We are too close now.
I did not notice when the distance disappeared, but the air between us feels thick and charged. Heat rolls off him in steadywaves, and the scent of pine and smoke clings to his skin, making my thoughts feel less orderly than they should.
“You think I wanted to do it that way,” Alden says, voice roughening slightly.
“I think you act first and explain later,” I fire back.
His jaw tightens. “You were in immediate danger,” he says. “From the rogue and from the council. You are learning too much too quickly, and they were already questioning your presence.”
“And your solution was to bite me, to turn me into your mate?” I ask flatly.
“Yes.”
The blunt answer hits harder than if he had tried to soften it.
Frustration spikes sharp and hot, and before I can stop myself, I step forward and jab my finger into the center of his chest.
“You do not get to?—”
The bond detonates.
Heat surges through me so fast my breath stutters mid-word. It is not gradual. It is not subtle. It is a full-body wave that starts where my finger touches him and floods outward in a rush of awareness that makes my skin hypersensitive.
Alden sucks in a sharp breath. His control slips for half a second.
I feel it.
The air between us is dangerously charged, the argument dissolving into something thicker and far more volatile. My pulse jumps hard, and my body leans forward before my brain fully approves the movement.
I hate that.
I hate that my skin is still buzzing from his mark. I hate that the bond feels warm and alive between us. I hate that sometraitorous part of me is suddenly very aware of how close he is standing.
Alden’s eyes darken. “Cassidy,” he warns quietly.
The way he says my name sends another unwanted shiver down my spine. I yank my hand back like I touched something hot, but the damage is already done. The space between us feels electric now, thick with something neither of us is fully containing.
“I am still mad at you,” I say. My voice comes out breathier than I intended.
“I am aware,” he replies.
For a brief second, his anger cracks.
Something raw slips through.
“I would rather face a civil war with the rogues,” Alden says quietly, “or lose the pack to a council vote…”
His gaze locks fully onto mine.
“…than lose you.”
The words land in the space between us and stay there.
I hold his gaze for a long moment, the anger still present but quieter now, banked down to something I can actually see past. What remains underneath is honest enough to demand the same back.
"I understand why you did it," I say finally. "The threat was real. The timeline was real." He watches me without moving. "But if this is going to work—whateverthisis—you don't get to make decisions for me. Not like that." Our eyes remain locked. "Partnership means we move together. Even when it's inconvenient."
Something shifts in his expression. Not quite softening. More like recognition.
