The southern dining hall was already awake when Aire arrived.

Warm light spilled across the long chamber through towering arched windows while servants moved quietly between tables carrying trays of fruits, meats, fresh bread, and steaming tea.

The scent of cinnamon and coffee filled the air. Everything looked painfully normal and Aire hated it immediately.

She wasn’t sure she have ever been to this part of the castle.

Two guards pulled the heavy doors open for her without hesitation.

"My Luna."

Their voices carried respect. Yet Aire still caught the flicker of fear beneath it. She also noticed a brief shift in their eyes before they lowered their gazes too quickly.

They knew. Maybe not everything, but enough. Who would have told them?

Aire stepped inside anyway.

The sound of silverware against porcelain echoed softly through the room.

Nate sat at the head of the long dining table dressed entirely in black. His sleeves were rolled slightly past his wrists while one of his hand rested near the cup of dark tea before him.

He looked calm. Too calm after what he did to her last night.

Aire’s stomach tightened instantly. He doesn’t even care that he just placed a mighty accusation on her.

Alaric sat to his right. Xander sat across from him, though unlike the others, Xander immediately rose the second he saw her.

Relief flashed openly across his face. "Aire."

The warmth in his voice startled her slightly.

Aire slowed faintly near the table. For one terrible second, she genuinely wondered if she imagined last night entirely.

Nate finally lifted his eyes toward her.

The claw marks around her neck reflected faintly beneath the morning light. His gaze flickered there instantly, then left almost immediately.

Cold hatred settled heavily inside her chest.

Alaric stood slowly from his chair. "Good morning." He greated, with a small bow. His voice remained gentle, yet a bit careful.

He sounded like he was approaching a wounded animal.

Aire hated that too.

Xander pulled a chair out for her immediately. "You came." He sounded almost surprised, and grateful at the same time.

Aire looked between all three of them carefully before finally sitting down.

No one spoke for several seconds afterward.

Servants moved around them quietly filling the glasses and adjusting trays without directly looking at her.

Aire felt the tension. This was worse than when she first came here. Everyone seems to be scared of her, which tore her apart. She has dine nothing wrong. She doesn’t even know what they speak of.

Xander cleared his throat first. "Did you sleep at all?"

Aire looked at him slowly, almost eying him.

His expression softened faintly. "That bad, huh?"

She didn’t answer.

Xander shifted awkwardly before sitting back down himself. "Fair."

Silence settled between them again.

A servant placed a plate before Aire carefully without meeting her eyes, or looking at her.

Aire stared at the food blankly.

The plate was filled with fresh fruit, warm bread, and honey. Everything was offensively normal.

Nate lifted his tea calmly again.

Aire watched him over the rim of her glass. Not once since she entered had he properly looked at her face.

He only took brief flickers toward the wounds on her neck before immediate avoidance.

’Coward.’ she inwardly cursed at him.

Her fingers tightened faintly beneath the table.

Xander noticed it. He noticed every moment she made, ranking his brain and desperately thinking if how to make it right to her.

His eyes moved toward the claw marks again. This time his jaw clenched visibly. His gaze shifted sharply toward Nate.

Anger flashed openly across his face now.

Aire saw the anger, and sughed softly. At least someone else looked disturbed by the injustice done to her last night.

Xander suddenly pushed his plate slightly away from himself. "I heard what happened."

The room quieted further.

Nate’s expression remained unreadable.

Alaric looked exhausted already.

Xander exhaled sharply through his nose before finally looking directly at Aire again. "I wasn’t in the castle last night." He said to her apologetically.

Aire blinked faintly.

Xander’s jaw tightened harder. "If I had been here—"

"You would have done what?" Nate interrupted calmly.

The room instantly chilled.

Xander’s gaze snapped toward him immediately. "Certainly not attack my mate." He retorted.

A servant walking past nearly slowed down, wondering if he should dare make a sound with his foot due to the coldness of the hall.

Nate’s expression hardened faintly now.

Aire stared down at the untouched food before her. The word ’mate’ hurt differently after last night.

They never treated her fully as one, but at least, they were bearable. She have seen her father and her mother together, and also Beta Kole and Aunt Rosemund.

Xander leaned slightly forward now. "You had claws around her throat."

Nate said nothing.

Xander laughed once bitterly under his breath. "Unbelievable. You can’t even see what you did?"

Alaric finally spoke quietly. "Xander."

"No." Xander shook his head immediately. "No, because I’ve been trying very hard not to lose my temper since I walked into this room."

His eyes flickered toward Aire’s neck again. Rage darkened his expression immediately afterward.

"You hurt her."

Nate’s fingers tightened faintly around his tea cup. "I know what I did." He murmured, trying his hardest to sound unbothered.

Xander stared at him coldly. "Do you?"

