Chapter 215

Cara’s POV

Later, as all the girls were being fitted for our gowns for the opening ceremony, Ruby surprised me by walking into my dressing room. I was in my gown, with the tailor marking where to make the hem at my feet.

The gown needed some work yet. It was much too small in the chest, and far too long, but it was beautiful.

Seafoam in color, it was covered in a sheer lacy that seemed to sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow in certain lighting. An intricate embroidered design covered the bodice, making me feel a bit like a mermaid princess on land.

“That dress…” Ruby said, so speechless she couldn’t even finish her sentence.

“I know,” I told her, truly feeling the same.

The tailor finished marking the hem and then stepped out of the room for a moment. In his absence, Ruby walked closer. She waggled her eyebrows at me.

“Wait until Alaric sees you in that. He’s not going to know what to do.”

I laughed briefly, but it died much too soon. The worries in my chest seemed to smother it. “He already doesn’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean?” she asked me.

Here, I told her about what happened, when I had been hugging Alaric, Lucy had come back to me, if only for a moment.

Ruby’s smile stretched with excitement. “So the closeness is working!”

“I think so,” I said. “But…”

I hesitated a moment, trying to consider how I could say what I wanted to say in the best possible way.

“Until this happened, Alaric had been holding back with me. He’d maintained distance, even when we were in bed together. He stayed on his side without touching me.”

Ruby listened quietly, reflective and pensive. “But since Lucy made contact, he’s changed?”

“Yes, he always has his arm around me, or last night, we cuddled…” This was the part that truly bothered me. “But I’m starting to worry if that’s what he really wants. I feel a little like I’m forcing him into it.”

Ruby immediately waved off that concern. “You are worried about Alaric in that way? That’s absurd. The man is in love with you, Cara. Everyone can see it. Hasn’t he told you so himself?”

“He has,” I said, “But that doesn’t make me feel all that much better. He’s holding himself back, or at least, he was until I asked him not to. It’s hard not to feel like he doesn’t actually want this.”

Ruby hummed and grew pensive again. After a moment, she said, “Have you talked to him about any of this?”

“No,” I said.

“Then how can you know for sure?”

“I’m not sure he’d tell me the truth, even if I did ask him. He wouldn’t want me to worry. He’d want me to focus on feeling better.”

“And you should do that,” Ruby said. “And on the competition, and on a million other things. You shouldn’t be worrying about Alaric at all.”

“But I still do,” I admitted. “I want to get Lucy back, more than anything, but…”

“You want Alaric back too.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m all kinds of confused.”

“I’m willing to bet that he feels the same,” Ruby said. “I’m also willing to bet that the only way to make it better for either of you is to sit down and have a true heart to heart. Show him that you care about his feelings and that you aren’t just in this to get Lucy back. I guarantee he will open up to you with enough encouragement.”

“How can you guarantee that?” I asked, skeptical.

“Because love makes people want to share their troubles with each other. They want compassion and support, and to give it in return.”

“You seem to know a lot about love,” I said.

She shrugged. “I watch a lot of soap operas.”

We both laughed for a minute, before things turned serious again.

“But I mean it, Cara. Most of the time, the reason those relationships in the dramas don’t work out is because they are not communicating properly. You and Alaric love each other. If you want this to be a lasting relationship, then you need to learn how to talk to each other, to open up, share your feelings, and care for each other in turn.”

Maybe she was right. In my quest to prove myself, I’d dove head-first into being a Beta, and the competition. I’ve focused on the kids and on finding Lucy and on healing my condition. Though Alaric had been near me all this time, I had not paid him much attention.

I’d left him to his own devices, to deal with his own pain. I hadn’t even wanted to tell him about my condition at first.

If it was a partnership I wanted, and I thought that I maybe did, I wasn’t showing it all that effectively.

“What can I do?” I asked now. “Maybe we could go to a nice restaurant, just the two of us.”

“It would have to be somewhere you are both comfortable,” Ruby said. “Somewhere that the two of you could just sit and talk about everything, holding nothing back.”

Not a restaurant, then.

“I could cook something, just for us two. I could set up candles on the table and we could be free to talk,” I said.

Ruby pointed at me. “You’d both be more comfortable at home. Wear something cute, and I’m sure you’d keep his attention all night.”

“I don’t want to distract him too much.”

“I said cute, not sexy,” Ruby said and laughed. “Though if he’s glued at your hip, you are going to have a tough time surprising him.”

“I’ll need someone to distract him for a while, while I organize and cook everything.” I gave Ruby a bit of a doe-eyed look.

“Me?” she asked. “How should I do that?”

“You are a healer. Can you use that somehow?”

“I’m not going to fake a medical emergency…”

“I wasn’t suggesting that. Maybe he just needs a checkup or something.”

Ruby thought a moment. “I suppose a checkup wouldn’t hurt. After all, we’ve inspected you many times. Maybe there is something more to him and his wolf that is helping to revive Lucy. Alright, I’ll insist he makes an appointment.”

“For tonight,” I said.

“Tonight?”

“I don’t want to wait,” I said. “I want to clear the air between us as soon as possible so that we can start rebuilding things for real this time. I can call my brothers and have them watch the kids, but I still need time to prepare things.”

I hated feeling like he was only near me to help me with my wolf. That was one of the things I wanted to clear up more than any of the others.

“Alright,” Ruby said. “I’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you,” I told her.

I was excited, but it was equal parts anticipation and trepidation.

Ruby seemed confident that Alaric loved me, but she hadn’t been there on those nights when Alaric had created such sizeable distance. Those nights on the bed, we might have been laying side by side, but there had been a chasm in the space between us.

I needed to close that gap, one way or the other, once and for all.