Beneath The Silence

Nyssara

Shit. Almost midnight.

I stared at the massive clock hung over the far wall, as if mocking me, the ticking was louder now that I noticed it.

I should’ve left earlier. Should’ve let the guards handle him instead of stepping in myself.

But I didn’t. I couldn't. Something about him, Rhyven, had unsettled me in a way I hadn’t expected. Not in fear. In recognition. His power attracted me. It was... dormant. Knotted in on itself. Like a chord plucked out of tune.

He doesn’t even know who he is.

That thought should’ve stayed on the surface. It didn’t. It dug in and refused to leave.

Rhyven

"So an average car outruns me now."

I gave a humorless chuckle as I made my way up the stone path toward the mansion’s side entrance. My towel hung carelessly over one shoulder, a dry excuse for having gone out to train again. I wasn’t supposed to. But no one in this house ever asked me what I was supposed to do. They’d already decided who I was.

Weak. A mistake. An embarrassment.

Alphas were born strong. So if I wasn’t strong… why had the seers labeled me an Alpha?

“Welcome,” came Erivan’s ludicrous voice before I’d even stepped inside.

He was already deep in conversation with Levi, his back turned, voice loud, acting extra.

“I hope you enjoyed your night,” I said casually, stepping through. “If you’re all good, I’m going to get some rest. It’s been exhausting.”

I offered a lazy half-smile, hoping they’d take the hint and let me disappear.

“Yes, yes, Rhyv,” Erivan waved a hand dismissively.

Too engrossed to be bothered.

“Anyway, I’m telling you, she was mesmerized by me. The way she looked at me, the way she bit her lip, it was enticing.”

I paused on the steps.

Levi’s reply came dry and sharp. “She has a dozen suitors, Erivan. She glanced at you, and your delusional mind spun it into a love confession.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Erivan huffed. “I’m strong, rich, politically powerful. I’m every woman’s dream.”

Levi scoffed. “If you changed your circle, you'd find there are lots of men with better 'credentials'. "

I should’ve kept walking. I usually did when the room filled with this much ego. But something rooted me in place. Maybe it was the name they hadn’t said yet. Maybe it was the knot in my chest that hadn’t loosened since the garden.

I stood silently, arms crossed, until Levi noticed me.

“Didn’t you say you were going to bed?”

“Your voice energizes me, dear cousin,” I answered smoothly.

Levi visibly flinched. Worth it.

I tilted my head. “So? Who’s the unfortunate soul Erivan thinks fancies him?”

“I met someone who fancied me,” Erivan corrected, smug. “The Lady of Aurellian. Nyssara.”

Silence.

Levi and I shared a glance.

I forced a nod. “Then I wish you luck.”

I turned for the stairs, but the little calm I’d built while training cracked. Something about hearing her name in his mouth felt... wrong.

“You should know not to give me hope, Nyssara,” I muttered under my breath.

Not that she had. She hadn’t flirted. Hadn’t smiled coyly or batted her lashes. She’d simply told the truth. About my power. My body. My training.

And somehow, in just a few words, she’d seen through years of lies I’d told myself.

Later that night, I sat on the edge of my bed.

The heater still hadn’t been fixed, probably my siblings’ idea of a joke, but I barely noticed the cold. My mind kept returning to her voice. Her words.

Giving it different wordings to better understand it.

“The way you're training, it’s fighting against you, not building you.”

“Your body doesn't respond to brute force. It’s seeking something else.”

What the hell did she mean by that?

I remembered something Levi said once, talking about her behind closed doors.

"I wouldn’t call her a seer. Not really. She doesn’t see the future—she sees through illusions. Through lies. Through people.”

Erivan had laughed and added, "It’s like her parents knew. They named her Nyssara. 'One who sees.'”

It looped in my head, a quiet hum that wouldn’t fade. She’d spoken like she’d seen others like me. Helped them. Guided them.

But no one was like me.

I was the forgotten Alpha.

Still... something shifted in me tonight. A promise.

Tomorrow, things will be different.

The next day, I set out through the winding streets of Reign City with one thought in mind: I needed to see her again.

I didn’t know how I’d explain myself, or if she’d even want to see me. I just knew I needed answers.

I was walking toward her estate when I spotted her.

She wore a flowing blue dress that seemed like it belonged to the sky. Beside her was a man I vaguely recognized, her cousin, I thought. He was looking at her the way men do when they wish they were more than friends, or in this case 'family'.

I wasn't sure how her family would respond to that, regardless of the fact they were distant cousins. So distant it didn't matter, he wasn't even an Alpha.

I stayed at a distance, keeping to the edges of the street.

' Not stalking, just watching.' I told myself repeatedly.

They moved toward a grand old building tucked between shops and towers. A library. Its stone facade was ancient, and the heavy doors opened like a secret told only to those worthy enough to enter.

I followed them inside.

She didn’t notice me. Or if she did, she made no sign. Her attention was on the shelves, her cousin, the books.

She stopped in front of a section lined with old volumes bound in worn out leather. Her fingers trailed along the spines, slow and reverent. Then she pulled one. Its cover bore symbols I didn’t recognize.

As she flipped through its yellowed pages, her eyes lit with something almost like.. reverence.

I stood still, tucked behind a shelf, watching. I didn’t know why I stayed. I just did.

Her cousin said something. She laughed. I hadn’t heard that sound before, from her or anyone else like her. It was sharp and light and real.

My eyes drifted over the books surrounding us. I’d always hated them. Especially the ones about power, lineage, magic. Most were lies dressed as knowledge. Stories told by wolves who needed myths to delude their weakness.

Like how Omegas were at the bottom of the chain. Or how there could only ever be one Alpha. And yet... here I was.

Maybe the books were wrong. Or maybe I was just unfinished.

I looked at her again.

Her eyes darted towards me and, just for a second, met mine.

I froze. A single heartbeat. But then she looked away, back to her book, as if I hadn’t existed at all.

I exhaled slowly.

Maybe I imagined the connection.

Maybe I didn’t.

But I stayed a while longer anyway, surrounded by stories, secrets, and her.

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