The Gamma’s Second Chance (Crescent Lake #3)

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

NOLAN

“You know, you should apologize to Sebastian.” Cassandra swings our arms softly as we stroll through the forest, hands clasped together and fingers linked.

I laugh—loud, deep, and clear—and shake my head, a smile breaking through my stony exterior. “That dickhead knew what he was doing. He knew exactly what would happen.”

Her head tilts to the side, an adorable frown wrinkling her brow. “He knew he would get pummeled?”

“He knew I’d wipe that stupid, smug grin off his face. And he knew—” I swallow and glance away, clearing my throat and leaving my sentence unfinished as I rub the back of my neck.

Cassandra tugs on my arm, pulling my focus to her again. “And he knew what?”

“Nothing,” I say, climbing the handful of steps to the door of Wesley and Haven’s house. Warm light filters through the window coverings, dancing on the wood deck, and laughter and chatter floats towards us from inside; the sounds indicating the gathering of our friends is well underway.

Cassandra sidles up to my side, her arms wrapping around my waist as she spins in front of me and rests her chin on my chest, staring up at me through her thick lashes. “He knew you needed someone to light a fire under your ass? So you would finally—”

I cut her off by giving her butt a hard pinch, my lips twitching as a sharp squeal leaves her mouth. But I muffle the sound with a kiss, cupping her ass in my hands and drawing her closer, turning us so she’s pinned against a post of the deck railing. My hips settle between her thighs, and her fingers curl into my hoodie, our mouths tangling with unhurried, effortless movements. I envelop her in the circle of my arms, her pliant body giving in to my manipulations. The press of her subtle curves against the hard lines of my muscles mirrors the slow dance of our lips. It’s easy, natural, and beautiful. Just like everything with her is.

I lean my head back, gazing down into her delicate, charming face as I brush her hair behind her ear. The twilight sky is a striking backdrop for her exquisite looks, and the unique golds and greens of her eyes mirror the palette of the forest. It’s as if she belongs here, as if she was crafted from the very essence holding Crescent Lake together. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was. She’s integrated herself seamlessly, filling in a gap within our pack—within my life—I didn’t realize existed.

The skirt of her floral dress flutters in a breeze off the lake, my T-shirt thrown over it and tied in a knot at her waist. Her outfit is a compromise, so she can wear the dresses we both love so much but still have my scent on her. The outward visual claim calms me and settles my wolf.

For the most part.

There’s only one way to settle me completely. But that method is permanent. And beyond the moments when we’re wrapped around each other, my dick buried deep in her pussy and my face buried in her neck with my teeth scraping her skin as our naked bodies cling to each other, neither of us has acknowledged it as a possibility.

I’m not sure it is a possibility. As flawlessly as she’s slid into life here in Crescent Lake, she’ll still be returning home to the island once Haven’s aura settles after the pup is born. This intense, comfortable intimacy between us is temporary.

But the pull to her is powerful and undeniable. And I would be a fool to ignore it or claim otherwise.

I swallow and press my forehead to hers, our eyes both closing as we breathe and hold each other. I cup the back of her neck, my thumb pressing into her jaw as I lean closer to her. “Cassandra, I—”

Wesley’s front door opens with a whoosh, and Cassandra jumps, her heart racing as the light from inside illuminates us in our intimate embrace on the front deck.

“So nice of you to join us,” Sebastian says from behind me, and I curl my hand into a fist, pounding it on the post I have Cassandra pinned against.

I groan in exasperation, but Cassandra chuckles and peeks around me, giving Seb a smile and a wave. “Don’t encourage him,” I scold, frowning at her.

“I don’t think he needs any encouragement,” she mutters, stroking up and down my chest. “‘Smug’ is his middle name.”

“It’s actually Henry,” Sebastian says.

I glare at him over my shoulder. He stands framed in the doorway, a beer in one hand and his other in his pocket, and his usual cocky smirk on his face.

Fucking dickhead. Interrupting our moment and postponing any deeper conversation I was prepared to have with her.

Although, it’s probably for the best. Game night with our friends isn’t the place for such discussions. I’ll have to hold off until later.

