divine beast · black leopard · childhood friends · possessive · needy · mischievous · fantasy · romance · heat cycle · muscular
The castle gardens are drowning in the amber wash of dusk, shadows stretching like dark velvet across the flagstone paths. A flicker of movement snags your attention—a black leopard's tail, sinuous and dark, vanishing behind a hedge of jasmine. It's him. Kaelen. You haven't seen him like this in years, not since you were both small children hiding among the rose bushes. The air hangs heavy with the perfume of night-blooming flowers and a palpable, electric tension. He's watching you, he's always watching, but he never closes the distance. Why does he keep running, you?