I'm about to take another step toward the cottage when Adrian's voice slices through the dark. "Hold up."
My heart's pounding like a jackhammer, and I freeze, boots crunching on the dead leaves. His footsteps get closer, slow and deliberate, like he's stalking me.
"Wait," he says again, and there's something off in his tone, not that bossy Alpha growl from earlier, but something rougher, almost like he's begging.
I turn, slow as molasses, and the moonlight hits his face. He looks… lost, like a kid who wandered too far from home. It throws me.
"What do you want, Adrian?" I ask, crossing my arms tight, like that's gonna shield me from whatever's coming.
"Stop running from me," he says, voice low, eyes locked on mine.
"I ain't running," I snap, but it sounds weak, even to me.
"Aren't you?" He steps closer, and I can see every muscle in him coiled tight, like he's holding himself back. "You've been dodging me for years, Evelyn. Hiding in the corners, keeping your head down, acting like you're invisible."
"Maybe 'cause I don't wanna be part of your world," I shoot back, chin up, but my voice shakes.
"Too late for that." His eyes flash, catching the moonlight like a wolf's. "Your scent's changed everything. No turning back now."
I wanna argue, tell him he's full of it, but deep down, I know he's right. The second my awakening hit, the moment our eyes locked across that firepit, something shifted, something big, like the ground moved under my feet. I feel it now, this tug between us, like a rope I can't cut.
"Come with me," he says, quieter, almost gentle.
"Where?" I ask, suspicious.
"Somewhere we can talk without the pack breathing down our necks."
Every brain cell's screaming to say no, to bolt home and pretend this night never happened. But there's something in his voice, the way his eyes are searching mine, that makes me nod like an idiot. "Fine."
He leads me to this grove, tucked deep in the forest, where old oaks twist together overhead like they're guarding secrets. Moonlight sneaks through the leaves, painting everything silver and shadowy, like we're in some fairy tale, except I'm no princess, and Adrian's no prince.
"I used to come here as a kid," he says, voice softer than I've ever heard it. "When my dad's expectations were crushing me, when being the heir felt like a noose."
"Why're you telling me this?" I ask, wrapping my arms tighter around myself.
"'Cause right now, I'm not the Alpha. I'm just… me." He steps closer, and I catch this flicker of vulnerability in his eyes, something he usually buries under that cocky mask. It hits me hard, makes my chest ache in ways I don't wanna dig into.
"What do you want from me, Adrian?" I whisper, voice barely there.
"Wanna know if you feel it too."
"Feel what?"
He doesn't answer, just reaches out, cups my face in his hands. His touch is soft, careful, nothing like the grip he had on my wrist earlier. "This," he murmurs, and then his lips are on mine.
The kiss starts gentle, like he's testing the waters, giving me an out. But the second our mouths meet, something in me breaks loose. All the walls I've built, all the reasons this is a dumbass idea, they crumble like dry dirt. I kiss him back, desperate, hands grabbing his shirt to pull him closer. He groans into my mouth, and the sound's like fire in my veins.
"Evelyn," he breathes against my lips, my name sounding like a damn prayer.
"Don't think," I whisper, shocking myself with how bold I sound. "Please, just… don't make me think."
His eyes flash, something wild in them, and then he's kissing me again, harder, matching the heat building in my blood. His hands tangle in my hair, and I can feel him holding back, like he's trying not to lose it.
"You sure?" he asks, voice rough, raw.
Instead of words, I go for the buttons on his shirt, fingers shaking as I pop them open. His breath catches when my hands hit the warm skin of his chest, his heart pounding as wild as mine.
"Evelyn," he says, half-warning, but there's no real fight in it.
"I'm sure," I whisper, and for once, I mean it. First time in forever, I'm dead certain.
He lifts me like I weigh nothing, carrying me to a patch of soft grass under the biggest oak. Moonlight spills down, turning his skin silver as he lays me beneath him. "You're gorgeous," he murmurs, hands sliding down my sides like I'm something precious. "Been watching you for years, wanting you, but I never thought…"
"You watched me?" I ask, voice catching.
"How could I not?" His lips hit that spot under my ear, and I gasp. "You think I didn't see you? The way you patched up the hurt, looked out for the little Omegas?"
His words unravel me, and when he kisses me again, I'm gone. It's just his hands on my skin, his taste on my tongue, the way he says my name like it's holy. When he finally claims me, when we're one under those ancient trees, something electric zaps through us, deep, primal, stealing my breath.
"Mine," he growls against my throat, canines grazing my skin.
"Yes," I gasp, 'cause right now, with his body against mine, I'm his, no question.
The feeling builds, crashing over me like a wave, and I cry out his name, pleasure hitting hard. He's right behind me, body shaking as he buries his face in my neck. We lie there, tangled up, breathing hard, the mate bond humming between us, not sealed, but alive, a golden thread tying us together.
"What now?" I whisper, voice small.
His arms tighten, lips curving against my skin. "We figure it out. Together."
We crash hard after, exhaustion pulling us under.
I wake up alone.
The cold hits first, not just the morning chill, but the empty space where Adrian's warmth should be. I sit up, tugging the blanket he must've thrown over me tight around my shoulders, scanning the grove. "Adrian?" I call, soft, but it's just me and the trees.
A folded paper's lying where he was. My hands shake as I grab it, unfolding it to read: Pack business. I'll find you later. - A
That's it. No sweet nothings, no promises, just a cold-ass note that twists my stomach. I dress fast, fingers fumbling with my buttons. The mate bond's still there, a warm glow in my chest, but it's fainter now, dulled by confusion and this sick feeling I've screwed up big time.
The walk back to the cottage is brutal. Every step drags up last night, his touch, his whispers, but it's all tainted by that note, so damn impersonal. I tell myself it's no big deal. One night, one slip-up. Doesn't have to mean jack.
But I'm lying to myself, and I know it.
The cottage comes into view, and I speed up, craving my room where I can sort this mess out alone. But something stops me dead. There's a guy under the big pine by our garden, Marcus Rivera, Adrian's Beta, pretending to check the fence but staring right at the cottage.
My blood goes icy.
I sneak around back, hoping to slip in unnoticed, but there's another one, Thomas Webb, pack warrior, leaning on the porch, arms crossed like he's got all day.
It hits me like a brick. I'm being watched. After one night with Adrian, after thinking for a hot minute this might be real, I'm a prisoner in my own damn home.