I exhale through my nose and push off the railing, Cassandra’s hand sliding into mine as we cross to the front door. Sebastian sips his beer, waiting for us to reach him. Cassandra squeezes my hand, and when I glance at her, she nods at Sebastian, an eyebrow raised as she nudges me towards him.

I clench my jaw and close my eyes to hide their rolling. “I’m sorry I punched you,” I say through my teeth.

Sebastian laughs and shakes his head. “No, you’re not.”

Cassandra snickers behind me, her dainty, graceful piano player fingers hiding her lips. Her eyes sparkle, and I sigh as I shove past Sebastian and lead her into the house. “Dickhead,” I say under my breath as he shuts the door and follows us.

“Okay, can someone please explain the ‘dickhead’ thing to me?” Cassandra asks, her hand on my elbow and a curious smile on her face as she looks between the two of us.

“It’s a running joke from our childhood,” I say as we enter the crowded kitchen and dining room. “Sebastian drew a dick on Reid’s forehead”—I gesture at Reid where he stands on the other side of the kitchen counter from me—“while he was sleeping on Alpha Harrison’s couch, and when Reid woke up, Seb called him a dickhead.”

“Hey!” Sebastian says, leaning his elbows on the counter next to Reid and pointing at me, his head tilting towards Reid. “You left out the part where Reid called me a dickhead first at training!”

“I only called you a dickhead because you did something dickheaded,” Reid says as he gives Sebastian a gentle punch on the shoulder.

“Which you yourself admitted you don’t actually remember what that was,” Taryn adds from Reid’s other side, a smiling Savvy held in her arms.

Reid covers his chest with his hand, a dramatic gasp echoing around the kitchen. “I told you that in confidence, Cadet!”

“Fault aside,” I say over Taryn’s laughter and Reid’s sputtering, “the nickname has stuck, and it is now our go-to insult or term of affection for each other.”

Cassandra’s smile grows, and I squeeze her hand as Wes and Haven join the five of us in the kitchen. “Beer?” Wesley asks in greeting, nodding at me from the fridge.

“Please.”

He nods again and opens the fridge, grabbing two bottles out. “Cassandra?” he asks, holding the door propped open.

She nods at him. “A beer would be great, thanks.”

Wes grabs a third and then closes the fridge with his foot, crossing the kitchen to us and handing Cassandra and me our beverages. “Food will be ready soon. Mateo and Mason are making burgers. They’re having a contest to see whose grilling skills are better, so I hope you brought your appetites.”

“Come and meet everyone else,” Haven says, linking her arm through Cassandra’s once Cassandra’s opened her beer and leading her towards the large dining room and the spacious living room.

“I’ll join you,” Taryn says, perking up and darting around the kitchen island as fast as her pregnant belly and the baby held in her arms allow her. “Maya still needs to show me the dress she designed for Haven for the ball next weekend.”

As our luna and our beta female introduce Cassandra to the rest of our friends, I push my sleeves up to my elbows and sit on a barstool. Reid’s eyes latch on to Cassandra’s name written on my forearm.

I sigh and take a large swig of my beer before I set it on the counter with a soft thud, smacking my lips and raising my chin at him as I cross my arms in front of me. “All right. Let’s hear it.”

Reid’s smile grows. He and Sebastian exchange a glance, and I brace myself for the impact.

Sebastian furrows his brow, but his eyes glitter with humor as he mimics me. “You should be home resting.”

“Not that shirt! It’s Sebastian’s!” Reid says, deepening his voice to a growl.

“Don’t make me carry you home, Daisy!” Sebastian adds, getting louder.

I groan and rub my temples, even though I asked for it. “Yeah. You deserved that pounding I gave you.”

Sebastian has the audacity to appear affronted. “You should be thanking me. You were miserable, and now you’re not.”

I grunt my response and take another large drink of my beer, then glance over my shoulder. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to lock onto Cassandra. She stands with Haven, Taryn, Maya, and Taryn’s friend Blake, a tail-wagging, tutu-wearing Cav at their feet. Savvy grips Cassandra’s finger in her fist, and Cassandra smiles at her as she leans forward and speaks to her.

