[POV: Solenne]
Thalos left shortly after the revelation, deciding to proceed further into the abandoned floor, leaving them alone despite their earlier decision to remain close for safety.
The runes in the walls had stopped pulsing, and the air was still again, but Solenne wasn't.
Her heart thudded painfully inside her chest. Her hands were clenched tight around the old pendant, squeezing it so hard the cord bit into her skin.
She was breathing too fast, trying too hard not to make another sound, trying to make herself small. She didn't even realize she was trembling until a hand touched hers.
It was warm and steady… a grounding force she needed far more than she knew.
Ruvan knelt in front of her—not too close, not forcing her—but close enough that she could feel how he shielded her from the rest of the room, the rest of the world.
"You're alright," he said quietly, like he was afraid even his voice might hurt her. "You didn't hurt us."
Solenne shook her head sharply, frantic. Without Thalos, they couldn't speak directly, but she was too shaken from her memory to care.
She signed, [Not yet. But I could.]
Ruvan watched her for a long moment. He didn't understand what she said, but seemed to feel her intention.
Without a word, the Alpha reached for her hands—the ones still clutching the pendant—and slowly, carefully, peeled her fingers open. The pendant slipped free, falling into his palm.
He closed his fist around it, and then did something she didn't expect.
…He set it aside gently, almost reverently, as if telling her, without needing signs or words: 'You are more important than your grief.'
Solenne's chest swelled at the action, his gentleness stirring warmth inside that she hadn't felt in a long time. Her growing affection for this man and his seeming softness for her were beyond her comprehension, confusing her at every turn.
She couldn't help but wonder… 'Is this love? Is it even possible to fall in love without words?'
It sounded ridiculous—preposterous even. Perhaps it was the strength of their fated bond tugging at her heart, but even so… Solenne scolded herself for entertaining the thought.
'I am lucky to have a fated mate, I shouldn't be greedy. I can't wish for love,' she shook it off. 'Love isn't for someone like me.'
Someone who could hurt those she loved just by making a sound.
As Solenne studied Ruvan, she felt her body tense with anxiety. What if she hurt him someday? Suddenly, her newfound affection came with fear.
Fear that she would kill him, too.
⸻
[POV: Ruvan]
Solenne was still ready to bolt. He could feel it—the way her body leaned away even as her eyes stayed fixed on him… Like she couldn't believe he wasn't running too.
He didn't blame her. Although he had no details of her past aside from what she just admitted, he could tell that the world had taught her to expect abandonment.
It had forced her to believe that her existence was a weapon waiting to be fired.
He exhaled slowly and sat down properly across from her, his legs folding easily beneath him—a quiet, patient weight on the stone floor. No words, just presence.
"Not only didn't you hurt me, you saved me last night," he said, voice low. "You made it quiet. You stayed."
Ruvan observed as Solenne's mouth quivered, fighting off another bout of tears. Her hands twitched—instinctively reaching to speak—but she hesitated.
Afraid.
He reached out—not to grab or restrain her—but to offer his hands. He turned his palms skyward. "Teach me," he whispered.
Solenne blinked at him, confused.
"I can only learn so much from a book." He continued, slow and deliberate. "I meant it when I asked you to teach me. If you can't use your voice… then I'll learn to hear you differently."
——
[POV: Solenne]
Her throat worked in a tight swallow.
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she blinked them back fiercely. She didn't want to cry. Not now. Not when he offered something so rare and tender, it scared her more than her curse ever could.
Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out. Her fingers brushed his as she carefully took his hands in hers, trembling.
Solenne closed her eyes momentarily as she deliberated which words to teach. They should be simple, relevant words that she might use in their daily interactions.
First, she traced the word in his palm, then showed him how to make the sign by example.
[Thank you.]
[Safe.]
[Hungry.]
[Tired.]
He was determined as he emulated her movements, occasionally needing her assistance to correct his form.
His fingers stumbled through the motions, rough and ungraceful, but he didn't falter. When he finally shaped the signs correctly, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
When she finally looked up from his hands, she found Ruvan smiling.
'Another smile?' Solenne mused to herself happily. 'I'm so glad…'
It was a genuine smile. Not like someone humoring a child or tolerating a burden… but like someone who meant it.
"Is that all you'll teach me today?" Ruvan asked after a moment.
Solenne was about to nod, but as she looked at him—at his golden eyes, soft, snowy hair, and lovely, pointed facial features… she thought of one more word he needed to learn.
She held up her index finger to indicate there was another. When she traced the word into his palm, his eyes widened. "…Handsome?"
Solenne nodded shyly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, warmth rising to her cheeks. She reached a hand up and gently caressed his cheek, then pulled away and reiterated the sign.
[Handsome.]
"You think I'm handsome?" Ruvan asked with a lopsided smirk. "So handsome that it needed to be one of the first words I learn?"
It was unlike her to be so straightforward. Not because she didn't want to be, but because she neither had the chance nor the ability to flirt with someone.
Her heart thrummed noisily in her chest, but she steeled her resolve and nodded again.
"Good," he muttered, his voice low and seductive, "I hope you use the word often."
⸻
[POV: Ruvan]
The fortress might have been cracking, and the gods might have been stirring—but none of that mattered more than this.
Her hand was in his, and the shape of her words was between them.
The growing, stubborn certainty in his chest that he would learn every word she wanted to say, every story she had never been allowed to tell… even if it took him the rest of his life to hear it.
'I am impressed,' Kairas's voice filled Ruvan's mind. 'You are fond of her already.'
'What are you doing here?' Ruvan wondered bitterly, feeling like he had just been interrupted. 'And of course I'm fond of her, she's our fated mate—you even confirmed it.'
'Even so, you are a prick and difficult to earn affection from,' Kairas replied matter-of-factly.
'…Are you saying my personality is bad enough that you thought it could overpower fate?' Ruvan was stunned.
'That's precisely what I'm saying.'
'You're my wolf, Kairas—you're supposed to be on my side!'
'We've been together thousands of years. Of course, I am on your side… but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be honest. Because I am on your side, I am telling you that you're insufferable.'
'Fuck off,' Ruvan hissed.
With an amused and condescending chuckle, Kairas returned to the back of Ruvan's mind. He heaved a sigh, which made Solenne startle slightly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said softly. "Kairas was pissing me off, calling me a prick."
Solenne blinked a few times before her shoulders started to tremble with silent laughter.
"What? You think it's funny that my wolf bullies me?" Ruvan asked with a frown.
She nodded without hesitation, and before Ruvan could pout about her siding with Kairas, Solenne moved to sit beside him and leaned her head onto his shoulder, then signed:
[Handsome.]
"And now you're being cute?" he clicked his tongue in mock-irritation. "What am I going to do with you?"