Riven should have known better.
He really should have.
That thought hit him half a second too late, right as he pushed aside the hide curtain and stepped into the side chamber without knocking.
Nyss was there.
Very much there.
And very much not dressed.
Riven froze, his brain short-circuiting entirely. Time seemed to stand still.
Nyss spun around, silver eyes wide as moonlight, her hands flying instinctively to cover herself.
For a single heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then
"OUT!" she screamed.
A sharp Lunar chain shot across the room and wrapped around Riven's ankle. It yanked him back so fast he landed hard on the floor outside the chamber, sliding across the stone like a ragdoll.
The curtain slammed shut behind him.
Riven groaned and pressed a hand to his face. "I—uh—I didn't mean"
"DON'T YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Nyss' voice snapped.
"I thought it was storage…" he mumbled, still lying flat on the ground.
"STORAGE ALCOVE DOES NOT INCLUDE ME CHANGING!"
Riven sat up, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to look innocently stupid. "Noted. Lesson learned."
A tense silence followed. Then a soft shifting of fabric behind the curtain.
"…You can turn around now," she muttered reluctantly.
Riven hesitated. "…Seriously?"
"Yes," she snapped. "Slowly. And don't even think about moving closer."
He obeyed like his life depended on it.
When he finally faced her again, fully dressed now, Nyss' cheeks were faintly pink, her posture stiff.
Riven felt a sudden pull in his core like a magnet wrapped around his chest. He froze.
Nyss' silver eyes flickered, almost glowing. "Riven…" she whispered. "Do you feel it?"
"Feel what?" he asked, even as his heart thudded.
Her gaze dropped briefly. "…Our cores. They're resonating. Too strongly."
That resonance hit him like a bolt of lunar lightning. His new Night Wolf instincts screamed to move closer. Her Night Wolf instincts did the same.
Before either could stop it, they leaned in simultaneously.
Their lips met.
It was quick, accidental, and completely wrong but the pull of their cores made it impossible to resist.
Riven snapped back immediately, eyes wide. "W-wait"
Nyss staggered back as if burned. "…We can't… this is dangerous."
"You're telling me!" Riven said, running a hand over his face. "Our cores are trying to make us… mate. Literally. The prophecy stuff. The resonance. Everything."
Her ears twitched, betraying her inner turmoil. "I know. That's why why I pulled back. If we give in…"
"…it binds us, doesn't it?" Riven finished for her. "…Fated mates?"
Nyss' nod was barely perceptible. "…Exactly. And it's not safe not with the Orders, not with your powers unstable…"
"…I think we already got a taste of unstable," Riven muttered dryly.
They stood there, tension crackling in the air like a storm ready to break. Both aware of the pull, the desire, the danger, but neither willing to fully give in.
A sudden, comically timed cough interrupted them.
Roran peeked around the corner, hands raised, eyes wide. "Uh… nothing to see here! I didn't see anything!"
Nyss groaned. "Leave."
Roran scuttled away, muttering about forgetting everything.
The moment was gone
but the lingering pull of their cores remained.
Riven rubbed the back of his neck, exhaling. "Well… that happened."
Nyss crossed her arms, trying to regain composure. "…Yes. And it cannot happen again. You understand?"
"Crystal clear," he said, grinning. "…But maybe, just maybe, it was… enlightening?"
Her lips twitched. "…Don't push it, abomination."
They both knew what had almost happened and both knew the danger was real.
And yet… for a brief moment, their cores had whispered a future neither wanted to admit they desired.