THE ALPHA’S HUMAN BRIDE

CHAPTER FOUR:SNORES

NEVAEH'S POV

The moment I stepped out of the car, the guilt I felt flew away.The restaurant was the kind of place couples went to fall in love or fall apart. Soft jazz spilled through the speakers, warm light pooled around each table like an invitation to secrets, and outside the windows, the fairy lights glittered and the moon began to brighten up the sidewalk.

I wish I wore something fancy.

Carter didn’t speak at first. He waited until we were seated at a table tucked into the farthest corner, away from a number of curious eyes. The menu lay untouched between us.

“Thank you,” he said, like it meant more than just the obvious, like he knew I’d done something monumental by showing up. Maybe I had.

I didn’t know what to say back. So I looked out the window, fingers tangled in my lap. “You said you’d explain.”

He nodded slowly. “I will. But I don’t expect you to believe me.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “Try me.”

He studied me for a second—like he was trying to decide how much truth I could take.Then he leaned in slightly, elbows on the table, voice low, commanding and careful. “Have you heard stories about witches, vampires and maybe werewolves?”.

My breath caught. Werewolves. Mate. I simply nodded.

He continued cautiously. “Some of these stories are real, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have, but for now I’ll go straight to the point.”

“I am a werewolf."

He said it so plainly. Like a fact. He clearly wasn’t joking.

I gulp and nod, slowly taking it in.

“I know how that sounds,” he continued, lips twitching with the ghost of a smile. “But it’s the truth. There is a veil that separates both realms—the human race and werewolves— and to crossover you need to have the blood of a werewolf.”

He paused to see if I had something to say, but I just stared. Unable to form words.

“Humans…” He continued, his voice as smooth as silk. “Mostly do not know about us, an ancient truce between the gods and goddesses of our realms made that possible. When werewolves turn 16, our mate bond awakens.”

He gave me a sad smile. “I have felt you, Nevaeh. I just couldn’t find you. I thought the goddess was playing tricks on me when I met you at town hall.”

“Goddess…?” I whispered, c*****g my head to the side.

“Moon goddess, our creator. She makes and seals our fates. Guarding the veil between the realms. A celestial mother of wolves.”

I mutter a sound of confirmation while he continues.

“The bond between us… it’s not something I chose. It’s something the Moon Goddess decided, long before I knew your name. When I turned sixteen, I started feeling it—like a tether pulling at me every time I looked at the moon. I didn’t know who it was tied to. Not until I saw you.”

“What did you mean?. When you said you thought she was playing tricks?.”

He sighed and replied. “A human and werewolf mate bond is forbidden, I don’t care though.” He relaxed back into his chair. “I have found my mate, and the Moon Goddess does not make mistakes. I will never reject what is mine.”

The waiter came to our table at this point, and Carter asked for more time to go through the menu.

“So I’m like… your soulmate?.”

“You’re my mate, Nevaeh. And no, not in the creepy cult way.” He said with a smirk as he flipped through the menu.

I wanted to laugh. Or melt into the chair and disappear. But I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I looked him dead in the eye and said, “I have a fiancé.”

“I know,” he said again.

The waiter came back and took our order.

“Do you love him?”. He asked confidently as soon as the waiter left. As if he already knew the answer to the question.

I opened my mouth—then closed it. The question hit somewhere I didn’t expect. And the silence that followed was louder than any answer I could give.

After a long moment, I whispered,

“What if I don’t want you?”

His eyes softened. “I’m not here to force you into anything. Take your time and process everything I just told you. You’ll probably have more questions later. Ask me anytime, you have my number. But just remember that you are mine, Nevaeh.”

His grey eyes visibly darkened and I almost gasped. “You sound insane.”

“I probably am.” He chuckled.

I looked away, hands trembling slightly under the table. This was too much. Too fast. Too everything. And yet—something inside me stirred. Something old and aching, like a bell ringing from a forgotten place.

“You should’ve said something else in the elevator,” I murmured. “Something less… intense.”

He smiled, that same quiet smile that made weird insects flutter in my stomach. “I felt intense, I wanted so badly to make you mine, at that moment.”

“I also panicked when I stepped into the elevator.“You smelled like vanilla and wildness, and all I could think was mine.” He shrugged.

I flushed. Damn it.

“I’m not wild,” I muttered.

“We’ll see,” he said.

Our food was ready and the Alfredo was the best decision I made.

Carter smiled as he watched me tear into my pasta, barely touching his steak.

I swallowed. “It’s not… just chemistry?”

He chuckled while taking a sip of water. “No. It’s fate.”

We left the restaurant quietly, the sky now inked with stars. The drive back was mostly silent, but it wasn’t awkward anymore. It was full. Heavy with things unsaid.

He stopped the car in front of the city council, so I could pick up my car. Then he turned to me and said.

“Thank you.”

“For dinner?”

“For not running away”

I smiled and opened the car door. “Goodnight, Carter.”

“Goodnight, Nevaeh.”

I love how my name rolled off his tongue. He got in his car and waited for me to pull out before driving off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arrived at WhistleWho.

The bakery was still open when I walked in. The scent of sugar, cinnamon, and freshly baked cookies hit me immediately. Kiera was behind the counter boxing up cookies and taking orders for the next day on a call.

“I know Mr Brown, we open by 9 o'clock and I’ll be sure to get everything ready for you by 10. Bye now.” She hung up dramatically, then looked up and smiled slowly when she saw me.

