His expression was soft. Not expectant. Not demanding. Just…. there. Steady and watching me like he was trying to make sure I wasn’t overwhelmed.
But that only confused me more.
I didn’t know about this Alpha. Not the way his story suggested. Not in the way that made my chest ache with something I couldn’t name. and yet…. those flashes…. those tiny impossible pieces of memory…felt like they belonged to me.
I didn’t know what that meant.
My gaze flickered over his features, searching for any sign of what he wanted. Was he asking me to step into that memory?
“I…” my voice cracked and I hated how small it sounded. “I don’t understand.”
I didn’t know if I meant the story, the memories, or the way Evander looked at me like I mattered.
Maybe all of it.
I held his gaze anyways, even though it made my heart pound. Even though I felt like I was standing on the edge of something I couldn’t see.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” I whispered, the truth trembling out of me before I could stop it. “And I don’t know why that story feels like mine. I’ve never gone camping.”
At least that I could remember.
I didn’t pull away, even though every instinct told me to do so.
“I remember a little boy who did.” He still looked at me as though I was that boy.
“I…. Do you want me….to be that boy, then, for you Sir?”
For a moment, Evander held his breath, then let it out in a gush, as though he himself didn’t know how to answer that.
“Let me show you something.” He patted my legs, a silent hint that I should stand.
I slid off his lap, and my knees threatened to give out for a moment. Instead, I forced my feet to hold me as Evander rose. I steadied myself with a breath and took a single step back.
He adjusted the blanket around my shoulders, making sure the softness stayed wrapped around me before he turned towards his bedroom.
A room I hadn’t stepped into.
“You can follow,” he said over his shoulder. “Or stay right there. Either choice works for me.”
My feet moved before my mind caught up. Not a step of confidence, but more like gravity. Like something in me led me towards him without permission.
I held the blanket around my shoulders as I took one slow step, then another. Each one felt like walking through water, heavy with instinct and memory I couldn’t name.
Evander didn’t look back right away. He didn’t check to see if I was following. He just walked with a quiet certainty of someone who trusted that I’d make my own choice.
But when I crossed that threshold of the living room and his room, he paused. He didn’t turn fully, just enough that I could see the edge of his profile. Evander didn’t say anything before disappearing into what I assumed was a closet.
The air felt different as I stepped further into the room. It was warmer and smelt exactly like the Alpha himself did.
The walls were deep, saturated green. The kind of green you only see when you’re standing under a canopy of pines, where the light filtered through in muted, softened shades.
It wasn’t a large room, but it felt enclosed in a comforting way.
The bedding was dark too, charcoal and moss, layered in thick heavy fabrics that looked like they could swallow sound. The comforter had a subtle texture almost like canvas worn smoothly by years of use. The pillows were mismatched in shades of forest and earth.
A single lamp glowed in the corner, its light warm and low, casting shadows that looked like branches swaying across the walls.
There were no pictures, no clutter. Just a few things that felt deliberately chosen. Like a wooden nightstand, scary and old. Like a small, carved figure wolf.
