Chapter 60: Silver Eyes Beneath Black Veils

The moment those long elegant fingers closed around her wrist, her entire attention snapped elsewhere.

Cool skin.

Not cold enough to feel unnatural.

But distinctly cooler than her own heated body beneath the afternoon sun.

The grip was firm without hurting.

Controlled. Yet she knew he could have snapped her wrist effortlessly.

Slowly, her gaze followed the arm upward.

Silver jewelry wrapped around powerful forearms.

Thin chains glimmering beneath the afternoon light.

And then—

him.

For one suspended heartbeat, Mirabelle genuinely forgot how to breathe.

The male standing before her possessed something deeply unnatural about his beauty.

Not charming.

Not even handsome in the ordinary sense.

He looked...

divine.

Or perhaps cursed by something ancient enough that the difference no longer mattered.

His skin carried a muted taupe-gray tone reminiscent of cooled stone beneath moonlight. Long black hair spilled over his shoulders, threaded through with thin silver strands and delicate braids adorned with metallic charms.

Massive black ears rose above his head beneath layers of translucent dark fabric embroidered with silver symbols she couldn’t recognize.

The veil covering the lower half of his face shifted faintly whenever he breathed, just transparent enough for her to barely glimpse the outline of sharp lips beneath it.

Silver jewelry draped elegantly across the bridge of his nose and connected to chains near his ears.

And his eyes—

Mirabelle’s stomach tightened.

Silver.

Not gray.

Not pale blue.

Actual silver.

Reflective and strange like liquid metal beneath moonlight.

Dark kohl framed this silver eyes, making them appear even brighter — as though some hidden light burned quietly behind them.

Three thin metallic markings ran beneath each eye and disappeared across his cheekbones like sacred paint or ritual scars.

The rest of his clothing resembled something between royal garments and ceremonial armor.

Layered dark fabrics wrapped around his hips while heavy silver ornaments and engraved plates decorated his chest. The enormous collar resting across his shoulders resembled priestly battle regalia more than jewelry.

His abdomen remained entirely bare beneath the chains and ornaments.

The layered jewelry and open fabrics left his sharply defined abdominal muscles completely visible.

And somehow that made him appear dangerous. Not sexually dangerous because of the exposed skin.

But dangerous because everything about him radiated control.

Ancient control.

The atmosphere around him felt different from the other Beast males nearby.

Quieter.

Heavier.

Like standing too close to an altar inside a forgotten temple.

Even the festival noise around them suddenly felt distant.

Mirabelle slowly realized she had been staring.

Very openly.

The silver-eyed jackal Beastman tilted his head slightly while looking down at her.

The veil shifted faintly.

As though he might be smiling beneath it.

"Careful."

His voice carried a foreign accent.

It was so deep that for one absurd moment Mirabelle genuinely thought a god was speaking to her.

At the same time, there was something melodic woven into it — a rhythmic singsong quality that made every sentence sound almost like a prayer.

"That is dangerous for females."

To Mirabelle, it felt as though nature itself reacted to his voice.

As though a single word from him could alter the world.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know."

The lynx female’s voice came out soft.

As soft as her skin.

The merchant had expected outrage.

Most noble females would have reacted with offense after being stopped so suddenly.

But within this female’s eyes, he saw intelligence.

And something else.

His silver gaze slowly focused on the faint shimmer surrounding her body like a living, pulsing aura.

That...

was something most Beastfolk would remain blind to for their entire lives.

Only those touched by the Goddess could perceive it.

And he could see very clearly ther her attention rested upon this female.

Though the lynx herself seemed entirely unaware of it.

Interesting.

Suddenly another hand settled possessively over the merchant’s wrist.

Kaelith.

The hyena Beastman disliked how long this stranger had been touching Mirabelle.

And even more how intensely he had been looking at her.

"Thank you for reacting quickly," Kaelith said calmly. "But you can let her go now."

His voice remained graveyard-still.

But inside his eyes burned something dark and red like liquid blood.

The jackal Beastman studied him silently.

He could not smell the female on the hyena.

They were not mated.

Yet it was obvious something existed between them.

Otherwise no noble female would have wandered here alone beside a male without additional escort.

’What does she want from a scavenger?’

One mystery after another surrounded this strange woman.

Instead of the hyena Beastman, he smelled something else on her.

His homeland.

Could it be that the father of this lynx female...

originated from Bregenz?

That would be highly unusual.

They kept themselves separated from other cultures and peoples.

More mysteries.

But he had no personal interest in unraveling them.

He was here for a different purpose entirely.

The cool fingers finally released her wrist.

Mirabelle immediately pulled her hand back toward herself.

Kaelith’s larger hand remained resting protectively over hers.

The merchant’s stare unsettled her deeply.

There had been something almost clinical about the way he looked at her.

As though he wanted to dissect her apart layer by layer.

"Would you like to purchase something?"

The Beastman spoke as if none of the previous tension had occurred and gestured elegantly toward the table.

The silver chains decorating his wrists chimed softly together in delicate, almost mystical notes.

"Thank you, but we’ll continue looking around."

Before Mirabelle could react, Kaelith was already guiding her away.

And honestly?

She felt relieved to escape that silver-eyed gaze.

Yet she could still feel his eyes on her long after they disappeared around another massive root to continue exploring the merchant stalls.

Only when rows upon rows of glittering jewelry appeared before her did Mirabelle’s thoughts finally return to the present.

For one brief moment, she had genuinely felt as though she had accidentally drawn the attention of some ancient god after stumbling into his temple uninvited.

But now the sparkling gemstones calmed her racing senses again.

Little did she know that those silver eyes would haunt her dreams.