It’s too loud in Wes and Haven’s house for me to hear what she says, but Savvy’s gray eyes light up, and she giggles, and Cassandra laughs with her. Cav barks his approval and then catches my eye, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and I swear he glances between Cassandra and me several times, like he’s urging me to join her.

I spring off the stool and stride over to them, unbothered by the laughter ringing from my three friends behind me. I reach the little group just as Taryn asks, “Do you want to hold her?”

Cassandra pinches her lips together and shakes her head, prying her fingers from Savvy’s fierce grip. “No, that’s quite all right,” she says.

I slide my arm around her waist from behind, my hold firm and possessive but casual at the same time, and I draw her further into my protective stance, my fingers teasing her waist and her ribs. She gestures behind us towards the dining room with the hand holding her beer bottle. “Wesley is going to ask who wants to—”

“All right, we’re going to play poker while we wait for Mateo and Mason to finish the burgers,” Wesley says, slamming a deck of cards onto his dining room table, and Cassandra lifts a brow pointedly. “Who’s in?”

Everyone voices their response at once and makes their way to the table, finding seats and grabbing refills on drinks and snacks before getting comfortable. Cassandra’s gaze follows Taryn and Savvy as they make their way to Reid, and Reid scoops Savvy into his arms before taking a seat next to Wesley. Savvy blows a raspberry and then laughs, covering her mouth with her hands as her nose crinkles with delight, and the entire table laughs right along with her, Reid’s eyes beaming with pride.

I chuckle, and Cassandra takes a drink of her beer, her eyes closing as she tilts her chin back to drain the bottle. “I’m going to grab another. Do you want one?” she asks once she’s finished her drink, glancing at me.

“Sure,” I say, kissing below her ear. “I’ll save you a seat.”

She nods, and after I give her a squeeze, I unwind my arm from her waist and let her go as I walk to the table. I sit next to Haven, ignoring the conversation around me and watching Cassandra for the entire two minutes it takes for her to set her empty bottle on the counter with the other recycling, grab two beers from the fridge, open both, and return to my side.

“Will you be playing too, Cassandra?” Wesley asks from Haven’s right.

Cassandra shakes her head and shrugs one shoulder. “I actually don’t know how to play poker.”

“You can help me, then,” I say, pushing my chair back from the table and patting my thigh. “I need a good luck charm, and you can learn while you watch.”

I yank her down onto my lap before she can respond, my arm once more winding around her waist. She sets my new beer on the table, since I’m still working on my first, and settles herself against my chest as I scoot us closer to the table again. My fingers flex against her hip as she wraps her lips around the top of her beer and takes a swig, holding eye contact with me the entire time, and my dick twitches when she licks a tiny drop off her mouth when she pulls the bottle away.

“That’s not fair.” Reid points at us, and we both whip our heads towards him, all dirty thoughts leaving my mind at the sound of his voice. “Can’t she read minds?”

I chuckle. “She can’t read minds.”

Reid frowns. “She’s an oracle.”

I shake my head and set my old beer next to my new beer, and Cassandra’s shoulders shake as she sips hers in my lap. “That’s not how it works,” I say, smugly, as if I didn’t make similar assumptions when she first arrived here.

“How does it work, then?” Reid asks.

Cassandra clears her throat and leans forward to set her beer next to mine as Wesley deals the cards. “None of us can read minds. We all have a range of abilities—some generic and some unique. Most of us can see glimpses of things or people. For example, I saw Nolan leave to go on a morning run a few weeks ago, but it was a flash and then it was gone. When an oracle is marked by their fated mate, they gain access to the full depth of their abilities and are no longer considered an acolyte.”

My throat tightens, and beneath the table, my fingers slide down to her inner thigh, brushing over my name on her leg through the fabric of her dress. She stares down at the table, her eyes closing and her expression unreadable, before she opens them again and paints a smile on her face.

“That’s like Taryn’s healing abilities, then,” Blake says, tucking the white streak in her otherwise black hair behind her ear. “She can draw on Reid’s strength to fuel her when she’s healing someone.”

