Elara's POV
Cassian hasn't left.
He's still here in this room, and his eyes are too focused on me to an extent I feel them like fingertips walking from my toes, going underneath my dress, and managing to get to my hair. He won't stop, and I'm starting to feel naked before him even though my gown is still on.
"Everything ends here," he says.
The other man who came in with the candlelight is shaking his head, and walking closer to him.
"You hear me?" Cassian says, this time his voice is so loud that it feels like he's hitting the walls of the room with an axe.
"You—"
"Alaric." Cassian cuts in. "You don't question me."
Alaric nods, but his gaze lingers on me.
Cassian returns his attention to me, and I also feel everyone's gaze lands on me.
I don't know if I should step back or scream at him. It's confusing that I sense chaos around him, but my body wouldn't let me step back. Perhaps fear is keeping in place?
It isn't fear.
His gaze? Just his gaze can do that.
He touches my hair, and I stiffen, holding my breath. "You're pretty."
I nod once, not sure of how I'm supposed to respond.
I should ask him to take his hand off my hair? But I find myself sniffing his smell of spices.
"Nothing can change the fact that you're my mate," he says. "You can't change that." He turns to look at Lyra. "No one can."
I nod again. "Okay."
I have to accept all he is saying. My instinct tells me to, like I'm supposed to please him? Maybe that is the case. But what if that connection of a mate bond really exists? Is the bond making me try to please him at this moment?
Or what if it's just the way I've become?
Whatever.
His palms walk up to my jaws. I do not move. I don't flinch like the first time he touches me. He smiles, but what for?
"Our connection is strong." He kisses my forehead.
And my mind seems to blur for a moment. It's like no one else is standing outside the room, looking at us, like it's just us. I place my arms on his lower arms, and if truly no one is staring at us, it would be a heated session of intimacy.
My body has taken control of me, and now, I suddenly craved his touch… for someone I barely know, for someone who calls me mate without confirming if it also occurs to me.
Oh… this shouldn't be so.
"A… Cassian?" I call with warmth.
He stares hard at me.
I touch his arms, hold them, and raise them to place on my boobs. He kneads them, and my mind drifts off from these people standing around us, like they aren't here.
"Elara… Elara!" Velora's voice pulls me off this state.
I jerk back, pull his hands off my boobs and manage to steady myself. His face twitches a bit, but he covers it up with a smile.
His palms touch my cheeks. "It's okay."
And again, I nod, not intending to offend him by suddenly cutting him off.
Now his skin… the strange fur is starting to grow out of his skin again. But he doesn't react the same way he does the last time it happens, like he is containing it?
I am starting to feel the heat from his body creep into me.
"Hmm…" He bites his lips so hard that I can see his jaw tighten. "It's no longer about the curse…"
"You're becoming feral."
"And does that matter?" He lets out a soft chuckle.
But I can read the pain on his face.
He shuts his eyes, his heart panting hard against his chest. The sound is loud. He opens his eyes, and sweat is starting to drip down his face.
"Alpha Cassian… You aren't okay… Your body." Alaric rushes closer to him, the candle burning on a saucer almost going off.
"Don't!" he says through gritted teeth, gesturing for Alaric not to come closer to him.
He is barely standing straight, but his eyes refuse to give me a break. He is ignoring the pain going through his veins. His eyes… they are starting to get wet.
His face hardens. "I bring this upon myself… everything. I shouldn't have gone on an endless search for revenge."
He withdraws his hand from my face, hugging himself tightly. The tears roll down his cheeks, but the tears aren't because of the sensations of pain that come with the effects of the curse affecting him, but from his mind, thoughts like regrets?
"I should become feral." His words are shaky. "I would lose control of myself, and that shouldn't mean anything."
He staggers backward, and Alaric comes closer to hold him.
"Don't!" His voice is loud, but his breath weakens at the same time.
He manages himself a step outside the room door.
He turns back to take another look at me. "Elara… take care…"
Again, as though my lips are sealed, I nod.
Lyra has been standing outside the door. As I study her, I see her eyes are swollen and her palms are pressed tightly against her lips, but I still hear the sound of her sob. Our eyes meet, and she takes her hands off her lips to let the cry out.
Cassian stands close enough to hold her, but he doesn't. When she moves closer, he steps back.
"Sorry," he mutters.
"Cassian… you shouldn't become feral… I love–"
"Stop."
He walks out, Alaric following behind him, but Lyra stays behind. The light fades save for the other candle Velora is holding.
"He said you're his mate." She wipes her palms across her face. "But do you believe that?"
She swallows the lump down her throat, trying to steady her voice, but she fails at doing this. Her voice is still shaky.
"What do you think about that?" She asks.
I do not know what to say, but it's obvious that nothing I can say to her would make any sense, especially now that she wears her broken heart on her face.
"You're human," she continues, moving closer to me. "I'm a werewolf, and I've been with him, but now…" she lets tears roll down her cheeks. "He's ending everything, putting himself at risk because of you!"
She steps back, and I almost hear a sigh of relief.
But she comes back with zeal written all over her face.
"Tell me the secret." She grabs my arms.
"What secret?"
"Tell me…" Her breathing is fast like she can drop on the floor at this very moment. "How did he see you as his mate?"
"I don't know… there's nothing I have to tell you."
I try to pull my arms off her hold, but she hesitates to let me go. She wants to get into my head to get the so-called secret she thinks I know.
But there's no secret. She wouldn't believe that.
She finally lets go, but points her finger at me. "You're supposed to be his cure, but you spun everything!"
Her fingers dig into her hair, and she appears to be shaking, struggling to breathe.
She's obsessed with Cassian. Or is it just a normal heartbreak?
Please leave.
She gets to the door, shoots me a deadly glare before barging out.
Now, it's just Velora and I in this room.
She gets close to me, her eyes scanning me in and out. The scene of my placing Cassian's hands on my boobs is clearly seen in her expression. I'm about to explain to her that I didn't mean to, but I decided not to.
"Don't believe him," she says. "Don't let that creepy emotion, or whatever he calls it deceive you."
"But—"
I don't know how to explain how I feel to her.
"You understand?"
"You have to explain," I say instead, furrowing my brows. "Why would he—"
"I have a lot of explaining to do, but it's bit by bit, with time."