People talk a lot.”
Kaelith’s expression darkened slightly.
“Did someone say something to you?”
I immediately shook my head. “No.”
“Nymera.”
The way he said my name made my chest tighten.
I sighed softly. “It’s nothing.”
He stayed quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“You know I don’t care what they think, right?”
I looked up slowly.
Kaelith leaned back against the bench, looking oddly serious.
“I’m tired of people acting like there’s something wrong with you.”
I forced a small smile. “There i
s something wrong with me.”
“There isn’t.”
“I’m sixteen and still don’t have a wolf.”
- Writer
