chapter 7
1336 Words
Nova’s POV
The bass of the music pulsed in my chest before I even stepped through the door.
Lights flickered across the packed living room, bouncing off red Solo cups and grinding bodies. I hated this already. My hair was still damp from the shower I regretted taking—it had left me with flushed skin and lingering images I didn’t ask for. Images of Max. The way his eyes darkened when he was angry. The way his lips curled in that infuriating half-smirk.
Stop.
I tugged at the edge of my leather jacket like armor and pushed through the crowd, ignoring the stares. Most knew who I was—or rather, they thought they did. The adopted daughter of the smallest Alpha, a quiet girl who somehow made it into their elite world.
They didn’t know about the dreams. About the strange power that stirred beneath my skin. About how the Lycan Prince made it worse just by existing.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.” The voice cut through the haze.
I turned.
Max.
Leaning against the stair banister like it belonged to him. Casual, confident, dangerous. Dressed in black from head to toe, with that smug, unreadable expression that made me want to slap him—or kiss him.
Gods, what was wrong with me?
“I got dragged here,” I muttered.
He raised a brow, pushing off the rail. “You always look this tense at parties? Or just when I’m around?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’d be perfectly relaxed if you kept your distance.”
He stepped closer. “Funny. I was thinking the same thing. Yet… here we are.”
My heart skipped. Heat licked up my neck, but I didn’t back down. “You always try this hard to get under people’s skin, or am I just a special case?”
“Definitely special,” he said, voice low. “You get under mine, too.”
That threw me off. I hated the way his tone dropped when he said it—like it was a secret between us.
Silence stretched as the air shifted. My body betrayed me, reacting to his nearness. The smell of pine and storm. The flicker of his eyes to my lips.
“Careful, Max,” I said, breath catching. “You might start to sound like you actually like me.”
He leaned down, so close I felt the warmth of his breath on my cheek. “Who says I don’t?”
Then he walked away—just like that.
And I stood there, completely unraveled.
---
Max’s POV
She was fire and I was already burning.
I saw her the second she stepped through the door—blue eyes scanning the room, that little jacket barely hiding the way her hips moved with every step. But it wasn’t just the way she looked. It was her. That storm she carried in silence. That bite in her tone. That strength that pulled at something raw inside me.
And the scent. Moonlight and wildflowers. Like a memory I never had, but craved anyway.
I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t want to.
Teasing her was second nature, but tonight felt different. There was something volatile between us. Electric. Dangerous. I was supposed to keep my distance. To ignore the way my lycan stirred when she was near.
But then she looked up at me—defiant and flushed from something she wouldn’t say out loud—and I knew I was f****d.
I left her standing there, because if I hadn’t, I would’ve kissed her.
And there are some lines you don’t cross.
Not until you’re ready for what they’ll awaken.
I stalked away from Nova like it hadn’t taken everything in me to not touch her. My drink was still cold in my hand, untouched, forgotten. It was the only thing grounding me after that little exchange.
She looked like sin and sunlight all wrapped in one. And every part of me wanted to chase.
“You’re a coward,” Maze growled in my head.
“Not now,” I muttered under my breath, heading toward the back deck to escape the crowd.
“You left her standing there like a fool. Why?”
“Because I don’t have the luxury of getting distracted.”
“She’s not a distraction. She’s ours.”
I stopped walking, jaw tightening. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. The scent, the pull, the way she ignites something primal in us. I’ve never reacted to anyone like this—and you haven’t either.”
I leaned against the railing, breathing in the cool night air. It didn’t help. Not with Maze clawing at my mind, restless, agitated, pacing like a caged beast.
“She’s just… different,” I said softly, even though it felt like a lie.
“She’s more. She’s power and mystery and moonlight. We belong by her side—not as prince and protector, but as something deeper.”
I let that settle.
I hated how right he sounded.
Nova wasn’t just some girl I teased to pass the time. She was something other. Something ancient, maybe even sacred. And the closer I got, the more it felt like I was standing at the edge of something I wasn’t ready for.
“She hates me,” I said.
Maze growled low. “She doesn’t. She fears what this is. Just like you do.”
A flicker of movement caught my attention. Nova, standing alone in the hallway, staring toward the crowd like she didn’t belong here either.
“Go to her,” Maze whispered. “Just be near her. Even that’s enough… for now.”
And for once, I didn’t fight him.
I set the drink down, walked back inside, and followed the pull.
---
Nova's pov
I didn’t even hear him approach—one moment I was standing there, trying to calm the storm in my chest, and the next, Max was beside me. His scent hit me first, My body tensed, but I refused to step away.
“What do you want, Max?” I asked quietly, not looking at him.
“I don’t know,” he said, just as softly. “But I think... I just wanted to stand next to you for a minute.”
That wasn’t what I expected. I turned, just slightly, enough to catch the shadow of his expression in the dim lighting. Gone was the smug, irritating prince who always had something to prove. In his place was someone... raw.
“Do you always corner girls at parties just to confuse them?”
He smiled faintly. “Only the ones who haunt my dreams.”
I sucked in a breath.
We stared at each other, silence heavy between us, crackling with something too real to name.
His hand lifted like he might touch me, then dropped again. “You feel it too,” he said, voice lower now. “The way something shifts when we’re near each other.”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to pretend I didn’t feel anything when he looked at me like that. But I couldn’t. It was a gravity I couldn’t ignore.
“I don’t know what this is,” I admitted. “But it scares me.”
“Good,” Max murmured. “It scares me too.”
Before I could respond, a hand wrapped around my wrist.
“There you are!” Elara’s voice broke through the haze between us, sounding breathless and annoyed. “This party sucks, Nova. I want to leave.”
I blinked, still trying to pull myself out of Max’s eyes. “Okay—yeah, just let me grab my coat.”
Elara narrowed her eyes at Max but said nothing. He stepped back, that unreadable mask slipping back over his face.
As I followed Elara toward the door, I felt Max’s eyes on me the whole way.
And the worst part?
I didn’t want to walk away
- Writer
