Page 33 of Once You Go Pack
Through the tinted windows, the Ice Mountains blurred past in crystalline peaks and shadow. The twin moons hung low in the aurora-streaked sky, their pull strange and magnetic in her chest. She’d felt that same inexplicable tug since arriving on Nova Aurora, as if something deep in her bones recognized this alien world.
“Thank you,” she said softly, breaking the charged silence. “For tonight. For... everything you’ve done for me.”
Cade’s hands were clenched in his lap, his knuckles white with tension. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.” She turned toward him, noting the rigid line of his jaw, and the way his green eyes seemed to glow in the car’s dim lighting. “I’ve never been treated like that before. Like I was someone worth spoiling.”
His head snapped toward her, something fierce and protective flashing across his features. “Any man who didn’t see your worth was a fool.”
The raw honesty in his deep voice made her heart beat faster. This was the real Cade—not the controlled prince, but the man beneath the crown. The one who’d told her stories about his mother, and who’d reserved an entire restaurant just to see her smile without judgment from curious eyes.
I’m falling for him,she realized with startling clarity.Hard and fast.
The car pulled up to the castle’s main entrance, and Martin appeared instantly to open their door. The Beta’s expression remained professionally neutral, but Mila caught the knowing look he shot Cade as the prince helped her from the backseat.
Cade’s hand on her back burned through the thin fabric of her cardigan as he guided her up the stone steps. The castle felt different now—not intimidating, but expectant, as if the very walls were holding their breath.
They walked through the grand corridors in loaded silence, their footsteps echoing in the vaulted spaces. Tapestries depicting ancient wolves watched them pass, and Mila wondered if those painted eyes could sense the electric tension crackling between them.
By the time they reached her guest suite, her heart was hammering so hard she was sure he could hear it. She turned to face him in the shadowed alcove outside her door, looking up into those intense green eyes.
“Thank you for letting me see the real you tonight,” she whispered, the words feeling inadequate but necessary.
Something shifted in his expression—his control wavering and the careful mask slipping. His wolf was there now, just beneath the surface, wild and wanting. She could practically feel the predator’s heat radiating from his skin.
“Mila...” Her name was a rough growl, part warning, part plea.
Neither of them moved to break the spell. The air between them shimmered with possibility. She was drowning in the intensity of his gaze, and in the way he looked at her like she was something miraculous he’d found in the wilderness.
Then he stepped closer with one fluid, deliberate movement that closed the distance between them.
“Cade,” she breathed, and it sounded like surrender.
The kiss was sudden and consuming. Not gentle or tentative, but desperate—a collision of souls who’d been circling each other for lifetimes without knowing it. His mouth moved against hers with primal hunger, one large hand tangling in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back, pulling her flush against his hard body.
This,her mind sang as she melted into him.This is what I’ve been waiting for my entire life.
He kissed her like he was claiming her, making sure she understood exactly what she meant to him. She responded with equal fervor, her hands fisting in his suit jacket, holding on for dear life.
Just as the kiss deepened, just as she felt herself losing all sense of reason, he tore himself away with a low, tortured growl. His eyes were glowing now—literally glowing with supernatural light—and his chest heaved as if he’d been running.
Confusion and longing crashed through her in equal measure. “Cade?”
“I can’t,” he forced out, his voice rough with restraint. “Not like this. Not yet.”
Before she could respond, before she could ask what he meant or beg him to stay, he was disappearing down the corridor, leaving only the lingering scent of pine and desire in his wake.
Mila stood frozen outside her door, her lips still tingling from his kiss and her body humming with unfulfilled need. Every instinct screamed at her to chase after him, to demand he explain what “not yet” meant, to throw caution to the wind and follow him to his chambers.
Instead, she fumbled for her door handle with shaking hands, practically throwing herself inside her guest suite before she could do something truly reckless.
Focus,she commanded herself as she leaned against the closed door, heart still racing.Tomorrow you start training. Tomorrow you learn what it really means to be part of this world.
But her traitorous body had other ideas. She could still feel the imprint of his hands on her skin and still taste him on her lips. The black dress that had felt so elegant during dinner now felt constrictive.
With jerky movements, she peeled off the cardigan, then the dress, letting them pool on the stone floor. The matching lace bra and panties followed, discarded without ceremony as she made her way to the massive bathroom on unsteady legs.
The shower controls were thankfully intuitive. She twisted the temperature to the coldest setting and stepped under the spray with a sharp gasp, letting the icy water shock her overheated system back to reality.
