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

21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

NOLAN

The morning arrives bright and cheerful, with birds chirping and the sun shining around the shutters in my bedroom. I stretch and groan in my half-asleep state, searching for Cassandra’s body to curl mine around so we can cuddle and snooze until the very last minute.

But she’s not there.

I jerk upright, propped on my elbows, the sheets pooling around my waist and tangling around my legs as I scan the room for her. “Daisy?”

“I’m getting dressed,” she replies from the small walk-in closet.

I spring from the bed and bound into the space with her, where she stands in front of the section of the closet where her clothes now hang, moved in there by me while I was supposed to be working, and she was practicing hiding Haven’s aura. One of my T-shirts covers her damp, freshly showered body, hanging right below her cute little ass, and I hug her from behind, nuzzling into her neck as she trails her fingers over the rack with her dresses.

“Good morning,” I say, my lips brushing her skin and making her shiver in my arms.

“Morning,” she says, turning her face to mine and kissing my cheek.

My arms tighten around her waist. “If we don’t go, then you don’t have to decide what to wear. You can just stay like this. Or naked. Preferably naked.” I lift the shirt so it exposes her lower half, my hardening dick sliding between her ass cheeks and my fingers tracing over my fading name on her inner thigh. “I need to rewrite this.”

She swallows, and her neck arches, her heart skipping a beat in her chest. “Later.” Her voice is softer than a whisper. “We have work to do this morning.”

I huff out a sigh, but I lower the shirt again after giving her ass a light smack. “Fine.”

I head towards the bathroom, but she snatches my hand and yanks me towards her again, draping her arms around my shoulders as she kisses me. It’s slow and intoxicating, an emotion behind each press of her lips that I can’t put a name to, a desperate need for reassurance etched into her features and the soft, subtle curves of her body.

“I thought you said later?” I ask, even as I circle my hands around her petite waist and encourage her to melt into me.

“I did.”

“I need to shower, Cassandra,” I remind her between our kisses. “And I’d ask you to join me. I’d love for you to join me. But I can tell you already showered, and you’d be too much of a distraction to me if you did.”

She laughs against my mouth, her fingers teasing the back of my neck, and then she backs away after she places one last kiss on my lips.

I rush through my shower, not waiting for the water to warm up at all. We don’t have time, and the cold water is the shock I need to settle my raging erection.

Once showered and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved gray T-shirt, I join Cassandra downstairs. She wears the same blue dress she wore the day she arrived, and she’s whipping up a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, fruit, and toast with avocado for us both. We eat quickly and in silence, with Cassandra focused on her plate almost the entire time. Her knee bounces beneath the table, and her fingers tap the side of her coffee mug as she stares out the window after she’s finished her food, her eyes distant.

“Daisy?”

She whips her head towards me and opens her mouth, but a knock on my front door prevents her from responding. I reach across the table and give her hand a squeeze before I rise and leave the dining room, opening the door to find Wes standing there, his truck idling at the curb with Haven in the passenger seat.

“Is it time already?” I ask, checking my watch. “Shit, I’m sorry. Let me just see if Cassandra is ready and—”

“I’m ready,” she says from behind me, her sandals on her feet and her purse on her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Do you mind driving separately?” Wes asks as we walk down the front path after I grab my wallet and keys and lock the front door. “Haven and I are having lunch with Peter and Imogen at their house, and it’s easier for us to drive there straight from Ben’s pack instead of returning here first.”

“Oh, sure,” I say, changing direction and walking to my truck. Cassandra gives Wes a half smile and a nod, then follows me, climbing into my truck as I hold the door open for her. “We’ll see you there?” I ask, glancing at Wes, and he waves, climbing into his own truck.

I rush around the hood to the driver’s side, climbing in and starting the engine, watching in the rearview mirror as Wesley pulls away from the curb, Haven’s wild red curls filling the passenger window as she turns to speak to him. Cassandra stares out her window, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her dress, her knee bouncing again as I back out of the driveway.

Once the truck is in drive, I place my hand on her knee to calm her anxious bouncing, my thumb stroking the outside of her leg. She freezes and glances at me, her eyes wide. “Sorry,” she says, giving me a soft laugh.

“It’s fine.” I squeeze her thigh and then rub up and down, keeping the movements slow and smooth.

She swallows and leans back into the seat, her eyes shutting for a moment. She’s quiet today—too quiet. Especially since she’s usually smiling and chipper and almost always has something to say.

