Caelan’s POV
I kept my expression neutral.
“You’re imagining things. If I don’t touch you, how am I supposed to carry you?”
She had no comeback for that, so she just stopped talking.
A few seconds later, I felt her rest her chin in the crook of my shoulder.
Her whole body went slack, like a small animal that had finally given up struggling, melting softly against my back.
I had to admit, the feel of her body was far better than I’d expected.
The soft curves pressing against my back, the warmth seeping through the thin fabric of her clothes, the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath, every little sensation kept pulling at my attention.
My fingers tightened slightly around the bend of her knees.
She stayed quiet against my back for a long time, long enough that I thought she’d fallen asleep.
The night wind threaded through the trees on either side of the road, and the streetlights flickered between light and shadow as we moved.
Then her voice came again, muffled, right by my ear.
“By the way, you’re from Silvercrest Pack, right? Do you have any siblings?”
My steps faltered for just a beat.
The question was a needle, driven straight into the place I least wanted anyone to touch.
“What, you want to learn about my family?” I made my tone deliberately flippant.
“Really thinking of sticking with me?”
She rushed to deny it.
“Of course not!
Don’t worry, I’m not going to take anything you said in front of my father seriously.”
”I just thought you might be getting tired carrying me,” she added.
“Figured I’d chat with you to take your mind off it.”
”Then don’t go prying.” My voice dropped.
“The less you know, the better for you.”
She didn’t say another word after that.
She lay quietly against my back, her breathing slow and even, like a little creature that had drifted off without meaning to.
By the time we got home, she was sound asleep.
I laid her gently on the bed.
Her shoes had scraped off somewhere along the road, and the bruise on her ankle was an angry red.
I sat on the edge of the bed and applied the ointment. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
She didn’t even stir just rolled over and buried her face in the pillow like a cat that had found its nest.
The night lamp cast a dim amber glow.
She slept without a trace of wariness.
I leaned down to pull the blanket over her, and realized how close I was, close enough to count every one of her lashes.
The faint scent of her body wash still clung to her, mingled with the smell of grass from the night air.
Then she woke up.
Those amber eyes opened without warning and met mine head-on.
She blinked, her breath catching for a moment.
A flicker of panic crossed her pupils.
She looked away first.
“It’s dark already. I’ll go make dinner.”
She pushed herself up from the mattress, but I pressed her back down.
The bones of her shoulder trembled faintly beneath my palm.
“I’ll have Ryan bring food,” I said.
“You don’t need to do anything.”
”Wasn’t Ryan dealing with the car?” She was still trying to get up.
“And anyway, having him deliver food costs money. With things the way they are for you right now, you should save where you can.”
She pushed my hand aside and fled to the kitchen, one of her slippers on the wrong foot.
I leaned against the doorframe and watched her tie her apron.
The tomato thudded against the cutting board under her knife, and the water in the pot boiled over with a steady bubbling sound.
The rumors around campus painted her as the kind of girl who’d chase after an ex-boyfriend and boldly ask to move in with someone.
I’d assumed she was the uninhibited type.
But after actually spending time with her, I’d realized she was as skittish as a rabbit.
Flinched at the slightest touch, blushed if someone so much as looked at her too long.
The intel and the real person were worlds apart. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
My phone rang.
Ryan.
“Alpha, the car’s fixed.” His voice was nervous.
“It was my mistake.
The used car had issues I didn’t catch.”
”Let it happen again,” I said coldly, “and you can roll into the trash right alongside it.”
”Yes, sir.
Understood.”
In the kitchen, she was up on her toes reaching for a bowl on the top shelf, a strip of her waistline peeking out.
I pulled my gaze away and lowered my voice.
“Find out who’s entering under Mooncrest Jewelry Group’s name. Every submission from Mooncrest, eliminate them in the preliminary round.”
Ryan was clearly thrown.
“Boss, does Mira count as Mooncrest Jewelry Group?
Should she be eliminated too?”
”She’s excluded.”
”So…
should I give her any special treatment?”
I watched her busy figure moving around the kitchen.
My voice stayed even.
“No special treatment. If she doesn’t have real talent, she won’t win even if she makes it past the next round. It’s up to her own ability.”
Ryan acknowledged the order.
After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again.
“Boss, the Alpha and Luna have been pressing again. They keep asking when you’re coming back to Silvercrest Pack. They said if you don’t return soon, they’ll come see for themselves what you’re doing.”
I rubbed my temples.
A dull throb pulsed there.
I knew exactly why my parents wanted me back.
The previous two Lunas were dead.
It was time to marry a third.
Silvercrest Pack needed their Alpha to have a mate to stabilize the situation.
I could picture the elders’ faces as they pressured me about marriage with my eyes closed.
If I didn’t go back to keep them in check and they traced me here, found out about Mira—she’d probably end up as the unlucky third Luna.
But being born the heir of Silvercrest Pack came with a fate and a set of chains I couldn’t escape.