Chapter 189

Cara’s POV

After the brunch, when the other contenders and I went our separate ways, I was left feeling a combination of annoyed and vulnerable.

I still felt some jealousy about how that one wolf was talking about Alaric. All that she knew about him was that he was handsome, which was true, but she knew nothing about his personality. She hadn’t spent time learning and loving him. How could she already want to marry him?

If anyone was going to marry him, it was going to be me.

Jealousy aside, the dismissive attitude of the other contenders left me bereft. They didn’t take me seriously, perhaps because I was a Beta, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to assume that they all knew that I’d lost my wolf.

Georgie did, though, and that was unnerving. With her watchful cat eyes, she had seen more about me than I’d wanted to reveal to anyone outside of my family and my dearest friends. So far she’d kept my secrets, but I didn’t know her to trust her. There was no telling what she might do with that information.

Though the information packet had included start and finish times, I had sent the kids off with their uncles for the day. I’d foolishly hoped that I’d make some friends at the brunch, or at least some friendly rivals. Unfortunately most people didn’t seem to want anything to do with me.

No one was taking me seriously as a contender, and it was incredibly frustrating.

At home, I didn’t know what to do to help myself feel better. I was all kinds of worked up, bursting with desire to prove myself, yet having nowhere to go with it. Nothing to invest that pent-up energy in.

Maybe if I called someone… But who?

Of all the people I could call – Ruby, Eamon, Colin… The only person at that moment who came to mind was Alaric.

After what happened the other day, perhaps calling him would be a mistake. We clearly had a lot of challenges standing between us. When I’d send him away, I’d splintered not just our budding romance but also our friendship.

I’d had my reasons, but I still missed him terribly.

I moved into the kitchen and made the call.

Alaric picked up fairly quickly. “Cara. Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” I told him. “Well… mostly.”

“The kids okay?” he asked.

Of course he would wonder about the kids. For the past two months, whenever we talked, it had been in reference to them. It was strange of me to reach out like this, looking for more than to just give updates or work on a visitation schedule.

“The kids are okay,” I said. “I just… wanted to talk.” I blush, embarrassed by the admission, the weakness, though maybe I shouldn’t be. Alaric and I knew each other’s secrets. If I couldn’t be honest with him, then who could I be honest with?

He didn’t answer for a long moment, before finally a soft sound emerged from him. “Oh.” Immediately, he cleared his throat, his voice growing stronger. “Yes. Of course. What’s going on?”

“I had the contenders’ brunch today, for the Global Princess Competition,” I said. “It was… not easy.”

“Would you like to talk about it?” Alaric asked. “We could meet up.”

That surprised me. “Aren’t you in DuskWood?”

“No,” Alaric said. “I haven’t gone back yet. I’m at the hotel downtown.”

I had thought he’d be on the first plane out of town. He’d certainly made it seem like he was leaving in a hurry. But he only went downtown?

Why?

Though he did say that he wanted to meet with the kids this weekend. As that was only a couple days away, maybe he decided it would be easier to just stay here rather than travel so much.

“Do you want to meet up?” he asked me.

“Okay,” I said, before I could even really think about it.

“Okay,” he repeated, a smile in his voice. “Great.”

Alaric’s POV

I met Cara at one of the more popular spots for lunch in town. Fortunately, since I called ahead, I was able to reserve us a table so we didn’t have to wait. Cara was pleasantly surprised to find me already sitting.

Immediately, she started telling me about the brunch event.

“I felt like I didn’t belong there,” she confided in me. “I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Not since realizing I was an Auburn.”

That admission sent a spike of pain through me. In the past, I hadn’t made her feel very welcomed, despite how very dear she had been to me. I didn’t know what I had then, but I knew now. I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again.

“I suppose since it’s a competition, no one wants to be particularly friendly,” she said almost wistfully. “But even as a rival, I wasn’t acknowledged. I felt utterly invisible.”

“Then you are in the perfect position,” I said.

She lifted her downtrodden gaze, looking at me with equal parts confusion and curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“By not seeing you as a serious contender, they are underestimating you, Cara. You can use that to your advantage and take them all by surprise.”

My words seemed to perk her, adding fresh hope to her eyes. For that I was glad.

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she said.

“I know you like making connections with people,” I told her. “But for now, maybe just enjoy life as the unknown. When the competition starts, and people see how capable you are, then they will all turn around. Until then, it’s in your best interest to go unnoticed.”

A smile started to cross her face that warmed me from the inside out. For so long I’d been hoping that she would reach out to me. It was difficult to hold myself back now, to be the friend she needed and not the lover I wanted to be.

Yet, when he eyes glazed over for a moment and she swayed, I found myself up out of my chair and at her side without even thinking about it.

She blinked, recovering at once, soon enough to glare up at me. “You didn’t have to react like that,” she said. “I was just dizzy for a moment.” She looked around in embarrassment. “Others are staring.”

“Sorry,” I said and forced myself back to my own chair. “I was worried you might fall.”

Cara shook her head. “You are doing it again. Treating me like glass. I asked you not to.”

“I didn’t want you to fall,” I said quickly in my defense, but I could acknowledge that much of this reaction was from my natural instincts to protect.

“I’m not fragile, Alaric.” Her smile vanished and I knew I was being shut out again.

I cursed myself for my too-quick reaction, yet I couldn’t bring myself to apologize. If she had fallen while I stood there doing nothing, I would never forgive myself. She might not want to face what was happening to her, but I knew I made the right choice.

“I won’t ever let you fall,” I said to her.

She looked at me a moment in disbelief, but then shook her head and stood. “This was a mistake.”

What could I do but to watch her walk away from me again?