The nursery light was still on at midnight.
Derek stood in the middle of the room on a low ladder, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, brush in hand, carefully applying a soft shade of cream to the upper section.
The furniture had been pushed to the centre and draped in old sheets, and the white crib sat under a dust cover in the corner.
The wall was going the softest shades of green and cream. Kira had chosen them and Derek had privately thought they looked like boiled sweets when she’d first held up the little cards, but had wisely said nothing at all.
Now that half the room wore the colours, he had to admit she’d been right. They were warm, gentle, and looked like a room a small person could be happy in.
The door creaked open behind him, and Kira stepped inside, wearing one of his old shirts over her nightdress, her hair loose around her shoulders. She paused, eyes widening as she took in the room.
"Derek," she said softly, a smile spreading across her face. "It looks beautiful already. The colours we picked... they work so well together."
Derek turned on the ladder, surprised but pleased to see her. The sight of his shirt on her made his heart leap with joy.
"I thought you’d be asleep by this hour," he said.
"I couldn’t." Kira shrugged, wandering in, tipping her head back to take in the walls. "I went to your bedroom looking for you, but you weren’t there." She tilted her head, curious. "Why are you painting in the middle of the night?"
Derek climbed down, wiping his hands on a cloth. "I couldn’t sleep either. Figured I might as well do something useful." He offered her a small smile. "The pup’s room won’t paint itself."
"Wow." She stepped closer, running a fingertip along the edge of the freshly painted wall and inspecting it. "It’s good, though, really good. You’ve done the corners properly and everything."
"Don’t sound so shocked."
"I’m always shocked when you’re good at ordinary things. It’s very unsettling. Kings aren’t supposed to know how to cut in around a skirting board."
Derek grinned. "Well, thanks to my Dad. He taught me a lot of things. He was quite a lover boy."
She nodded, grinning herself. "I see." She looked around at the sheeted furniture and picked up a spare brush from the tray. "Then I’ll help."
Derek hesitated. "You sure about that?"
She shot him a mock glare and then sighed. "I didn’t really expect you to be any different anyway. You who treated me like a delicate glass even when you only assumed I was pregnant."
Derek chuckled, shaking his head.
Kira chuckled herself, her eyes lingering on him for a little too long. Then, she blinked and turned towards the other unpainted wall. "I’m just pregnant not handicapped."
She dipped the brush, far too deeply into the green paint, and went at the wall with enthusiasm and no technique. Paint immediately ran down the handle and onto her wrist.
Derek watched this for perhaps four seconds before he could bear it no longer. "No. Stop." He came up behind her. "You’re holding it like a weapon."
"Am I?"
"You’re holding it like you intend to stab the wall." He reached around her, and his hand closed over hers, adjusting her fingers, lower down the handle, looser. "There. Don’t grip it. Let it sit in your hand. And don’t drown it, you only want the tip."
He guided her hand back to the tray, wiped the excess off against the rim, and brought it up to the wall. "Now, long strokes. Follow the grain, don’t scrub at it. Like this."
He moved her hand, and the brush glided, smooth and even, leaving a clean band of green behind it. "See?"
Kira laughed as she tried to copy him, her brush wobbling slightly. "Like this? I feel like I’m drawing with my left hand."
Derek’s low chuckle filled the room. "You’re doing fine. Better than I expected for your first time." He stood behind her, guiding her hand with his own.
Kira went very quiet. His chest against her back, his hand warm over hers, his breath somewhere near her ear, and he was talking about brush strokes as though the world hadn’t tilted sideways.
Derek on his own part felt his beast going crazy inside him, begging to claim their soul bond. Leo had never reacted this way before, but the primal energy Derek was feeling told him Kira’s beast was also calling to him.
Leo had been withdrawn ever since Kira left and even after she returned, he had been almost non-existent, but now, he could feel the cracks in those walls she had put up. Leo was now feeling the full effect of the bond more prominently.
Derek wanted her badly that he was nearly losing his senses. Blood was rushing to his member as her sweet jasmine scent drifted into his nostrils.
She is ours, Leo chanted. Claim her, Claim her, Claim her.
