His fingers are touching my thighs, but his eyes hold no emotion for me to tell his thoughts. It’s unusual.

“Cassian?” I press my hands on his chest, but not in a way to resist him, but to feel his heart’s rhythm.

“I told you it's all about the primal instinct,” he says, bringing his lips to touch mine.

My hands let go off his chest as our lips touch, our tongue having a taste of each other. It feels different, not like it used to be.

He withdraws himself from me, and our eyes are locked to each other.

I have so many questions to ask him, but his eyes on me seem to answer them. His face… he was the werewolf who'd stood beside them, and had chased me out of my home.

“It's true… Cassian, it’s true…” My voice is shaky as I step back from him.

“What's that about?” He asks, feigning ignorance of what I mean.

“My parents… you killed them… you stood beside their bodies!”

********************************************************

Things took a shift after Liam's betrayal of selling me out to Alpha Cassian. It awoke every thought and trauma I'd buried within me, having them come alive to haunt me.

Cassian wanted my essence for his curse, to perform a bloodshroud that was supposed to be his cure and the end of me. But he didn't go on with it. Strangely, he called me his mate. How was that even possible since I was a human and he was a werewolf?

I’d thought a human like me couldn't become a werewolf, but Cassian wouldn't let go of his claim.

I felt darkness and chaos around him, but soon, I started to fall for him. I wanted to keep everything behind me even though the memory of my parents’ death still haunted me.

But at the new leaf I was about to turn, I discovered Cassian must have killed my parents, soaked himself with their blood, and chased me out of my home.

How was I supposed to go on with this revelation?

"Elara… Elara!" Velora's voice is faint, but it pierces through the fog in my mind.


I jolt backward as though slipping out of a dream.


"Liam?" I grab her arms, looking all around us.


But all I get is silence—and her face, all eyes on me. I'm almost staring hard enough to make her face twist into Liam's.


"Like you slept for just a few seconds, and in that short time, you had a dream involving your ex-partner?"


I shake my head almost violently. "I didn't sleep… I didn't dream. He was—"


She sighs. "And I was unable to catch sight of him even if you did."


Then it hits me. He couldn't have been here—not at this time. Even if he wanted to come around, he wouldn't have shown himself like that. It's too risky to give himself away.


Chapter 65 - Another moment at Marek's house