Chapter 194

Cara’s POV

The longer we are at this carnival, the more I am certain that the kids were up to something. Like right now. I couldn’t prove anything, but it almost seemed like Mia dropped her ice cream cone on purpose.

Alaric offered his at once, which Mia accepted. With a grin, she said, “You and Mom can share.”

Alaric looked at me, and I looked at him. We both looked down at the ice cream in my hand.

For a moment, I swore I saw Alaric swallow hard, but quickly, he looked away and said, “I’ll buy another one.”

Mia and Ethan seemed a little disappointed after that.

It had been like this since we arrived here. Mia and Ethan had walked on either side of us, gradually walking into us so that Alaric and I had to walk closer and closer together. We had nearly run into each other when I finally stopped and let Alaric and Ethan walk ahead.

Then too, Mia and Ethan had shared a look of disappointment.

Was something going on?

“Can we ride rides next?” Ethan asked, bouncing back quickly.

“What do you want to ride?” Alaric asked him.

Ethan and Mia looked at each other. “The Ferris Wheel,” they said as one.

I gave each of them a look of my own, searchingly, but they responded with twin looks of wide-eyed innocence.

They were definitely up to something.

Still, after finishing our ice cream, Alaric and I saw no reason to refuse them, so we all lined up to ride the Ferris Wheel. To ride, we would have to split into groups of two. Ethan took my hand, while Mia took Alaric’s.

For the entire duration of the line, I figured this would be the arrangement. Yet, when we finally reached the front, Ethan and Mia switched things up by deciding they wanted to ride together. They scurried ahead, giggling as they jumped into the seat together.

As the ride pulled forward, the next seat became available. Alaric and I were the next two in line. We glanced at each other.

We could have gotten out of the line, though we had already paid our tickets. Yet, it was clear that this had been the kids’ plan from the start. They wanted to get Alaric and I together.

Honestly, with how uncomfortable things had been between us lately, I didn’t think I’d mind being able to just sit with him for a minute.

“What do you think?” he asked me. “Want to ride?”

“Okay,” I said.

He let me go first, so I took the inside of the seat. Alaric took the outside. Then the bar was latched over our laps, and the ride moved forward to let the next riders on.

From ahead of us, the kids looked back and giggled.

“The kids seem happy,” I said, shaking my head a little in fond exasperation.

“Would it be wrong for me to admit that I’m happy too?” Alaric said.

“You are?”

He nodded. “I know things have been tense lately between us, Cara, but I want to fix that. Being near you like this fills me with a joy I can’t really express. You know how I care for you.”

“I do,” I said. If I didn’t, the flowers I still received everyday would have been a hint. “I… also enjoy your company.”

As the ride started to pick up speed, we both turned our attention to the view. From the top of the ferris wheel, we could see far into the distance. We could see the entire carnival as well as beyond, the city, and even my house.

I heard Ethan pointing it out to Mia.

“I hate how tense things have been between us lately, Cara. I know I have my own role in that and I want to apologize for it.” He shook his head ever so slightly. “You made me promise to not treat you any differently, and I immediately went back on my word.”

“It’s your Alpha instincts…”

“Yes, but it’s not just that.” He inhaled and exhaled slowly. “The truth is, I’m terrified of losing you. Every time I think of it, I lock up inside. And I feel so helpless. There’s nothing I can do to fix this for you. I’m not a Healer, I wouldn’t know where to start with research. I have to depend on others to save you and I hate it. I want to save you myself.”

“I don’t need you to save me all the time, Alaric.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s a hard habit to break, and I’m not trying to make excuses. But the fear…” He clenched his hands into fists. “It’s overwhelming sometimes.” He forced himself to release his tight grip. “Now that you’ve given me something to do, though, some kind of plan…. I feel better. If I can help just by staying near you… Gods, I’d do anything for you Cara.”

I knew Alaric cared for me, loved me even, but hearing the way his voice trembled, made my own chest ache.

“I’m scared too,” I admitted. It wasn’t something I liked facing, since I was trying to put on a brave face all the time. I had to keep fighting, and that meant that I didn’t have time to face my fear, and let that fear win. But that didn’t mean that it was nonexistent. The fear was always crackling right under the surface of my skin.

Alaric, his gaze once more on me, softened at my words. He lifted one of his arms and stretched it along the back of the seat. I leaned into him, reveling in his closeness and warmth.

“It’s all happening so fast,” I said. “I’m trying to fight it, but I’m scared the weakness will eventually win.”

“It won’t,” Alaric said.

I give him an exasperated look. “You won’t let it?”

“You won’t let it,” Alaric said. “This is your fight, Cara. All I can do is be here beside you, supporting you. In the end, you are the one who has to fight and win.”

“And you think I will?”

“I know you will,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not afraid. I want you to be safe and happy always. That you have to fight at all makes me mad as hell, and then there’s the part I played in all this…”

He closed his eyes and turned away.

The words surprised me. “Your part? You didn’t have anything to do with this, Alaric.”

“Didn’t I?” he asked. “I was the one who rejected you all those years ago. If I hadn’t…”

Reaching up, I touched his cheek with my hand and slowly guided his face and his attention back to me. When I had it once more, I told him, “We both made mistakes in the past. But you have done so much since then to prove to me how you truly feel. Neither of us are the people we used to be.”

“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.

“Isn’t that for me to decide?” I whispered back.

“Cara…”

Before I knew it, we both leaned in as if our lips were drawn toward each other by an invisible, impossible to resist force.

Yet, just as we were about to kiss, a pair of giggles made us smile and drop our faces away.

Ethan and Mia were looking back at us, victory in their eyes.