Chapter 192

Alaric’s POV

I knocked on the door to the house, unsure what kind of mood to expect from Cara today. Yet, when she opened the door, she seemed somewhat upbeat, if not a bit nervous.

“Come in,” she said. “Thank you for coming.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” I told her. “I’ll always be here for you. You know that.”

She blushed a little as I entered the house, then she closed the door behind me. “We’ll be more comfortable in the living room,” she said and led me there. She gestured toward the couch.

Something definitely felt off about this entire encounter. It almost felt like she was building up to something, as if she was trying to butter me up before asking for a favor.

She knew she didn’t have to do that, right? There wasn’t much in the world she could ask for that I wouldn’t give her? And if I didn’t have whatever she needed, I’d do everything in my power to find it and deliver it to her.

Still, for her comfort, I sat down on the couch. After I did, she dropped down onto the armed chair nearby. Clasping her hands together, she leaned forward.

For a moment, a look of pure determination crossed her face. I braced myself, believing she might ask me what she needed now. But in the next instant, she clammed up, straightened, and started to get up.

“Can I get you something? Some coffee or tea maybe?”

“Cara,” I said, hoping to calm her. Her nerves seemed frazzled beyond repair, but I was willing to do my best. “You don’t have to be like this with me. You can talk to me about anything. You know that right?”

With a sigh, she slumped in her chair. “I do, but… this is still difficult. I have something I need to ask you, and you might not like it.”

“Ask,” I said, encouraging her.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. This seemed to rally her, because she leaned forward towards me, her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped together.

“I spoke with Grayson today, and he and Richard have a new theory. Or, well, a possible… treatment, I guess, that might help me reconnect with Lucy.”

“Okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure yet how this involved me, but I was eager to prove that I was listening.

She took another moment to gather herself. “They were talking about the connection between fated mates. Even those that had rejected each other.”

“Like us,” I said.

“Yes. Supposedly, our wolves still feel remnants of the connection, even after the bond is broken. Grayson and Richard believe that if that bond is attended to, it could call back my wolf.”

My own wolf had not spoken to me in some time, though I constantly felt his presence and oftentimes his annoyance with me. Reaching out to him now, I ask in my mind, “Is this true? Can you still feel the bond with Cara?”

My wolf was quiet for a long moment, so long that I thought he might not answer. But then he said, “Why do you think I am so angry? You might have rejected our mate but I haven’t, and I never will.”

The words were damning and cut me down to my soul. Pushing the weight of guilt and regret aside, I had to focus on the here and now.

“Can you feel Cara’s wolf?” I asked my own within my mind. “Do you still have the connection?”

“Yes, I can still feel her, but she is distant. And fading more and more all the time.”

This put some fear in me. I trusted the healers and their prognoses, but it was entirely a different matter to have my own wolf confirm the inevitable.

If Cara’s wolf was fading, then whatever we needed to do, we had to do fast.

To Cara, I asked, “How can I help?”

“Grayson and Richard said that to help cultivate the bond between our wolves, potentially bringing back Lucy, you and I should… spend time together,” she said. She tucked her chin down to her chest, hiding her face. “I know I haven’t been the kindest to you lately…”

“Don’t,” I said quickly. There was no need for her to torture herself like this. After all, I was the one who had ruined everything from the start. It was a miracle she didn’t blame me for her condition to start with.

But I did. I blamed myself. Even this treatment now, of getting to spend time with her, felt like a reward I didn’t deserve. I should be being punished for my part in her condition. I did not deserve to be around her at all.

Yet, if it would help with her condition, I couldn’t and wouldn’t turn her away. Even if it didn’t, I was still too weak to her to be able to turn her down anyway.

“You don’t have to explain anything,” I told her. “And you don’t have to even ask. Of course, I will do this. I am already here for you. It does not hurt me to be able to be near you more.”

A touch of red darkened her cheeks as she looked at me with affection. “Thank you,” she said. “But I have to still apologize. I wasn’t very understanding of your natural instincts before…”

“You want to be treated as you always have,” I said. “I understand, and will do my best. But please understand that even if you were healthy, if you started to feel dizzy, I would instinctively react.”

“I know,” she said.

We smiled at each other, and though it felt somewhat strained, it also felt like the distance between us was slowly being closed again.

A good start, if nothing else.

“So how should we work this?” I asked, trying to think of logistics in my mind. We needed to spend more time together. Did that mean all the time ever? Should I plan on moving in or moving closer? Or did she only plan to see me during certain hours of the day?

I was open to anything, but we needed to discuss it.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “Maybe we can –”

Before she could finish, the doorbell rang.

I hoped she wouldn’t answer. This conversation was incredibly important.

But she seemed conflicted. I could understand her reasoning. She had an important position as Beta, and she was also a mother.

There might never be a doorbell or phone call she wouldn’t answer.

“Excuse me a moment.”

Standing, she walked out of the room to the door. A moment later, she returned with Noel following along behind her.

“I forgot, I invited Noel over for dinner,” she said. She glanced between us.

Noel and I looked at each other.

“This won’t be a problem, will it?” she asked.

“Not for me,” Noel said.

My stare became a glare, even as I tried to pull it back.

If I was going to be around more in Cara’s life, I was going to have to accept that Noel was also here. He and Cara were friends, for better or worse, and there wasn’t anything I could say to stop that without seeming like I was controlling.

For now, Noel and I were just going to have to deal with each other’s presence.

“Very well,” I said.

“Good,” Cara said and clapped her hands together.