“Oh my God. Did you just come back from a date?”

“Define date,” I said, flopping onto the stool by the espresso machine.

She narrowed her eyes. “Did a certain guy with a name that rhymes with ‘batter’ take you out?”

I nod once.

“Nevaeh!” she whisper-yelled. “You did not go out with the text-possessive-elevator-stalker-man!”

“I didn’t plan to,” I muttered. “He showed up at the mayor’s office and asked to speak with me. And he apologized. Then he asked me to dinner. So technically, I just… fell into it.”

“You fell into dinner with a Greek God with white hair?”

I sighed. “There were candles, Kiera. And twinkle lights.”

“Oh, twinkle lights. Okay fine, tell me everything.” She tossed a tea towel over her shoulder and handed me a donut.

“Start from the beginning. Don’t spare any details. Especially anything about his voice, his jawline, or how many times he said the word mate.”

So I did just that.

And I couldn’t help but blurt out other minor details like not knowing if I wanted to kiss him or throw holy water at his face.

Kiera was quiet through most of it, just chewing her lower lip and nodding.

When I was done, she placed both hands on the counter.

“Okay. This is a lot, how are you taking it my love?”

Tears welled up in my eyes. Kiera just knew me so well.

“I don’t know what to do, I’ve been in one relationship since high school. Now a werewolf millionaire is in love with me, what’s crazy is that I find him attractive.”

Kiera nods slowly as she takes my hand in hers.

“Finding another man attractive is basically cheating, right?. I don’t want to be that person”. I continue before Kiera could say anything.

“So what do you want to do now.?” Kiera asked while rubbing the back of my hand to calm me down.

I swallowed. “I don’t know.”

I looked down at my donut. “Harry doesn’t even know I like my eggs scrambled. He thinks I drink oat milk because it’s trendy, I genuinely just hate the taste of ordinary milk.”

“So…” Kiera tilted her head. “He’s definitely not the one?”

“More like… the filler boyfriend I accidentally kept too long.”

Kiera laughed a little too loudly. “Girl, I’ve been saying that, you finally see it.”

“I know."

She walked around and hugged me from behind. “Whatever this thing is with Carter, whether it’s mate-bond or fate or just a really intense crush, promise me you’ll put yourself first. No disappearing into someone else’s story.”

“I promise,” I whispered. “Though I don’t even know what story I’m in anymore.”

“Just take it slow and be careful. You deserve happiness, and Harold...” Kiera’s eyes welled. “He doesn’t see you. He doesn’t want to see you.”

“I know.” I whispered again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost 10 p.m. when I got home. I’d taken the long way, walking just to clear my head, get the smell of frosting out of my hair, and maybe delay whatever complicated thoughts were clawing their way back in.

The porch light was on, which was weird because I’d turned it off.

And then I saw him.

Harold.

Sitting on the top step of my apartment complex like he’d been waiting for hours. He had his varsity hoodie on and a duffel bag at his feet.

“Hey, babe,” he said, standing up as I approached.

“Hi Harry”

“You weren’t answering your texts. Thought I’d crash here tonight. Just got back from my cousin’s place.”

I gave him a cracked smile. “Crash here?”

“Yeah. My place is getting fumigated or whatever. And I missed you.” He leaned in for a kiss.

I unlocked the door and we walked in.

“Where’s your car?” I asked.

“Battery died. Got a ride. Anyway, I’m wiped.” He plopped his bag on the coffee table and sat on the couch, kicked off his sneakers, and grabbed the remote.

“You mind if I watch the game highlights?”

“Since when do you watch sports,” I muttered.

“Just the crypto-funded leagues. My boy’s playing.”

Of course.

“So how did today go with your cousins?”

“Huh?… Oh yeah, it was great. We threw some of our get-the-bag ideas around and played some video games.” His eyes glued to the television while I stood there like a statue.

“That’s great. Well I was thinking about movie night earlier today, we could put a—“

“Gotta take a leak.” He ran off to the bathroom.

“Bathroom still smells like your lavender candle,” he yelled loudly.

I stared in his direction, wondering how I’d let this be normal. I had always excused the things he did.

The sexist jokes, dismissing me, his hygiene. I wanted something real and stable but I think I settled for bare minimum and toxicity instead.

The people I cared about didn’t even like him. His dad treated me as nothing more than a secretary, his mom nitpicked everything I did.

Tonight, I really wanted him to prove me wrong. Prove Kiera wrong. Prove my father wrong.

He just… settled in like this was his couch, his remote, his space.

I changed into pajamas while he brushed his teeth with the toothbrush he always used. By the time I was done with my skincare and climbed into bed beside him, he was out like a light, snoring.

Not soft, cute snores. Cement mixer snores.

Must have had a stressful day, right Harry?

I stared at the ceiling, thinking about Carter. About how his voice said my name like it meant something. About every impossible thing he said to me.

I had so many questions.

Next to me, Harry rolled over and mumbled something about coins.

I turned to face the window and wrapped my arms around myself.

And for the first time, I realized something gut-deep and undeniable:

I couldn’t keep doing this.

Whatever this was.

Not when there was a chance, no matter how dangerous or insane or supernatural, that something more was out there waiting for me.

Somewhere out there, Carter Tegelli was probably staring at the same moon I was.

And I was stuck here.

Next to a man who hadn’t even asked about my day.