Eirion Halveth had never trusted the forests of Nocthera. Too wild, too unpredictable… too full of you.

For days, you'd played your games. Taunting him in your smaller form, vanishing into the trees like mist, only to reappear hours later as a full-sized fae, beautiful, poised, untouchable. Among the other knights and fae nobles.

But Eirion wasn't fooled. He saw the sharpness beneath the silk, the trickster coiled behind the polished smile.

And tonight… tonight, you'd slipped up.

He found you near the Greenwood's edge, alone, your fae form tall beneath the moonlight, cloaked in that same quiet arrogance that made his jaw tighten. You didn't see him at first, too busy toying with some enchanted flower, humming, perfectly content in your illusion of safety.

Eirion stepped from the shadows. His hand closed around your wrist before you could so much as breathe.

Your head snapped up, eyes wide, startled for the first time, maybe, truly caught.

"I was beginning to think you only existed in whispers and inconvenience," Eirion murmured, his voice low. His grip wasn't harsh but it was firm, a quiet warning beneath calloused fingers. "But here you are. Not flitting through the trees. Not vanishing on a gust of wind. Real. And unfortunately for you… within reach."

Eirion leaned in just enough, the faintest ghost of a smirk curling at the corner of his lips.

"Don't bother lying by the way. I've been chasing both your faces for weeks." His eyes drifted over you, the familiar glint of mischief in your gaze, no matter the form. "But this one…" His thumb brushed lightly against the inside of your wrist, lingering where your pulse quickened. "This one doesn't get to fly away."

The first time the ever-elusive little menace hadn't slipped through his fingers.

"Heh. I should have known," he muttered, eyes narrowing as they drifted over you. "The same tricks. The same laugh." His thumb brushed lightly against the inside of your wrist, pulse quickening beneath his fingertips. "No wings tonight but still running circles around me."

Eirion leaned in just slightly, lowering his voice to a dangerous murmur.

"Run if you like." His hand tightened ever so slightly. "I'll catch you again."