Silent threads
981 Words
Zayden’s POV
The hallway outside Cassidy’s room was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of wind against the windows. Zayden stood with a mug of coffee cooling in his hands, watching the last of moonlight filter through the tall panes while the sun started to rise . The pack house was enormous, the sort of place people might call cold or intimidating if they didn’t understand what warmth lived inside it. But to him, it had felt empty since Lyra passed.
Until now.
He heard soft laughter, muffled through the door. Cassidy’s.
A sound so rare, so fragile, he almost didn’t believe it. His heart tightened.
He hadn’t meant to start watching her. Not like this. But ever since the day they brought her home—pale, bruised, unconscious—he hadn’t been able to stop. There was something about her presence that kept dragging him in. Not just the bond the Moon Goddess had told them about, though that weight pulsed in his chest whenever she was near.
No. It was her.
Her strength in spite of everything. The way she held Ellie as if protecting her from the entire world. The way her hand curled instinctively over her belly when she was frightened. The haunted silence in her eyes.
She never asked for comfort. Never complained. But Zayden could feel it—the fragility in her movements, the exhaustion in her posture, the way her eyes flitted to exits as if she might still need to run.
He finished his coffee and quietly knocked.
“Come in,” came Cassidy’s voice.
He opened the door slowly, careful not to startle her. She was sitting on the plush rug in the center of the room, Ellie toddling nearby with a plush wolf in her hands. Cassidy looked up, the softest smile curling her lips.
“Hey,” she said. “Zaylen and Zarina just left. They were playing with Ellie, but she wore them out.”
“Figures,” he chuckled. “My kids have energy for days, but your daughter might have just met their match.”
Cassidy gave a breathy laugh, then patted the rug beside her. “You can sit if you want. I don’t bite.”
He moved carefully, lowering himself beside her. Ellie immediately ambled over and dropped the plush wolf in his lap.
Zayden grinned. “You offering me a peace treaty, little warrior?”
She babbled something and crawled into Cassidy’s lap, clearly satisfied with her diplomatic effort.
“She likes you,” Cassidy said, stroking her daughter’s hair.
“She’s got good instincts,” Zayden murmured.
He watched Cassidy for a long moment, catching the shadows beneath her eyes. She was healing, but slowly. Her face still bore the faint yellowing remnants of bruises, and she moved like every muscle was still remembering pain. But she was healing—and for that, he was thankful.
“You seem better today,” he said.
Cassidy tilted her head. “I slept through the night. First time since… everything.”
“That’s a huge step,” he said, unable to keep the relief from his voice.
She looked down, fingers lightly brushing Ellie’s curls. “It was after that talk with Zander. I guess… I realized I’m not alone anymore. That I don’t have to carry everything myself.”
Zayden’s heart clenched. “You don’t. We mean that, Cassidy.”
Her eyes met his—guarded, questioning, but not closed.
“I didn’t expect this,” she admitted. “Any of this. Being here. Feeling… safe. It’s still a little unreal.”
He hesitated, then gently said, “Do you know what I thought the first time I saw you?”
She raised a brow. “Terrified and beaten doesn’t exactly scream first impression material.”
“No,” Zayden said, his voice rough with emotion. “I saw someone who survived something no one should. Someone who still had enough strength to hold her child like a shield. You looked like hell, yeah—but you also looked like the bravest person I’ve ever seen.”
Cassidy’s lips trembled. Her eyes shone with unshed tears.
“Why are you all being so kind to me?” she whispered. “You don’t even know me.”
He didn’t look away. “We do know you. Not everything, not yet. But our wolves recognized you. Our hearts did, too.”
Cassidy pressed her forehead to Ellie’s, breathing in her scent for comfort. “Sometimes it’s easier to believe the pain than the good.”
“I get that,” Zayden said softly. “After Lyra died, I didn’t think I’d ever let myself care about anyone again. But then the Moon Goddess showed us your face, told us you were our second chance. I didn’t understand it then. I think… maybe I still don’t. But I feel it.”
Cassidy blinked slowly. “I don’t know if I can give you what you need.”
“We don’t want anything from you,” he replied gently. “Only what you want to give.”
She studied him, long and searching. Then she gave a tiny nod.
“I don’t know what this is between us,” she said. “But I’m willing to find out. Slowly.”
Zayden smiled, warmth blooming in his chest. “That’s all I could ask.”
Ellie chose that moment to pat his cheek with a sticky hand and giggle.
“Okay,” Cassidy said with a watery laugh. “She approves, apparently.”
Zayden grinned. “That’s a good start.”
He stayed with them until Ellie began to doze in her mother’s lap, content and safe. When Cassidy finally looked at him and said, “Thank you for staying,” he knew something important had shifted.
A thread had been tied. Quiet. Strong. And maybe, just maybe, permanent.
- Writer
