EPISODE THREE: THE MORNING AFTER
864 Words
Kaya woke up to the golden hue of early morning spilling through unfamiliar curtains.
For a moment, she lay still, her body sinking into the softness of the mattress. The scent of fresh linen mixed with something deeper, masculine, warm, familiar yet wrong.
And then she remembered.
Her eyes snapped open.
She wasn’t home. She wasn’t in her pack’s territory, surrounded by towering trees and the ever-present scent of the wild.
She was in a human’s bed. His bed.
Her breath caught as a slow, horrifying realization settled over her.
What have I done?
A shift beside her drew her gaze, and there he was, Topher.
Still asleep, his dark hair a mess against the pillow, his lips slightly parted as he breathed steadily. He looked so… peaceful. So unaware of the chaos raging in her mind.
Kaya clenched her jaw. She had to get out of here.
She turned carefully, moving to slide out of bed without waking him. But as she did, the sheets slipped lower, brushing against her bare skin.
And that was when the memories hit her.
She hadn’t meant for it to go that far.
At first, it was just laughter, low and teasing, traded in whispers between drinks. Then, it was a touch. A brush of fingers against her wrist. A glance that lingered too long.
Then his lips.
Soft at first, testing, waiting.
She hadn’t pulled away. She should have, but instead, she leaned in.
The kiss deepened, slow and burning, awakening something inside her that had long been buried beneath responsibility and restraint.
Topher had been gentle, yet firm, guiding her through the haze of desire with hands that traced fire along her skin.
She had let herself feel.
For once, she wasn’t thinking about the pack. About duty. About what it meant to be an Alpha.
She was just a woman, his woman, if only for that night.
And gods, how she had wanted it.
Kaya squeezed her eyes shut, gripping the sheets.
Stupid. Reckless. Weak.
What was she thinking?
This wasn’t just some mistake. It was a betrayal, to herself, to her pack, to Kady.
Kady!!.
The thought of him sent a pang of guilt through her. He was waiting for her back home, and here she was, tangled in another man’s bed, breathing in his scent like she belonged here.
I have to leave. Now.
Holding her breath, she slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Topher. She found her clothes scattered across the room and hastily pulled them on, ignoring the way her body still hummed from the night before.
By the time she was fully dressed, her pulse had steadied, and her resolve hardened.
This never happened.
It couldn’t have happened.
Without a second glance, Kaya turned and slipped out of the room, leaving behind the warmth of his bed, the scent of his skin…
And the one night she could never take back.
Kaya moved swiftly through the dimly lit streets, the cool morning air wrapping around her like a cloak of guilt. Every step she took put more distance between her and the human world, between her and him.
“Topher”!
His name echoed in her mind as she slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley. It shouldn’t mean anything. He shouldn’t mean anything.
But the heat of his touch still lingered on her skin.
She clenched her jaw, shoving the thought away as she reached the outskirts of the city. The streets gave way to open fields, and beyond them, the towering woods that led back to her pack’s land.
She stripped off her clothes, tucking them safely into a hidden compartment in the trees. Then, with a deep breath, she let go.
Her bones cracked and reformed, a familiar rush of heat searing through her veins as her body shifted. In mere moments, she stood on four legs instead of two, shaking out her dark fur.
With a final glance toward the city she was leaving behind, she took off, running as fast as her wolf would carry her.
Topher’s awakens. The sunlight was what woke him. A golden beam stretched across the room, inching toward his closed eyelids.
Topher groaned, turning onto his side, only to reach out and find nothing.
His hand met cool sheets, the space beside him empty.
He blinked, momentarily disoriented. Then it hit him.
Kaya!
The woman with fierce eyes and a presence that commanded attention. The woman who had walked into his life for one night, set his entire world on fire, and disappeared before the embers had even cooled.
He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck as he scanned the room.
No note. No message.
Not even a lingering scent of her perfume.
Only a name, whispered between kisses.
Kaya.
Topher exhaled, shaking his head with a dry chuckle. He should have expected this. She had been different from the start, wild, untamed, carrying a kind of restlessness he couldn’t place.
And now she is gone.
Still, he found himself lying back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling with a smirk.
He might never see her again.
But he’d never forget her.
- Writer