Alaric rubbed one hand briefly against his temple. Anyone could see how exhausted he was from everything.

Aire remained silent through all of it. The fact that no one was truly saying what mattered offended her.

He had called her a fae sky last night.

Nate finally set his coffee down carefully. The sound echoed softly against the table. At last, he looked directly at her fully.

Aire wished he hadn’t.

Because there was something restrained inside his expression now. He looked guarded.

"I reacted," Nate said slowly, "to what I believed was a threat."

Aire felt her chest tighten instantly. He wasn’t apologising for the misaction. Rather, he was justifying what he did last night.

Her laugh escaped her softly before she could stop it. The sound held absolutely no humor when it left her lips.

Xander’s expression darkened immediately.

Alaric closed his eyes briefly.

Aire slowly lifted her gaze toward Nate fully now. "And this morning?" she asked quietly. She tilted her head faintly. "Am I still a threat?"

Nate froze.

Aire watched the hesitation happen in real time. That hurt more than last night somehow. Because if he truly regretted what he did, the answer should have been immediate.

His jaw tightened once.

"Nate," Alaric warned lowly.

Nate still didn’t answer.

Aire looked away first. Her appetite disappeared entirely now.

Xander stared at Nate with open disbelief. "Say something."

Nate finally spoke. "I don’t know." He replied to Xanden.

Aire went very still. She felt so betrayed at the thought of him tagging her as a fae spy until this morning.

Xander cursed softly under his breath immediately afterward.

Alaric’s expression hardened.

Nate himself looked like he hated the answer the second it left his mouth. But it was his honest reply.

Aire slowly leaned back against her chair. She should have stayed inside her chambers. 4She should never have come here.

Alaric spoke carefully now. "Aire—"

"No." Aire’s voice remained calm somehow. "It’s fine."

Aire reached for the glass of water before her mostly to keep her hands occupied.

They were beginning to tremble again. The maids around stared at her, ready to spread the whispers the moment they left this hall.

Nate noticed her trembling hands. His gaze lowered briefly toward her fingers. Guilt flickered across his expression faintly.

Xander suddenly stood from his chair entirely. The sharp movement startled two near servants.

"This entire situation is insane," he muttered.

Alaric looked exhausted now. "We know."

"No," Xander snapped quietly. "I don’t think any of you do."

His gaze shifted toward Aire again, softer this time.

"I’m sorry." He swallowed, walking towards her.

Aire looked at him faintly.

Xander got to her. He bent to her eye level. He took her hand in his softly, and swallowed once before continuing. "I should’ve been here." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Aire’s throat tightened slightly. The sincerity in his voice almost undid her composure more than Nate’s violence had.

She looked away immediately.

"It wouldn’t have changed anything."

Xander’s jaw flexed once. He disagreed completely.

Nate remained silent through all of it now.

Aire could feel his gaze in her, and she hated that she still felt aware of him at all. She drew her hand off Xanden’s hold.

Not saying a word, Xanden returned to hi seat.

The room quieted again afterward.

Outside the tall windows, the castle grounds moved normally beneath morning sunlight.

Inside the dining hall, everything felt seconds away from breaking apart completely.

Suddenly, a servant walked through the doors, with a tray of food. She screamed the moment she walked past Aire.

The sharp sound startled everyone instantly.

The tray she held crashed violently against the floor, and the porcelain shattered everywhere.

Tea spilled across stone floors.

The entire dining hall turned immediately. The young servant stood frozen beside the mess with horror written across her face.

Her eyes weren’t fixed on the broken tray.

They were fixed on Aire, and specifically on the half moon mark barely visible beneath the collar of her gown.

She had thought the rumors to be untrue until she saw the prove. She coudknt hold back her immediate shock after seeing the proof.

Last night, a lot of wolves in the castle with their heightened senses had heard Nate calling her a fae spy.

The rumors spread immediately, and majority of peoole in the castle remembered the prophecy.

The room went dead silent.

The servant’s face had gone pale.

"I’m..." the girl whispered instinctively before catching herself.

Aire’s stomach dropped. She stopped breathing for one terrible second.

The servant backed away shakily now.

Alaric rose from his chair instantly. "Enough." His voice cut sharply through the room, silencing every one, and the little whispers that were about to rise.

The whispers died immediately, but the damage had already been done.

Aire could feel every eye in the dining hall openly on her now. They judged and feared her.

Nate stood slowly from his chair at last. It was too late, as he was the beginning of the whole mess here.

Aire pushed herself to her feet before anyone could speak.

Her chair scraped sharply against the floor.

"Aire," Alaric called carefully.

She looked at none of them. The room felt exactly like last night all over again, and she felt like dying.

She let her hair lose angrily, and let the strands pour over her shoulders.

Getting to the door, she pushed them open with the help of a guard, and rushed out of the hall.