The drive to Ben’s pack isn’t long since we don’t have to change elevation to get to it, but I can’t handle even a short drive with Cassandra being uncharacteristically reticent, so I wrack my brain for something—anything—to say to her to end it.

“Did Maya show you Haven’s dress for the ball?” I ask, saying the first thing that comes to mind.

“She did,” Cassandra says, smiling. “It’s gorgeous. She’s very skilled.”

“She could make you one, too?”

Cassandra shakes her head. “She offered, but my mom had one custom designed for me. It will be delivered early next week. She told me about it when I spoke to her and my father yesterday.”

I nod. “They seemed happy to hear from you,” I say, remembering the ecstatic voices chattering away to her in Greek at the other end of the line.

“You could have spoken with them as well. Mama wants to meet you.”

“I didn’t want to intrude on your moment with your family.” I squeeze her leg, and she turns her head to peer out the window again. “Next time, I will. I promise.”

She continues to stare out the window, and I lick my lips, then return my hand to the steering wheel. I grip it tight, flexing my fingers against it and cracking my neck. The silence grates on me, as does Cassandra’s stiff posture and unsmiling face, and my wolf strains his neck in irritation, trying to push to the front of my mind to check on her.

“Is something wrong?” I ask, unable to endure it or pretend not to notice it any longer.

She shrugs. “I didn’t sleep well. I had a strange dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now.” She reaches over and covers my hand on the wheel. “I’m fine. I promise.”

I lace my fingers through hers and lift her hand to my lips to kiss, then settle our linked hands into her lap for the rest of our drive. She holds mine with both of hers, gripping it tighter than usual, her breaths deep and precise.

We arrive at the Amber Forest packhouse mere seconds after Wes and Haven, and the palatial mansion towers over us, shadowing the manicured front lawn and our vehicles. The addition of green hedges and colorful flowers has warmed the cold, white exterior up, but the massive, extravagant building still looks out of place amongst the sprawling pine forest of their pack lands. Cassandra gazes up at it as I let her out of the truck, her eyes scanning every inch and examining every detail of the facade.

“Shall we?” I ask, offering her my elbow.

She blinks at me, yanked from her silent inspection of the packhouse, then shakes herself out of her daze. “Yes, of course.”

She takes my hand instead of my elbow, and we follow Wes and Haven. Her fingers tremble in my grasp, and her steps are slow and hesitant, but she grits her teeth and keeps pace with me, even with the growing anxiety and uncertainty I sense within her.

“Oh, shit!” Haven halts her steps, an exasperated sigh leaving her mouth. “I left my purse on the seat.”

“I can grab it,” I say, making my way towards Wesley’s truck.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll get it,” she says, scooting around Cassandra and me with her hand on her bump. “You two head inside. We’ll be right there.”

Wesley hands Cassandra the folder in his hand and chuckles. “Pregnancy brain. I thought it was a joke, but it’s not.”

Cassandra’s lips twitch and I laugh as well. The folder in Cassandra’s hand shakes for a second, but she hugs it to her chest and strides forward with determination in her eyes as she mounts the massive ivory staircase at the front of Benjamin’s packhouse.

“Gamma Nolan.” Ben’s beta, Jordan, greets us at the front door. “Is everything all right with Alpha Wesley and Luna Haven?”

“She forgot her purse in the truck. They’ll be right in,” I say.

“Pregnancy brain,” Jordan says, echoing Wesley’s words and nodding knowingly. “My mate did the same thing almost every time we drove somewhere during her pregnancy.” He gestures down the hall. “You two can go ahead. I will wait for your alpha and luna.”

“Thank you.”

Cassandra follows me down the main hall and around the corner to the large double doors leading into Ben’s office. He has one propped open, so I rap on it with my knuckle, then push it open, standing aside for Cassandra to enter.

Ben sits at his massive oak desk, his head resting on his fingertips, his gray suit jacket draped over the back of his seat, and his sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. But as soon as we enter, he jumps from his fine leather chair, his blue eyes widening as they move from me to Cassandra. She freezes, her face growing paler by the second. My wolf whines, and my stomach twists into a heavy, weighted knot as they stare at each other with the world standing still for what seems an eternity.

Cassandra forces time to move again, spinning away from Ben and rushing towards the door, her eyes clamped shut and her head shaking.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”