My Rare

ULRIC KNIGHT

The thick scent of ink and parchment still clung to the air as I stood at the head of the long table in my office. A map of the northern perimeter was spread out in front of me, littered with red markers and shifting worry.

"They're closing in," Marek said, tracing a path near the Ridgepoint border. "Three incursions in four nights. That's not drift behavior."

"Not random either," Kian added. "These aren't rogues acting alone. They're coordinated."

Hayden stood at my side, silent but attentive. I glanced at him briefly, and he gave me a small nod. He felt it too.

"Two of our patrols were nearly overrun," I said, voice flat. "And the last body we recovered? That was no animal kill. That was marked."

"They're baiting us," Kian muttered.

I didn't respond right away.

Instead, I stared at the map, fingers braced on the edge of the table. My mind sorted through strategies, fallback points, rotations

...until something shifted.

It hit like a gust to the chest.

Not from outside. Not from the war. From within.

A heaviness. Sharp. Sinking.

"Increase the southeast patrol rotations. Double up scouts along the ridge. No solo routes until we know what we're facing." I order trying to work through this feeling.

I blinked once, steadying myself against the edge of the table as the sensation pressed into me like a rising tide. Tightness behind the ribs. Coldness in the gut. Something wrong.

I stood straighter, masked it instantly. But Hayden's eyes flicked toward me anyway.

"You alright?" he asked lowly.

I nodded once. "Continue," I said to the others.

They resumed.

But I wasn't listening.

That feeling wasn't mine. It was hers.

Aelia.

She was afraid. Or startled. Something had shaken her. But I couldn't see it, couldn't fix it, not yet.

And that not knowing, burned.

After a few more minutes of coordination and response planning, I dismissed the meeting with a low "That's all." Kian and Marek gathered their papers and left, murmuring about patrol rotations as they exited.

Only Hayden lingered.

He didn't speak right away. Just crossed his arms and gave me that look, the one that said he wasn't going to let it go.

He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "You okay?"

I nodded once. Sharp. Mechanical. "Fine."

"You don't look fine."

I met his eyes, but I didn't answer.

Because it was too much. And also... not enough.

The feeling passed as quickly as it had hit. Like a crashing wave that leaves the shore soaked and quiet behind it.

Hayden blinked slowly, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ulric…"

"I know."

"It's starting."

I looked back at the table, at the half-folded patrol map I was no longer seeing.

"I know you're trying to take it slow. I get it," he said, voice softer now. "But the longer you delay the bond, the more it'll mess with both of you. She won't even realize what's happening. Her body's going to start reacting like you're part of it."

"I'm aware," I said calmly. "It's not the bond. Not just the bond. It's her. I don't know what happened, but she felt… helpless. I've felt her fear but I've never felt this through her before."

Hayden watched me for a beat, then sighed and nodded.

"I trust you. Just don't wait too long, I don't want to see both of you suffer. She doesn't know what this bond can do to her. If something hits again like that, and you're not connected… it won't just hurt you. It could destroy her."

With that, he stepped away, giving me a small nod before heading for the door.

When it closed, the silence returned.

I stayed there, still braced on the table, unmoving for several seconds. My mind flicked between the rogues, what they wanted, and Aelia. Her silence. Her fear. And how damn powerless it made me feel.

By the time the morning sun tilted higher across the windows, I felt it.

Her Presence, Warm.

She's here.

I stood slowly, letting the papers fall into their place.

Without saying a word, I walked to the far wall of my office and pulled back the heavy curtain. The window faced downward into the open gallery of the main library below.

And there she was.

Aelia.

Her hair was still slightly damp. She wore a soft blouse that caught the light when she moved. She was standing beside my mother, saying something I couldn't hear but I could see the smile. It wasn't forced. It wasn't held together by habit. It was real. A soft curve of her lips as mother leaned in to say something, my Aelia laughed in return, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

The knot in my chest loosened.

Just seeing her. Alive. Breathing. Laughing.

Safe.

I'd spent the morning surrounded by blood maps and attack routes. But there she was, with ink-stained fingers and a smile that looked like spring.

I leaned against the windowframe, eyes on her. Every part of me slowed down, anchored. She didn't even have to be near me just in the building was enough.

Then it happened.

She paused.

Her eyes turned upward, toward my office window.

She saw me.

And she didn't look away.

For a second, we just stared at each other, like time folded into that single look.

I didn't beckon her.

Didn't gesture.

But some part of me whispered, Come up.

And she moved.

She says something to Maria, who smiles and nods, and then turns toward the staircase.

Climbing.

Coming to me, of her own choice.

I stood there, waiting.

She knocks, soft. Barely there but I feel it like a jolt.

"Come in." I say as I cross the room slowly, not wanting to look too eager though every part of me already knows it's her.

I lean against the desk, arms crossed, letting the warmth in my chest bleed into my voice.

The door opens and there she is.

My mate. My breathtaking gorgeous mate.

Hair still slightly damp, a dark purple sill blouse that clings to her shoulders, a nervous flick in her gaze that she tries to hide by staring somewhere near my collarbone.

It physically hurts not to touch her.

"Good morning, my Luna."

Her eyes widen slightly. The soft shade of red rushes into her cheeks. She looks down instantly, adorable, as always.

"Uh… good morning..Ulric," she mutters, voice soft and caught somewhere between startled and shy. My name being said by her in that soft voice, it's like salvation.

Goddess.

She walks in, keeping her eyes away from mine like I'm some walking storm she's trying not to step into.

She stands a few steps away from me, fiddling with the sleeve of her blouse, and I let myself enjoy the sight of her here, in my space.

Where she belongs.

"What time are you off work today?" I question as I unbutton my cuffs and roll my sleeves up to my elbows.

I look up to find her staring at my arms then shakes her head and looks back at my face.

She blinks at me. "Uh...um, I think I'm done by six?"

"Good." I nod once, taking a step towards her. I bring my hand forward and tilt her chin up towardsy face forcing her to look into my eyes and let my voice drop slightly lower.

"Stay."

Her eyebrows scrunches, "Stay?"

I meet her eyes, dead on. "Yes, stay after you're done, I'd like to spend time with my mate."

I pause. Let the words settle between us.

"It's about time, don't you think?"

There it is again.

The frozen blink. The slight parting of her lips. She opens her mouth like she wants to say something, maybe to protest and deny, but it just comes out as a rush of air.

"I–uh, yeah, okay. I–um. Sure. Yeah."

And just like that, she turns and practically bolts from the room, her steps fast and flustered.

I let the door fall shut behind her, and I laugh.

The kind that starts in your chest and rolls up your throat.

She has no idea what she does to me.

❦︎ To Be Continued ❦︎