Chapter 16 The mysterious photograph
Sera's Pov
The kiss stayed on my lips long after Caden pulled away. Caden watched me like he was memorising the moment, waiting to see if I regretted it. I did not. I was just overwhelmed, breathing too fast and too shallow, trying to process what the kiss meant for him and what it meant for me.
He brushed a thumb across my cheek. “Sera?” he asked. “You okay?”
I nodded because speaking felt impossible. He smiled a little, the kind of smile he only used when he was being honest. He opened the passenger door for me, and I slid in, still dazed. On the drive back, he kept glancing over like he wanted to say something else but did not want to ruin the quiet. The silence between us felt warm.
“We can talk about everything,” he said gently, eyes on the road. “But only if you want to.”
“It was just a kiss,” I said softly.
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “It was not just a kiss for me.”
The way he said it sent another flutter through my chest.
When we reached my house, he parked but did not turn off the engine yet. “Sera,” he said slowly, “I know you are guarded and I know you have reasons. I know you do not want to be pulled into anything messy. I am not asking you for more than you can give. I am only asking you to let me try.”
The sincerity in his tone almost pulled me under again. I looked away before my emotions betrayed me. “Goodnight, Caden.”
I stepped out, and he watched until I closed the door behind me.
Inside, I let out the breath I had held since the kiss. My hands were still shaking. It felt too real, too impossible, too much like fate laughing at me for thinking I could remain unaffected.
I lay awake for hours, replaying every detail. His voice, his eyes, his hand on my neck, the way he whispered my name. I tried to sleep and failed miserably.
By morning, I still felt breathless.
At school, everyone stared the moment I stepped onto the campus walkway. Whispers spread like wildfire. Cadenq Wolfe kissing someone in public may as well have been breaking news.
Mia practically teleported to my side. “You kissed him,” she squealed. “You kissed him, Sera. The whole school is losing is going crazy about it.”
I groaned and covered my face. “How does everyone know already”
“People have cameras everywhere,” she said. “Half the school probably recorded you two.”
I froze. “Are you serious?”
“Oh completely,” Mia said. “But do not worry. They are scared of you after what you did to Brielle.”
I winced. “I should not have slapped her.”
“Sera,” Mia whispered, “she absolutely deserved it.”
We entered the hallway, and every pair of eyes tracked us. Some people whispered with excitement. Some whispered with disbelief. Others with jealousy. Brielle stood near her locker, glaring at me like she wanted to summon lightning and strike me down. I ignored her, she was irrelevant anyways.
I was only worried if Elder Rowan shows up again.
Caden showed up five minutes later, and the hallway fell instantly silent. He walked with that easy confident stride people loved and feared. His eyes found mine like magnets. He moved straight toward me without hesitation.
“Morning,” he said, smiling like he was greeting someone he cared about.
I swallowed. “Morning.”
People were practically breaking their necks trying to hear us. Mia took two steps back to give us space but also to listen shamelessly.
Caden leaned closer, voice low. “Can we talk later during lunch?”
“About what?”
“About last night,” he said. “I want to hear what you are thinking.”
“What if I do not know yet?”
“Then I will wait.” There it was again. That softness that almost made me melt.
The bell rang, and he brushed his fingers across my hand before walking away. My heart thudded like it was trying to escape my chest.
Mia whispered, “He is gone for like two seconds and you already look like you need oxygen.”
“Mia, stop,” I muttered.
“Never,” she said proudly.
The day went by too slow. I forced myself to focus, but every time Caden passed by my classroom door, my stomach tightened. It did not help that he kept glancing at me like he was silently asking if I was okay. It did not help that my body answered yes before my mind had time to argue.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was both dreading and wanting to see him again.
The cafeteria buzzed louder than usual. People sat in clusters whispering about the date, the kiss, the slap, the tension. I entered with Mia, and the whole room shifted their attention toward us. Caden sat with his friends across the room, and the moment he saw me, he stood.
