April’s POV
I couldn’t stop staring at him.
Cassius sat across from me, his strong hands carefully cutting a piece of pancake before lifting it to my lips. His piercing gaze held mine, unwavering, like he had all the time in the world just to watch me. And for the first time in a long time, I felt… safe. Like nothing outside of this moment could touch me.
“Eat,” he murmured, his voice deep and commanding, but there was something gentle about the way he held the fork, waiting for me to take the bite.
I hesitated for a second, my mind still caught in the whirlwind of last night. The attack, the blood, the way I fought like a feral animal just to stay alive. I had spent so long surviving, pushing forward, carrying my burdens alone. But now, here he was-an Alpha, my hot Alpha, taking care of me. I could get used to this.
“Damn, that has a nice ring to it,” Snow chimed in.
“What exactly?”
“Your Alpha, Our Alpha,”
“Aaaww, so you approve?”
“Absolutely, I hope I like his wolf as much as you like him.”
“I hope so too. So it does not bother you that we are with someone who is not our mate?”
“Not at all…We don’t have a mate remember?”
“I do,” I say as the memory of the rejection crosses my mind.
“Good. Now I don’t want to hear any more ‘mate’ nonsense. That word should not even be in your vocabulary because it will only hurt so for now, lets just go with the vibe. Relax and just let yourself be,” Snow says seriously.
She was right, of course. I may not have been blessed in the mate category, but the Moon Goddess surely knew what she was doing, giving me such a sweet and smart wolf as my half.
“Alright Snow, its a deal.”
“Good, now stop overthinking and enjoy your breakfast,” she said, and just like that, she was gone from my mind.
I took the bite, and warmth spread through me, not just from the food but from the way he was looking at me. Like I mattered. Like I wasn’t broken.
“You’re staring,” I said after swallowing, a small smirk tugging at my lips.
“You’re beautiful,” he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
My chest tightened at his words. I wasn’t used to this-to being seen, to being cared for. For so long, I had been nothing but a reject, a burden, someone not worth choosing.
Jake hadn’t chosen me. He had looked at me and decided I wasn’t enough. And after everything he did… after taking away the people I loved, he still wasn’t the worst thing I had faced.
No, the worst thing was the voice inside me that told me he had been right.
But Cassius? He wasn’t giving me a choice. He had decided that he wanted me and that I was enough, and I wasn’t sure how to handle that.
Snow stirred in my mind, her voice softer than usual. “Maybe… this is what we were meant for.”
I swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing,” she murmured. “Maybe she knew Jake wasn’t worthy of us. Maybe she made sure Cassius was the one to be our first.”
A shiver ran through me.
My first kiss.
My first boyfriend.
The first man to ever make me feel… whole.
Cassius brushed his knuckles against my cheek, pulling me back to the present. “What are you thinking about?”
I shook my head, a small smile tugging at my lips. “Just… that maybe this isn’t some mistake.”
A flicker of emotion crossed his face, something raw and unreadable. “It’s not,” he said firmly. “I don’t believe in coincidences, April. You were meant to be mine.”
The words sent a rush of heat through me, a sensation so foreign I didn’t know what to do with it.
“I’m yours,” I whispered, testing the words on my tongue.
His grip tightened slightly on my hand, and something dark flickered in his eyes-possession, hunger, something primal and deep. But beneath all of that, there was warmth. A warmth that settled deep inside me.
“You’re mine,” he confirmed, voice low, reverent. Then he leaned in, brushing his lips softly against my forehead. “And I take care of what’s mine.”
For the first time in a long time, I believed it.
–
Cassius’s POV
I was in trouble.
Watching April eat the food I made her, her lips wrapping around the fork, her eyes soft and unguarded… it was doing things to me. And not just in the way a man looks at a woman he wants.
No.
It was deeper than that.
It was in the way I felt something settle in my chest, something old and unshakable. A knowing.
She was mine.
I had suspected it for a while, ever since I first laid eyes on her, but now? Now, I was sure.
“She belongs to us,” Shadow growled in my head. “And we will make sure she knows it.”
I clenched my fists under the table. “She just agreed to be mine. Let’s not scare her off by going full Alpha on her.”
“She needs to know she’s worth more than what she’s been given.”
I exhaled slowly. Shadow was right. I had seen the doubt in her eyes, the hesitation. Whoever had come before me had made her feel like she wasn’t enough, like she didn’t deserve to be cherished.
That ended now.
Or was I just overthinking the situation?
April let out a contented sigh as she finished eating, leaning back in her chair. “Okay, I’ll admit it. You make some damn good pancakes.”
I smirked, leaning forward on my elbows. “I’ll take that as high praise, considering you look like someone who doesn’t hand out compliments easily.”
Her lips twitched. “I don’t.”
There it was. That fire.
Shadow purred in satisfaction. “Our mate is strong.”
“She is not our mate,”
“Damn right she is.”
I ignored him; I could not start thinking like that because what if she found her own mate and it turned out it was not me? That would absolutely crush me, and plus, if she was my mate, our wolves would have already called out to each other.
Nonetheless, April was a warrior, a strong and efficient one.
I had seen it last night, the way she fought. She hadn’t cowered, hadn’t backed down. She had taken on those rogues without hesitation. And that… that only made her more irresistible.
I reached across the table, threading my fingers through hers. “I meant what I said, you know.”
She tilted her head. “Which part?”
“All of it,” I murmured. “That you’re mine. That I take care of what’s mine.” I squeezed her hand, my thumb brushing over her knuckles. “But also that you’re incredible, April. I don’t think you even see it.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I…”
I waited.
She looked away, her voice barely a whisper. “I don’t know how to be someone’s… anything.”
My chest ached at that, at the quiet vulnerability in her voice.
“You don’t have to know,” I told her. “You just have to let me show you.”
She let out a soft breath, and for the first time, I saw it-acceptance not just of me but of herself.
She didn’t pull away.
She didn’t question it.
She just… let herself be mine.
And I swore right there and then that I would never let her regret it.