21.1

‘Oh my god, how long was I asleep?’ Tempest gasped suddenly, jolting Nuri out of Kalmin’s embrace.
She took a quick step back, flustered. “Sorry,” she said to Kalmin, cheeks flushed. “Temp just woke up.”
Kalmin gave an understanding nod and didn’t press. Nuri knew Tempest would see whatever happened between them eventually, but kissing Kalmin while her wolf was awake felt too intimate. Too exposed.
“Rian’s stirring too,” Kalmin said, nodding toward the house. “You should tell her what we did before she rips it from your head.”
‘What did you do?’ Tempest asked, suspicious and laser-focused on Kalmin.
“We merged while you were asleep,” Nuri explained, trying to keep her tone even. “He filled in the memory gaps you left me with.” She said, then cringed at the sound of her words. “I didn’t mean that as a jab, I swear.”
‘I didn’t take it that way. I know I’m the reason they’re there,’ Tempest said softly. She watched through Nuri’s eyes as they stepped into Kalmin’s house. In the kitchen, Nuri poured herself a glass of water and chugged it, then another. Tempest's tone shifted as she felt Nuri’s pulse still racing. ‘Are you okay? I’m guessing the merge went well, considering what you were doing when I woke up.’
“I expected the memories to be awful,” Nuri admitted. “But they weren’t. I mean… some parts were. But not the ones I thought.” She stepped aside as Kalmin grabbed a glass and mirrored her thirst. “Is this—like, is extreme thirst normal?”
“Not that I know of,” Kalmin said, finishing his second glass before refilling it and handing it to her. His fingers brushed hers. She tried not to react, but the slight tilt of his head told her he noticed. “Merges are rare. Only mates can do them, and even then, most don’t.”
“Rian’s upset,” he added as she took a long sip. “That we did it without him.”
“Temp is too,” Nuri said, holding Kalmin’s gaze. She searched his eyes—really looked—and knew Rian was watching through them. “But we needed this. Just us. You and I had to fix what was broken.”
“I told him that,” Kalmin muttered, jaw flexing. “Didn’t care. But now that you’ve said it, suddenly he’s all sunshine. Told me to thank you for trying.”
'Does this mean you two are together now?' Rian blurted, practically vibrating with excitement.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Kalmin said, though the smile tugging at the edge of his lips told a different story. “Not yet.”
Nuri’s heart stuttered.
“Get dressed. Bring your books. We need to go,” Kalmin said, his voice dropping lower as if the tension between them hadn’t just thickened.
‘What was the merge like?’ Rian asked curiously.
“One-sided. I didn’t go digging. I only let her see my memories,” Kalmin replied, walking to his room. He turned on the shower, then laid out a pair of black slacks and a fitted black button-down.
'Even after seeing what I did to Gael, she still kissed you?' Rian asked. 'I mean—aside from the one you had to share.'
Kalmin smirked to himself. ‘And what a kiss that was.’ “I didn’t show her that part,” he said aloud. “She might’ve forgiven it, but Tempest? No way.”
'Do you think Gael can recover enough in eight weeks for the fight to be fair?'
“He won’t be back to full strength,” Kalmin admitted, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist. “But even at seventy-five percent, he’s not stronger than her. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
'You’ll never convince Tempest of that.'
“Unless you tell her yourself, I won’t need to,” Kalmin muttered, towel-drying his hair. He froze when he heard a soft knock. “Yes?”
“Can I come in?” Nuri’s voice came through the door.
Kalmin yanked on his pants before answering, “Yeah.”
Nuri stepped inside. Kalmin’s gaze swept over her, slowly. Tight black pants. A crossover sports bra that showed just enough to send his thoughts spiraling. He cleared his throat, pretending to be unaffected. “We won’t be training until later. I’ve got two mediations first. Then we’ll grab lunch before hitting the training grounds,” he said, trying not to stare. “It’s fine.”
“Okay. Am I driving, or…?”
“We’ll go together.”
‘Good thing I was asleep,’ Tempest purred, unmistakably smug. ‘Any longer and you two would’ve ended up doing way more than just kissing.’
“You’re not helping,” Nuri muttered, cheeks blazing. She thanked Kalmin and retreated to her room, throwing herself into packing her bag. “Bylaws and lineage today? Kalmin says one’s more important, Moira says the other—might as well cram both.”
‘He told me that last night,’ Tempest said. ‘Did he show you that too?’
"I know, I saw that too. The first time he realized he was developing feelings for me he was livid. Did you know Rian threatened to revolt and kill both of them if Kalmin didn't start treating me right?"

'I did not, but I can't say it surprises me. It looks like it's not all being forced on him, he's starting to care for you all on his own.'
"Temp," Nuri whispered with a breathy sigh as she stepped into the bathroom and perched on the countertop beside the sink. The soft hum of silence wrapped around her as she leaned in toward the mirror, her eyes locking on their own reflection. She stared, long and deep, until her own gaze blurred and shimmered—until it felt like she wasn’t looking at herself at all, but at something buried inside. At someone.
"I swear I can see you," she murmured, voice barely louder than a breath. Her fingertips ghosted across the surface of the mirror. "Everyone always told me I was crazy when I said that, but you’re really there, aren’t you?"
Tempest stirred quietly in the back of her mind, gentler than usual. ‘You sound different.’
"I feel different." Her lips curved faintly, dreamy and slow, like a smile caught in the drift of something much deeper than thought. "He showed me everything, Temp."
A quiet beat passed.
‘Well… that’s good, right?’ Tempest asked, cautious, waiting for the sting that usually followed.
Nuri exhaled, soft and full of weight. She didn’t blink. Didn’t look away. "I saw the worst of him. The first time he saw me, he hated me—so deeply, so completely. I felt how much he wanted me gone. How he toyed with the idea of making me end it myself. Or doing it for me."
She paused, a flicker of pain passing through her eyes—but it didn’t linger.
"But then… then I saw it shift. Little by little. And not because he wanted it to. He fought it every step of the way. That’s what hit the hardest—he tried not to fall. He hated that it was happening, but it did anyway. And it’s so strong now, Temp."