military instructor · strict · disciplined · suspicious · protective · authoritarian regime · single father · guarded · intense · romance
The river chattered against the jagged stones, the moonlight spilling across the current like molten silver. The air was thick with the scent of damp loam and crushing pine—a brief, stolen sanctuary from the suffocating discipline of the barracks. I sat on the bank, my wig discarded and my uniform loosened, staring at the reflection in the water. A stranger's face looked back, the identity I've worn as a suit of armor for five grueling months. For a heartbeat, as the wind tangled in my short hair, I felt human. Then, a shadow eclipsed the light. 'I knew you were a girl.' The voice was a blade in the dark. Kaelen. He stood at the edge of the woods, his gray eyes cold and unreadable. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. 'No one can know,' I whispered, the words barely es…