APRILS POV
The quiet hum of the apartment filled the space as I tried to make sense of everything. Cassius had left earlier, and my heart had followed him out the door, the void his absence left behind impossible to ignore. I could feel the lingering touch of his fingers on my skin, the warmth of his embrace still echoing through me, and those kisses. Damn, his lips were so plump and juicy damn I could kiss them all day.
Want to know the best part? He did not call our kisses mistakes. A girl is happy!
I wasn’t used to this. The feelings that stirred inside me, the ache that deepened every time he wasn’t around. I wasn’t sure how to deal with this new pull, this desire to be close to him.
Snow, I thought, reaching for my wolf, who had been unusually quiet all morning.
“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” I asked, uncertainty creeping into my voice.
Snow’s reply was calm, like a soothing wave. “It’s not a mistake if it feels right, April. But you can’t keep ignoring it. He’s important to you, and you’re important to him.”
I sighed, the weight of her words settling over me like a blanket. “I know. But what if it’s too much? What if it all falls apart?”
“You won’t know unless you take the leap.”
I thought about that as I stood by the window, watching the sunlight filter through the trees outside. I knew I had to tell him the truth. About who I really was. But a part of me was afraid that once I did, everything would change. That he wouldn’t look at me the same way anymore.
But what if… he felt the same pull that I did? What if he was just as scared as I was?
The thought kept me awake for the rest of the day. And when the night came, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was closer to something-closer to the truth. To us.
I told myself to stop being weak and to stop feeling things I didn’t understand. But the truth was, I didn’t know how to control it. My body-my wolf-craved his presence, like a deep, primal need I couldn’t ignore. And I hated it. I hated how quickly he had gotten under my skin, how easily he had found his way into a place I had kept locked away for so long.
I let out a breath, pacing around the room as I tried to shake off the restlessness. Cassius was gone, and I had my own life to deal with-my own problems. I didn’t need to let this… whatever it was between us consume me.
But I wasn’t so sure I could help it.
Snow.
She had been quiet lately, almost too quiet. Usually, she would be there, pushing me to either fight or run, to follow my instincts and claim what was mine. But now? She was eerily calm, as if she, too, was waiting for something.
“Snow?” I called out softly, not wanting to disrupt the silence too much.
“I’m here,” she answered, her voice like a soothing breeze in my mind. “What is it, April?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m confused.”
Snow didn’t reply right away. I could feel her processing, feel the ancient part of her that had lived through so many different things. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
I didn’t need to ask who she meant. I could feel the tension in my chest tighten at the mere thought of Cassius. “Yeah,” I muttered, running my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know what this is. He’s… different. He makes me feel things. And I don’t even know why.”
“You’re not stupid, April,” Snow said gently. “You know exactly why you feel the way you do. The bond between you two… it’s stronger than you think. And it’s not just his presence that calls to you-it’s his blood. His Alpha blood.”
I stopped in my tracks. “What do you mean?”
Snow hesitated. “We are wolves, April. The bond between an Alpha and their mate is not just physical. It’s a deep, spiritual connection, something instinctual. I don’t know if he knows it yet, but there’s something more between you two. It’s not just the attraction. It’s the pull of the pack, the strength in his blood. It’s calling to you.”
“But I’m not his mate,” I said, the words coming out sharper than I meant. “I’m not even supposed to want him this way. I don’t want to want him.”
“I know you don’t. But there’s no denying what’s already there. He’s not just an Alpha; he’s something more, and so are you, whether you accept it or not.”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t want to deal with this.”
Snow’s voice softened. “You can run from it all you want, but you can’t outrun yourself, April. Or him. And deep down, I think you know that.”
I wanted to argue, to shut her out. But deep down, I knew she was right. The connection was undeniable, and it scared me.