As usual, I became a mess, but I had to remain unfazed, I didn't want him to see me like that.
Everyone watched him cross the cafeteria toward me like we were in a movie and they were the audience.
“Can we sit somewhere quiet” he asked.
Mia nudged me hard. “Go.”
I followed him outside to the empty picnic tables behind the gym. It was quiet there, just the sound of wind brushing through leaves.
Caden sat across from me. “So….” he said, “how are you feeling about last night”
I picked at the edge of the table. “Confused.”
“About what exactly?”
“You,” I said. “Me. Everything.”
He nodded slowly. “That makes sense. I am confused too.”
That surprised me. “You are?”
“Yes,” he said. “Because every time I look at you, I feel something I cannot explain. Something I should not feel this strongly. It is not normal.”
My breath hitched. “Do not say things like that.”
“I am only telling you the truth,” he said softly. “That kiss was not an accident for me. And I do not want it to be the last one.”
My heart raced.
“Caden,” I whispered, “this is too fast.”
“I know,” he said. “But I do not want to pretend I do not feel this. I do not want to pull away from something that feels right.”
His honesty made my chest ache.
He leaned forward. “Just tell me what you want. I will follow your pace.”
I looked at him. Truly looked at him. Not as the Alpha everyone adored. Not as the boy Brielle claimed as hers. Just as Caden. The boy who took me to a quiet cafe because he wanted to hear me talk. The boy who watched me like he was trying to understand every part of me. The boy who kissed me like he had been waiting his whole life.
“I want time,” I finally said. “I want to figure out how I feel without pressure.”
“That is fine,” he said immediately. “You have it. I am not going anywhere.”
My stomach flipped at the certainty in his tone.
We sat in quiet for a moment, letting the weight of the conversation settle.
Then he reached into his pocket. “Actually,” he said, “I was going to wait until after school for this, but you might as well see it now.”
“What is it?”
He slid a folded paper across the table.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
I hesitated but unfolded it.
My breath stopped.It was a drawing, a drawing of me.
Not dramatic or romantic, just me sitting at my desk in class with my chin resting on my hand, staring out the window like I always did when I felt overwhelmed. Every detail was there. If he was this romantic, why did he treat Selene like she didn't matter?
I stared at the drawing. “You drew this?”
Caden looked away, ears slightly red. “Yeah.”
“When?”
“A few days ago,” he said. “Before the date.”
My voice wavered. “Why?”
“Because I could not stop looking at you,” he said simply. “And drawing you helped me think.”
The world tilted slightly.
No one had ever looked at me that way. No one had ever seen me deeply enough to draw me like this, like they understood me without me having to speak.
Warmth flooded through my chest, stronger than I expected, stronger than I was prepared for.
“Caden,” I whispered.
He met my eyes. “Yeah”
Before I could say anything more, the back door of the gym swung open. Mia’s head popped out.
“Oh thank goodness, I found you,” she said breathlessly. “Sera, you need to come inside now. Like right now.”
Caden frowned. “What happened”
Mia’s eyes widened. “Everyone in the cafeteria just saw something and they are freaking out.”
“What did they see?” I asked.
Mia swallowed hard.
“You might want to come look for yourself.”
Caden and I exchanged a glance, both unsure, both uneasy.
We stood and followed Mia back inside.
Students had crowded near the center of the cafeteria, circling something taped to the wall. People whispered and gasped as we approached.
he crowd noticed us before we even reached them. They parted fast, like someone pushing open water. Every pair of eyes shifted toward me. Some wide, some hungry, some whispering things behind their hands that I didn’t need super hearing to understand.
Caden stiffened beside me.My heart dropped when I saw it.
A photograph, a very old one. It looked like me, she had grey eyes but the picture wasn't that clear.
It was pinned right in the middle of the cafeteria with one sentence written beneath it.
Who really is Sera Hale?
Caden looked at me with wide, stunned eyes and the cafeteria fell silent.