Chapter 175

Alaric’s POV

Cara’s words shook me to my core. She wanted to… leave?

Until this health scare – or whatever this was – things had been going well for us. Just the other night, I had held her in my arms all night long. Our love felt rekindled. But now – she just wanted to go away and not have that anymore?

Something had to be going on. Something worse than what I had been assuming. But what?

“Cara, please talk to me,” I said. “Please tell me what’s going on. We can work through it together. I want to be here for you. Haven’t you been comfortable here? Why leave?

Cara looked away from me, with something like guilt darkening her face. “I need to be close to my family now, Alaric. And the kids need to get back to school.”

“The tutors have been coming over nearly every day.” At least, before Mia had to go to the hospital. But now that she was home, we could get the schedule going again.

“They miss their old friends,” she said, and I hated that I couldn’t argue that. Though I could ensure the kids received a good education through the tutors, I couldn’t give them friends or social experiences that way. It would be healthiest for them to be around more kids their age.

“We can enroll them in school here,” I said.

Cara shook her head lightly. “They already have friends back home.”

“But what about me?” I said. “I’m their father.”

“You can visit whenever you want,” she replied. “I will not stop you from seeing your children.”

I straightened to my full height, trying to stay calm even as I wanted to argue.

“What about us?” I asked.

She closed her eyes for a moment. “I just think this relocation might be what’s best for me and the kids. I don’t hate the thought of staying here with you, Alaric. You must know that. But I have reasons for wanting to be back in BloodyMoon.”

“Reasons you aren’t telling me.”

Finally, she looked back up at me, and there was a hint of fire in her eyes. “Don’t forget that I remain the BloodyMoon Beta. I need to return to your job.”

“Eamon would let you go if you asked him.”

“And you think that’s what I should do?” Some anger rose in her voice. “I like being the Beta, Alaric. I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“You could work for me,” I said.

She shook her head again, more forcefully this time. “You aren’t listening.”

Maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I was being stubborn because I didn’t want to lose her again. The elder council had been more or less accepting when I had moved to BloodyMoon to pursue Cara before – at least for a while. But now, that would be a much more difficult sell.

I wasn’t unaware of the growing rumors in the DuskWood pack that my loyalties were divided and most of my time spent on everything but pack matters.

If I left again, continuing to pursue Cara into BloodyMoon once more, my own pack would have questions for me. But, just as I could not abandon my pack, I would not abandon my children or the woman I loved, especially if she was going through a type of hardship that I still had not been made aware of.

“If you leave,” I said, “I might not be able to follow you this time.”

“I would not force you to.”

“It’s not about being forced,” I said, so that she would understand fully and there would be no confusion about this. “I would want to follow you, Cara. You and the kids. But I am still Alpha of DuskWood pack, and I have responsibilities here.”

“I understand,” she said.

“I don’t feel like you do,” I pressed. “I can’t go, but if you could stay –”

“I can’t stay,” she said.

I felt utterly lost, unable to convince her. “If you would only tell me what is going on, I’m sure I could find a way to help.”

This was my last plea. I had nothing else but this, opening my arms and my heart.

She seemed to waver in her conviction to keep her secret. Her brows pulled together and she frowned.

A sliver of hope rose inside of me. If she would just tell me what was going on, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so powerless anymore.

Yet, just as she opened her mouth to speak, someone came in through the house.

“Cara?” they called. A man. Familiar.

Noel.

He turned the corner, spotted Cara and rushed forward. The butler came shuffling in behind.

“I’m sorry, Sir. He was quite insistent and would not wait.”

Before I could react to anything, Noel grabbed Cara and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug. Cara returned the hug in part, before glancing at me and tugging away.

“We can’t talk here,” she said to him, and my whole world came to a halt. It was one thing for her family to know her secret, but for me to not. It was an entirely different matter for Noel to also be let in on the secret.

Hot jealous rage scorched up inside of me. It took willpower of steel to bite back the harsh words that scalded my throat.

Who was Noel to be able to know? Why was he allowed to offer comfort while I was kept in the dark?

Noel glanced at me then, and a look of pity crossed his face. Pity. From him to me.

I felt as if I’d entered some alternate universe where everything was upside down and backwards. A handful of days ago, Cara and I had sneaked away to kiss and hold each other all through the night. Now, Noel seemed as if he was the one about to carry Cara off.

Over my dead body.

“I understand,” Noel said, looking back to Cara. “Perhaps I should have waited for you to come to me. But when I heard, I…” He let the words trail. Stepping back, he clutches both of Cara’s hands in his and brings them up into the space between them.

“Noel…”

“Cara, I will stay beside you and support you in however you need,” he said. “For as long as you need.” He spared me another glance before fully refocusing on Cara. “As a friend or otherwise.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said, unable to stop myself this time.

“I was talking to the lady,” Noel said firmly, shooting me a glare. “Not to you. As far as I’m concerned, your opinion does not matter.”

A growl started from the back of my throat.

“Noel,” Cara said, pushing at Noel’s hands. “Now isn’t a good time.”

“I had to say it,” Noel said, looking back to her. At once his anger dissipated into compassion. “It couldn’t wait.”

“I’ve heard it,” she replied. “So now it can. Please. Go and stay with my brothers. Give me some time.”

Noel seemed dissatisfied with the news, but he did not speak out against Cara. He wordlessly left the room, following the butler back to the door.

Any relief I might have felt vanished when Cara looked at me with deep disappointment.

“I am leaving,” she said. “This changes nothing.”