CHAPTER THREE:THE CRACK IN THE ALPHA
997 Words
ELARA — POV
Cassian avoided me.
All afternoon.
He moved around the lodge like a shadow silent, controlled, commanding but the moment I stepped into a hall or turned a corner, he changed direction like my presence burned him.
He wasn’t subtle about it.
And it hurt more than it should.
Harper was busy helping pack children decorate cookies in the kitchen, so I escaped the noise and let my feet carry me toward the back of the lodge.
Snow had thickened outside, soft flakes clinging to the windows. Wolves rushed around preparing for the evening bonfire one of the biggest holiday events of the year.
I didn’t mind attending.
I just didn’t want to attend alone.
“Elara!”
I turned. A young, handsome warrior jogged toward me with a bright smile.
Marek.
One of the pack’s elite fighters strong, easygoing, and ridiculously charming.
“You’re back this year,” he said, stopping in front of me with a grin that warmed everything around him. “Didn’t think we’d see you again.”
“I didn’t think I’d be here either.”
“Glad you are,” he said, eyes raking me warmly. “You look different. Good different.”
Heat climbed my cheeks.
I laughed softly. “Thanks.”
“You going to the bonfire tonight?” Marek asked.
“Harper wants me to.”
“I do too.”
My heart thumped.
Before I could reply, a cold wind brushed the back of my neck except it wasn’t wind.
It was him.
Cassian.
He’d appeared silently behind us, his presence a violent shift in the air. His expression was carved in stone, but his eyes… his eyes were feral.
“Marek,” Cassian said, voice low.
Marek straightened instantly. “Alpha.”
Cassian’s gaze flicked to where Marek stood far too close to me.
Then lower.
Then back to Marek.
“What are you doing?” Cassian asked.
Marek blinked. “Talking.”
“To.”
Cassian’s voice sharpened.
“Elara.”
Something electric pulsed through the space between us.
Marek hesitated. “Yes.”
Cassian’s jaw flexed. “Find something else to do.”
Marek swallowed and backed away confused, irritated, but not stupid enough to challenge an Alpha in this mood.
“Of course, Alpha.”
He left.
And then it was just Cassian.
And me.
And the storm boiling inside him.
I folded my arms, partly out of nerves, partly to stop the tremor running through them. “You don’t get to order people away from me.”
“I’m not ordering anyone,” he growled quietly. “I’m preventing stupidity.”
“Marek wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Cassian stepped closer.
Too close.
“Are you sure about that?”
I felt breathless. “Why do you care?”
He didn’t answer at first.
His eyes roamed my face, my lips, my throat.
His breathing change deepened as if he were fighting something violent inside.
“I don’t care,” he said tightly. “I can’t.”
But it sounded like a lie he hated telling.
I swallowed. “Then why”
“Elara.”
He shut his eyes a moment. “Please don’t push me.”
Something in me softened.
Something else broke open.
“Cassian,” I whispered, “you’re acting like—”
“I’m not acting like anything,” he cut in sharply. “I’m trying to keep distance.”
“You’re not doing a very good job.”
His eyes opened.
Slowly.
Darkly.
Beautifully.
“No,” he said. “No, I’m not.”
The air thickened between us.
His pulse hammered visibly at his throat.
His fingers flexed.
His wolf pressed against the surface of his gaze like it wanted out.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, barely breathing.
He leaned in just a fraction, but enough for heat to cascade down my spine.
“Because I’m trying not to touch you.”
My breath caught so violently I swayed.
His hand shot out instinct grabbing my waist before I fell.
The moment his palm met my body, everything shattered.
Heat.
Fire.
Electricity.
His body stiffened… and so did mine.
We froze.
His hand still on my waist.
My hands gripping his sweater.
His chest rising sharply.
His eyes locked onto my lips.
He didn’t move away.
He didn’t breathe.
Neither did I.
“Cassian…” I whispered.
A growl rumbled in his chest quiet, primal, uncontrollable.
His fingers tightened on my waist.
“Elara,” he rasped, “this… cannot happen.”
“Then let go.”
But he couldn’t.
His hand stayed.
His body pressed closer.
His forehead nearly touched mine.
And his voice broken, desperate fell against my lips.
“I don’t want to.”
For one suspended, impossible moment we hovered on the edge of something forbidden, breath mingling, hearts racing
Until
“DAD?!”
We flew apart like magnets violently ripped away.
Harper stood five feet away, staring at us with wide, confused eyes.
Cassian straightened instantly, jaw tight, hands behind his back like the contact had never happened.
“Elara slipped,” he said calmly.
I blinked.
He lied… instantly.
Harper looked at my perfectly steady stance. “She doesn’t look like she slipped.”
Cassian’s voice lowered, Alpha-deep. “Harper.”
She shut her mouth.
For now.
But suspicion flickered across her face.
And Cassian knew it.
He stepped away from both of us, breathing hard, control barely returning.
“Elara,” he said without looking at me, “go inside.”
“But—”
“Now.”
It wasn’t an order for safety.
It was an order to protect what just happened.
What almost happened.
I walked away with my heart punching my ribs, heat flooding my blood, and a truth I could no longer deny:
Cassian Thorne wasn’t avoiding me because he didn’t want me.
He was avoiding me because he did.
And he was losing the battle.
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