Taking his hand
1033 Words
Calistas pov
I blinked hard. There was no anger in his voice. Just exhaustion.
A small smile touched my lips as I leaned back against the railing. “Well, your Majesty, you can’t exactly blame me for finding it. This entire party was created for you. You are the one person everyone wants to see.”
Slowly, Magnus turned his head and turned to me as his dark eyes met mine.
There was something different about seeing him like this. Not surrounded by guards. Not sitting on a throne. Not acting like the powerful Alpha King everyone feared.
Just… Magnus.
“What honor is that, Calista?” he asked quietly as I frowned slightly.
He pushed away from the railing and looked back toward the lights of the territory.
“I have lived a very long time,” he continued. “Long enough to understand people. I know why they throw parties like this. I know why they smile and pretend they respect me.”
His jaw worked hard as I saw his skin tighten against his teeth.
“They don’t care about me. They care about what I can give them.”
The honesty in his voice surprised me.
“The Alpha General. The King. The person sitting on the throne.” He gave a mocking laugh. “That is what they see. They want favors. Protection. Power. They think expensive decorations and meaningless celebrations are enough to impress me.”
He shook his head. “It is pathetic.”
I stared at him and for the first time, I realized something. Magnus wasn’t just feared. He was lonely.
Everyone in that room looked at him like he was untouchable, like he was something above them. But standing here, away from everyone else, I could see the weight he carried.
“You hate it,” I whispered as his eyes moved back to mine.
“What?”
“The way they treat you,” I repeated. “You hate it.”
A small silence passed between us as his expression softened a bit.
“I hate that they think they know me,” he said, the words staying between us.
Somehow, I understood as I knew exactly what that felt like.
People had decided who I was before they ever bothered to know me. Shiftless. Weak. Worthless.
But Magnus understood. Maybe that was why being near him felt so strange.
I swallowed, suddenly aware of the energy between us again. The pull, the connection.
It had been there from the moment I saw him in the dungeon. My heart started beating faster.
“I remember something you said,” I admitted as his expression changed a bit.
“Where?”
“The prison.”
His eyes darkened, but I continued.
“When you first saw me.”
The memory flashed through my mind. His voice. His expression. The way he had looked at me like he already knew something I didn’t.
“You said something about a mate.”
For the first time that night, Magnus looked caught off guard. Only for a second but I noticed.
“And what exactly are you asking me?” he asked as I took a small breath.
“I’m asking if it’s true.”
His eyes stayed on mine.
“Calista…”
“Are we mates?”
The question left my mouth before I could stop it. The second it did, everything changed. Magnus became completely still.
Then he turned fully toward me as he walked closer in a slow and careful manner, almost like he was giving me the chance to step away.
But I didn’t.
The closer he came, the stronger that feeling became. That strange warmth. That invisible connection pulling me toward him.
He stopped only a short distance away, his eyes moving over my face, stopping on the bruise on my cheek before returning to my eyes.
There was something in his expression that I had never seen before. It wasn’t anger or ice but something else.
“I felt it,” he finally admitted as I gasped.
“What?”
“The moment I saw you. I didn’t understand it at first. I thought it was impossible. I thought fate had a cruel sense of humor.”
I stared at him in shock.
“Because I’m shiftless?”
A flicker of anger crossed his face. “Because the world decided people like us were not supposed to have anything good.”
Something hooked my chest. People like us. The silence between us felt different now.
Before I could respond, a sharp knock against the glass interrupted us.
We both turned to see Kaelen standing on the other side of the door.
“It’s time, my King.”
The moment shattered as Magnus looked away, and whatever emotion that had been there disappeared behind the mask he wore so well.
He took a slow breath before looking back at me but this time, his expression was softer.
He extended his hand. “Come with me.”
I stared at it then shook my head. “No.”
His eyebrow lifted. “You’re refusing your King?”
A small smile almost appeared on my face. “The entire pack already thinks I’m a problem. If they see us walking back in together, they’ll know something is different.” I then lowered my voice. “I’m supposed to be your prisoner tonight.”
Magnus looked at me for a long moment before the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Maybe it is better that they see me taking you inside.” My heart skipped as he went on. “Instead of watching guards drag you around like you are something less than a person.”
His words hit deeper than I expected. I looked at his hand again then slowly placed mine in his.
His fingers wrapped around mine carefully, like he was afraid I would disappear.
For the first time that night, walking back into that room didn’t feel impossible as I wasn’t walking in alone.
“Shall we?” he asked. I looked up at him then with a smile, I nodded. And together, we stepped back into the party.
- Writer
