Danae’s POV
The breeze was the only thing working in my favor.
I edged farther behind the oak, remembering Eirwen’s warning about a werewolf’s sense of smell.
Downwind.
That was where I needed to stay, with the trunk between Caspian and me, until he and his companion went away.
Leaving now would mean stepping straight into their sight.
“Caspian, listen to me.” The woman’s plea drifted across the evening air.
“You know we’re a good match.
What changed last week?
Why have you suddenly decided otherwise?”
“You mean apart from fucking Duke in that hotel?”
His answer carried no heat.
The cold sarcasm somehow made it worse.
Oh, God.
A breakup.
A deeply private breakup, and here I was plastered against a tree, unable to escape without announcing that I’d heard every word.
I held still, wishing the bark could swallow me.
“Once,” she insisted.
“It happened once.
And you know you were my first.”
Heat crawled from my collar to my face.
I had already heard far more than I wanted to know about this woman’s life.
“We’re finished, Ciara.
Ashmoon’s Luna can carry only one man’s mark.”
Ciara.
So that was her name.
Luna was familiar, too.
Eirwen had explained it: the Alpha’s mate, the woman who led the pack beside him.
Whatever future Ciara had pictured, Caspian was shutting the door on it with every clipped word.
“Please.” Her voice frayed.
“Caspian, give me one more chance.”
“I’m going.
Stay away from me, Ciara.
If you won’t, Beta Garrick will see to it.”
Footsteps followed his dismissal.
I flattened myself against the trunk, scarcely daring to breathe.
Caspian passed within a few feet, his back turned.
Then he stopped.
I shifted carefully around the curve of the oak, keeping its rough bulk between us, willing him to keep walking.
My phone vibrated inside my pocket.
A text.
Such a tiny sound, and it felt deafening.
I went rigid.
Beyond him, Ciara stalked away in the other direction, her shoulders drawn tight with anger.
“An unusual pastime, listening to other people’s conversations.”
Caspian turned.
His blue eyes found mine without a moment’s searching.
“Wouldn’t you agree, Danae?”
My heartbeat battered my ribs.
Had the phone given me away, or had he known all along?
I stepped out, attempting to gather the scraps of dignity left to me.
“I didn’t come here to listen to you.
I was already here when you arrived.”
A smirk touched his mouth.
“A bold answer from a human standing in my pack’s territory.”
I raised my chin.
“A true answer.
Besides, I don’t intend to stay in this town.
Once I have a job, I’m leaving.”
He advanced one step.
I retreated before I could stop myself, and the oak caught my back.
There was nowhere farther to go.
The small space between us seemed suddenly charged, every breath making me more aware of how close he stood.
“Let me past.
I need to get back.”
I tried to move around him.
His fingers closed gently around my arm, stopping me before I could slip away.
“Wait.
I’ll take you.”
“I can manage on my own, thank you.”
Nothing like the strange current traveling up my arm from where he touched me.
I wanted to ignore it.
I wanted, desperately, for ignoring it to work.
“Danae.”
Something in the way he said my name drew my face back toward his.
Before I understood the movement, his mouth covered mine.
That impossible sensation returned.
The one from the hotel, the shock that seemed to start at our lips and travel everywhere at once.
Only now it felt stronger, harder to explain away.
I broke the kiss and dragged in air.
“What was that?
What just happened?”
His pupils had widened until there was barely any blue left.
He offered no explanation.
Instead, he bent toward me again.
Every sensible thought told me to turn away.
I met him halfway.
The second kiss swept through the misery I had carried into the park.
My dread about work, my sadness, the relentless anxiety—all of it briefly loosened beneath a startling rush of happiness.
That was what frightened me almost as much as the desire.
Five years with Galen had never produced anything this consuming.
I had no idea what to do with the knowledge.
Caspian’s mouth moved close to my ear.
“Your scent is so pure.”
Before I could answer, the ground vanished beneath my feet.
He gathered me into his arms with effortless certainty.
“What are you doing?”
“My car is nearby.
You’ll be more comfortable there.” His reply was simple, his impatience unmistakable.
“I can’t wait any more.”