Choosing Her.

Theo's POV,

I turn around, eager to get back to Mira, only to find her already fixing her clothes.

Her fingers tremble as she smooths her dress, the fabric catching awkwardly.

She gathers her long black curls, dragging them back over her shoulder as if taming her hair might also tame what just happened.

I can tell that she's trying to regain control, but her hands are shaking, the desperation in her movements painfully clear.

"No, come on," I say, stepping closer, reaching for her, needing to hold her for just a second longer.

But she doesn't stop. Her movements grow faster, more frantic, like she's trying to outrun what just happened between us.

She's leaving. Of course she is.

Eryx's knock had come at the worst moment, right when we were seconds away from crossing the invisible line we'd tiptoed around for months.

Every barrier had finally crumbled. Every excuse to hold back had vanished. And then a knock, like a slap of reality. A sharp reminder that this… us… is forbidden.

"I have to go. He sent for me," she says, voice tight with urgency. Even then, her voice does things to me.

It always does.

There's something about how her words wrap around anything that makes me want to shut the world out and keep her here, close.

But I let her leave. Like I always do.

Every time she says she has duties, I step back. Every time she's summoned, I watch her walk away. Like I have no power to stop it.

And every time, it tears deeper into me, splitting my soul apart in that quiet, familiar pain.

Sometimes I wonder if it's some kind of witchcraft. Some curse the moon put on me. Because all my life, I have never wanted, never needed, never longed for anyone the way I do Mira Wolfe.

It's not like I haven't had lovers before. We aren't given fated mates; we choose, and the moon goddess blesses that bond, and solidifies it completely just like the other bonds she forms herself. That's how it works.

Among all the people I've been with, no one comes close to what Mira is to me. She didn't just capture my heart, she caged it, locked it away like it was hers before I ever offered it.

I don't know when it happened, or how. All I know is that from the moment I saw her, something shifted, and I haven't known peace since.

I wanted her near me. Needed her close. The space between us was unbearable.

My wolf stirred, howled, as if she were fate, something more than a chosen bond.

Maybe it was her eyes. Those deep blue, drowning eyes that pull me under every time she looks at me.

Maybe it was her face, so painfully beautiful it makes me ache.

Maybe it was her awkwardness, the clumsiness that makes her uncertain and yet still unravels every piece of my composure.

Or maybe it was how she makes me nervous, how she leaves me helpless, like I'd tear the whole world apart just to hold her for one more second.

But I don't think that's it. Anyone could be beautiful. Anyone could be awkward or clumsy. Anyone could make me want.

But Mira gets through me. Past my skin. Past my thoughts. Down to the place no one has ever reached.

Maybe it's just me, just me loving without reason or logic. Because I couldn't help it. From the first second, I couldn't stay away.

I remember the first time I talked to her. The memory still leaves a crooked smile on my lips.

I knew she was Morgana's servant, had no reason to be anywhere near me, but I found ways. Subtle ones. Orders I'd reroute. Requests that weren't necessary.

Little excuses to see her. To breathe the same air.

And when she came around, I'd start the dumbest conversations, random and pointless, just to make her comfortable, to see her smile, to keep her there a bit longer.

And then the glances stretched, grew longer, magnetic. Each one pulling at something we both tried to ignore.

Until one day, without warning, it led to our lips meeting. I had never felt so alive.

After that, everything changed. She started avoiding me like I was poison.

For a month, she was gone, even though she worked in the same house. It drove me insane.

When I finally saw her again, my chest nearly folded in on itself.

I needed her to understand, so when I got a moment alone, I told her everything. How much it ached when she stayed away. How I'd gone out of my way to see her.

She listened, overwhelmed, asked for time. I gave it to her. But it felt like ages before she finally let me back in.

And now here we are.

Sometimes I get mad at myself. Mad because I keep wondering what I'm waiting for. I already have her. She's here. She's mine in every way that matters.

I could claim her. Hold her close. Protect her from everything.

And yet… I hesitate.

Because deep down, I know how this will go.

No matter how much I love her, no matter how much I want her, this bond would never be allowed.

If our parents were still alive, they'd stand with the council to shut it down. They wouldn't protect me. They'd protect tradition.

Because even if the goddess lets us choose, that freedom is only real if the choice doesn't threaten the power structure.

They want alliances with powerful families. Strong bloodlines. Generations of strength.

Mira?

She's a servant omega. No one even knows who her parents were, only that they were servants who died nameless.

No legacy.

The pack would never accept her. They'd call her weakness.

But I don't.

They'd want me to be like Eryx, to marry for strategy. His mate came from a powerful family. It was what the council wanted.

But he loved her.

And me? No one will stop me from loving who I love.

The moment Mira says she's ready, I'll do it. I'll claim her.

And... Maybe she isn't ready because of me. Maybe I haven't shown her she's safe with me. That I'd stand between her and every threat.

Maybe I need to stop hesitating and start proving it.

Make her know that there is nothing more certain in this world than me choosing her.

Every time.