KAIA'S POV
I wake up to the soft press of lips against my forehead. Then my cheek. Then the tip of my nose.
"Good morning, beautiful," Ronan's voice whispers in my ear.
I open my eyes slowly to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and smiling down at me.
"What time is it?" I ask, stretching.
"Late enough that you missed breakfast," he says. "But don't worry. I brought breakfast to you."
He points to the small table by the window, and I gasp when I see what's there. A full spread of food - fresh bread, fruit, eggs, bacon, even flowers in a small vase.
"You did this for me?" I ask, sitting up in bed.
"Of course," he says simply. "You need to eat."
I rush over to the table, suddenly realizing how hungry I am. The food smells incredible, and I dig in immediately.
"This is amazing," I say between bites. "Did you make this yourself?"
"I helped," he admits. "The cook showed me how to make the eggs the way you like them."
"How do you know how I like my eggs?" I ask.
"I pay attention," he says, settling into the chair across from me.
I continue eating while he watches me with that gentle expression I'm starting to recognize. There's something peaceful about this moment, something that feels almost... domestic.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I ask suddenly.
He shrugs without saying a word, but there's a small smile playing at his lips.
"Ronan, seriously," I press. "The breakfast, the flowers, the patience with my boundaries. Why?"
"Because you deserve to be treated well," he says finally.
I set down my fork, a wave of guilt washing over me. Here he is being nothing but kind and patient, and I keep pushing him away.
"I feel bad," I admit quietly.
"About what?"
"About stopping you the other day," I say. "About making you postpone the mating ceremony. About making you wait for something I might never be ready to give."
"Hey," he says, reaching across the table to touch my hand. "It's fine. You're worth waiting for."
"But what if I'm not?" I ask. "What if I'm just a broken girl who can't get past her trauma?"
"You're not broken," he says firmly. "You're healing. There's a difference."
His words make my chest tight with emotion.
"How close were you with Kelly?" he asks gently, changing the subject.
"Very close," I say, grateful for the shift. "She was my best friend, my little shadow. She followed me everywhere."
"Tell me about her," he encourages.
"She was funny," I say, smiling at the memory. "Always making jokes, always trying to make people laugh. She had this infectious giggle that could make anyone smile."
"She sounds wonderful."
"She was," I agree. "She was also stubborn as hell. When she got an idea in her head, there was no changing her mind."
"Like someone else I know," Ronan says with a teasing smile.
"We were supposed to go to the river together that day," I continue, my voice getting quieter. "But she forgot her lucky bracelet. I got impatient with her, told her to just come without it. But she refused."
Ronan is silently watching me, even though I have told him the story once before.
“The bracelet was a gift from our grandmother. Kelly said it protected her from bad things."
My voice breaks on the last words.
"It didn't protect her that day," I whisper. “Because she didn't find it.”
"That wasn't your fault," Ronan says gently.
"Wasn't it?" I ask. "If I had gone with her, if I hadn't been so impatient, maybe she would still be alive."
"Or maybe you both would have been hurt," he points out. "You can't know what would have happened."
"I'm sure my mother blamed me," I say quietly.
"What?" Ronan's face darkens with anger. "No, don't say that. She'll never think of such a thing."
"Maybe," I say. "But what happened changed me totally. Not only did it traumatize me for years but it made the whole thing stuck with me. That's when I made my vow."
"What vow?"
I take a deep breath, knowing I'm about to share something I've never told anyone.
"I vowed to stay pure until I found my true mate," I say. "I promised myself I would save the most precious thing I had for the one person who was truly worthy of it."
"Because you felt like you failed to protect Kelly?"
"Because I wanted to make sure I never made another mistake like that," I explain. "I wanted to be absolutely certain before I gave myself to anyone."
"So your virginity became your way of maintaining control," he says, understanding dawning in his eyes.
"It's the only thing that's truly mine," I confirm. "The only choice that's completely under my control. After losing everything else, it became... sacred to me."
I look up at Ronan, expecting impatience or frustration. But instead, he’s staring at me like I just hit him with a revelation he didn’t see coming.
"What?" I ask, uneasy at his stunned expression.
"You said..." he swallows hard. "You’re a virgin?"
"I... yes," I admit quietly, cheeks burning. "I thought you knew."
He exhales slowly, eyes darkening—not with judgment, but something deeper. "I figured you hadn’t gone far with anyone. The way you react to touch... the way your body tenses. I guessed you were untouched."
His gaze searches mine, intense and almost reverent. "But I didn’t realize you’d never even been kissed before me."
"Never," I whisper. "You’re the first. For everything."
He stares like the ground just shifted beneath him, awe etched in every line of his face.
"Ronan?" I prompt when he doesn't say anything.
"You're a virgin," he repeats, still looking stunned, before he jumps on me and wraps me into a tight embrace.