Not now, Derek thought.
Yes now. Right now. You’re close enough.
It doesn’t work like that with humans, Leo. She wouldn’t appreciate it.
Knowing that staying close to her could make Leo take control and cause him to do something he would never take back, he sighed. "See?" he said, releasing her hand and stepping back. "Long and smooth. It’s not complicated."
Kira cleared her throat, seemingly recovering from her own spell, and attacked the wall again, considerably more competently this time. "Fine. It’s slightly better."
Derek crossed the room, staying far away from her, taking his brush and climbing back on the ladder. They painted in easy silence for a while.
"Viktor didn’t show up today," Kira said eventually, to break the awkwardness.
Derek’s roller kept moving. "Oh?"
"He just didn’t come. No message, nothing, which isn’t like him at all. He’s the sort of man who’d send a formal apology if he were going to be four minutes late."
She frowned at her brush. "And I’ve tried to reach him since morning, but nothing."
Derek said nothing. He carried on with the wall, and his face gave away precisely as much as the wall did.
"Anyway," Kira went on, oblivious, "it means I’ve missed today’s lecture entirely, which I’m quietly furious about, because it was actually one of the interesting ones."
"Wouldn’t you rather go back?" Derek asked. "To the university. Properly."
Kira’s brush slowed. "Soon, I guess," she said. "I miss the campus anyway."
He nodded once and left it there.
Kira crossed back to where Derek was working and stood brush in hand, looking at the job he was doing. "Can I try that?"
Derek came down again and shook his head. "Not going to happen."
"Why not?" Kira frowned, placing a hand on her hip. "Our boy is going to be strong and into sports. Why not let me do things like this? That way, it would be inbuilt."
Derek raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Excuse me? Books, obviously. Our girl is going to be brilliant and curious. She’ll read every book in the palace library before she can even walk properly. Sports can come later — after she’s mastered ancient Lycan history and strategy."
They argued for a while until Kira dipped her brush and, with a mischievous grin, smeared a small dot of paint onto Derek’s cheek. "Oops."
Derek froze, then slowly raised a hand and touched his face, looking at the green on his fingertips, then at her. "You didn’t."
Kira laughed, backing away. "It was an accident!"
Before she could escape, Derek dipped his own brush and swiped a streak of green across her nose. Kira gasped, then burst into giggles. What followed was pure chaos. She chased him around the nursery with her paintbrush raised like a weapon, while Derek dodged, laughing deeply — a sound Kira rarely heard but loved completely.
He caught her around the waist, pulling her close. She smeared paint across his jaw in revenge. Derek retaliated by dabbing a yellow spot on her forehead.
They were both laughing, breathless, covered in tiny streaks of colour. For a few precious minutes, everything else melted away. It was just them — playful, close, and happy.
Derek’s hand came up to gently wipe a smudge from her cheek, his touch lingering. Their eyes met, the laughter fading into something softer, warmer. He leaned in slowly, and Kira met him halfway. The kiss was sweet at first, then deeper, filled with all the unspoken feelings between them.
"I’ll be leaving in the morning for a summit meeting with the other Lycan Kings from the different regions in the Lycan territories," Derek said after they pulled away breathless.
"Oh," Kira said, her heart already missing him. "Connor said the Umbras are growing in numbers."
Derek sighed and nodded. "Seems the Nexus has manifested already, because those creatures are growing relentless. We’ll be gone for two days."
"I’ll miss you," Kira said softly.
"You will?"
Kira nodded and placed her head on his chest.
Your Grace. Connor’s voice came through the mind-link. Kai has found something I think will really interest you.
Derek pulled back with a reluctant sigh, resting his forehead against Kira’s. "I need to meet with Connor for now. Something important came up.
"Is it something we should be worried about?" Kira asked.
Derek shook his head. "Not at all." He pressed one last gentle kiss to her paint-streaked nose. "I’ll see you in the morning, but for now, you need to sleep."
Kira nodded. They stood there a moment longer, reluctant to let the playful bubble burst, before Derek took her hand and they left the nursery together.