Cassandra sways her head from side to side. “I suppose it is a little similar, yes.”

“Can you see specific people?” Sebastian asks, examining his cards with a furrowed brow. “Anyone you want?”

His eyes flick up to meet Cassandra’s over the top of his cards, and he waits for her answer. “You mean like… like, think of that person and know what they’re about to do or what they just did?” she asks.

“Yes,” he says with a nod. “King Malachi, for example. Could you think of him and get a glimpse of where he is or what he’s doing right now?”

“No,” Cassandra says. “It’s usually random, and usually only people I am close to—physically or emotionally.”

Sebastian slumps back in his seat and shakes his head, his eyes back on his cards. “That’s too bad. That would be an extremely useful ability.”

“There needs to be a balance of power in our world,” she says, settling back against my chest again as I pick up my cards. “Just like how your children won’t be lycans unless you take over a pack or create your own.”

Sebastian shakes his head adamantly. “No, thank you.”

Cassandra cocks her head. “You wouldn’t want to be an alpha?”

“Absolutely not,” Seb says, slamming his cards on the table. “I like my job as the delta here at Crescent Lake. I don’t need or want to run a pack. It’s—” He glances at Wesley, who whispers something to Haven with his hand on her baby bump, a smile spreading across her face. “It’s just not for me,” Sebastian says, tapping his cards with the tips of his fingers and taking a swig of his beer.

The rest of the evening drags on, feeling as if it will never end. Not because it’s boring, but because all I want is to go home with Cassandra, strip her naked, and lay claim to her body. Her smiles and her laughter beckon me, and her scent and soft skin tease me all night. In my lap or out of it, in my arms or out of them, everything about her tempts my restraint until it teeters on a precarious ledge. I don’t even know who won the grilling contest because I’m too distracted by everything about her all evening.

Cassandra holds in a yawn as she chats with Taryn, and I jump from my chair, striding to her side, using that as my cue for us to go. “I’m ready to turn in for the evening,” I say, gathering her to my side.

She laughs and gives me a grateful smile. “Good night,” she says, waving to Taryn as I steer her towards the front door.

“Nolan!” Wes calls as my hand grips the doorknob. He jogs over to us, and I wait with my hand on the knob. “Haven and I are heading to Amber Forest tomorrow morning.”

“Is everything all right?” I ask.

“Everything is fine. Benjamin’s pack elders are giving him grief about… things… but I told him we would fill him in on what he missed at the meeting today.”

“Okay.” Wes stares at me, arms crossed and his brow raised. I sigh. I don’t want to go with them. For the first time, I don’t feel like I need to drop everything to do something for my alpha and luna. “You don’t actually need us to go with you, do you?”

“Nolan—”

“Ben knows about Haven. And you’ll be with her, and—”

“We’ll be there,” Cassandra says, cutting me off.

Wes nods his thanks, and I clench my jaw. “We’ll see you in the morning then,” he says before returning to the others.

I yank the door open and tug Cassandra outside and down the front steps with me, my teeth grinding together. “Nolan?” she asks, blocking my path so I can no longer storm down the path towards home. “Are you mad at me?”

I blink at her and shake my head, grabbing her by her hips and tugging her against my body. “Of course not,” I say, stroking her cheek. “I just don’t want to go.”

“It’s your job to go where Haven goes.”

I nod. “I know. But I was looking forward to enjoying some time off and relaxing since Haven will start her maternity leave early. I was looking forward to being with you.”

“You will be with me,” she says.

I scoff. “We’ll be working. It’s not the same.”

“And I can make it up to you tonight?” She bats her lashes and licks her lips, and my dick hardens and twitches in my pants.

“What did you have in mind?” I ask, dipping my lips to her neck.

She laughs and shakes her head, her eyes sparkling as she backs away from me, her hand lingering in mine. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

She turns around and hikes her skirt up in her hand, sprinting down the path towards home. I take off after her, pushing my irritation at this impromptu meeting aside for the moment, so I can enjoy my night with Cassandra.