Chapter 119

Ava

I wiped the water from my eyes, my heart still pounding from the leap Chris and I had taken into the glowing pool. As I gasped for breath, pushing tendrils of damp hair away from my face, I caught sight of Ophelia and Leonard still engaged in a splash war across the pool.

Chris emerged beside me a moment later, rivulets of water cascading down the sculpted planes of his chest and abdomen. My gaze lingered perhaps a moment too long before snapping back to his face, my cheeks flushing hotly.

He shot me a knowing smirk, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. “Like what you see?” he asked. “It’s all yours, you know.”

I rolled my eyes, fighting back a smile of my own as I splashed him playfully. “Don’t start.”

Chuckling, he moved closer, the sound of the trickling water masking the way my breath hitched in my throat. “Why not?”

Before I could formulate a retort, Ophelia’s voice rang out across the cavern. “Ava! Chris! Are you two lovebirds quite finished making eyes at each other?”

I whirled around to find her grinning at us knowingly, her blonde hair uncharacteristically plastered to her forehead. Clearing my throat, I shot her a warning glance. “We were just chatting.”

“Mhm.” She arched an eyebrow at me. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“Enough, Ophelia,” Chris said, although there was no hiding the way the corners of his lips twitched with barely suppressed amusement. “What is it you want?”

She feigned innocence, batting her lashes dramatically. “Why, nothing at all, darling. I simply couldn’t help but notice the two of you looking rather… cozy over there.”

My cheeks burned freshly, and I opened my mouth to protest, but suddenly, Leonard was splashing Ophelia again in an attempt to detract attention from us—and it worked. Ophelia shrieked, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “You scoundrel!” she cried out, splashing him back. “We’ve only just met, and you’re treating me like this?”

While they were occupied, Chris turned to me. “Actually,” he said, his tone dropping, “I was hoping to… talk.”

“Talk?” I echoed. “What is there to talk about?”

Chris shot me a withering look as he swam over to the pool’s edge and propped himself up on a small shelf of rocks below the water so that the surface rippled across his mid-chest. “Don’t play dumb, Ava. Come here.”

I swallowed hard as I watched him nod his head to the spot beside him. He looked so handsome here in the light of the bioluminescent flora—his chest muscles heaving with each deep breath, rivers of cool water dripping down his shoulders. His eyes, so green and vibrant, matched the colors of the fungi and lichen.

Finally, with a sigh, I joined him and settled onto the shelf beside him.

“Look,” he began, watching as Ophelia and Leonard took turns holding their breath under the water, “I know that there’s more to this than I want to believe. I’m not an idiot. I understand that, sometimes, you have to make difficult decisions for the greater good when you’re in charge of a pack.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words seemed to catch in my throat. Before I could speak, however, Chris held up his hand to stop me.

“But I also know that you’re afraid,” he said softly. “Afraid of what might happen if the Elders and the pack disapprove of us.”

A humorless chuckle escaped my lips. He was right; I was afraid. Terrified, even. “Is it that obvious?” I whispered.

“Yeah.” Chris laughed, turning to face me fully then. Without hesitation, he reached out to grip my hands beneath the water. They were cool and oddly soothing. “I’m afraid, too, Ava. But I’m more afraid without you by my side.”

I felt a lump form in my throat as I searched his eyes, finding nothing but sincerity reflected back at me. Goddess, he was handsome. And I loved him.

But even then, I had to look away. This was dangerous territory, not just for us, but for everyone we cared about.

It was only then that I realized that a heavy silence had fallen over the cavern once more, thick and oppressive. Ophelia and Leonard had stopped their childlike play and were now treading water in the middle of the pool, their gazes darting between us.

Then, without warning, Ophelia was swimming toward us with a determined glint in her eye. Before I could react, she had reached out and grasped Chris’s hand, pulling it toward me until our fingers were intertwined between each other.

“Just promise me,” she said, her voice brooking no argument, “that the two of you will have an actual conversation about this when you’re sober. No games, no deflections—just an honest discussion about your fears and your feelings.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up a hand to silence me. “Ah! No arguments, darling. This has gone on quite long enough, don’t you think?”

Clamping my mouth shut, I found myself exchanging a reluctant glance with Chris. To my surprise, he simply gave a slight nod, his fingers tightening around mine reassuringly.

“We promise,” he said firmly.

Ophelia’s features softened somewhat as she regarded us, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Good.” She nodded with a self-satisfied smile and hoisted herself up onto the shore, standing in her full, nude glory on the rocks. Placing her hands on her hips and turning to us with no shame about her naked body being on full display, she grinned theatrically.

“I like it here,” she said. “This is better than any expensive resort I could have booked.”

Leonard chuckled. “And it’s all free,” he replied, his gaze darting across her bare chest before he quickly turned and began to swim slow laps across the water as if that would somehow hide the blush in his cheeks.

For a long moment, Chris and I continued to sit there in silence, just watching as Leonard swam and Ophelia dried herself with a towel. Soon, the evening chill began to set in and I was craving my soft bed.

Nodding to Chris, I climbed fully up onto the shore and dried myself off. I was just tugging my dress back on over my head when Chris pulled me back gently, his eyes searching mine.

“Ava,” he murmured, “I meant what I said. We can face this together, if you’ll let me in.”

I opened my mouth, but before I could respond, a sudden flurry of movement in the water caught my eye. I turned just in time to see Leonard break the surface, gasping for air as he clutched something in his fist.

“Leonard?” I called out uncertainly. “What is it?”

He swam toward us, his expression strangely full of confusion. As he drew closer, my gaze landed on the object in his hand—a delicate silver chain, glinting in the soft glow of the bioluminescent water.

A necklace.

Chris’s sharp inhalation beside me made my head whip around. His eyes were wide, his features drained of color as he stared at the necklace in abject horror.

“That’s…” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. “That’s Olivia’s necklace.”

A chill raced down my spine as the realization hit me. Of course—how could I not have recognized it? I had seen that very necklace around Olivia’s neck when she had been taken to the cells beneath the Packhouse. She had worn it during her entire time there. She had never even taken that necklace off before, at least not since I had known her.

Which could only mean one thing—she had been here. Recently.