Chapter 84 Now Home
By the time I reach the front door, I’m barely holding myself together.
Every step has been torture, my body aching from head to toe. Still, I force myself forward until I’m standing right in front of the estate.
I stop for a moment, staring up at the estate.
It feels… different.
Bigger than I remember. Colder, somehow. The house stands tall above the village, like it always has, a constant reminder of who rules here, of who lives inside.
Cassain.
A strange, heavy feeling settles in my chest.
I don’t feel like I belong here anymore.
I lift my hand and knock, the sound echoing through the night. Then I step back, pulling my soaked coat tighter around me.
The rain hasn’t stopped since I left. My clothes cling to my skin, my boots heavy with water. The money I took from Jax barely got me this far, and I had to walk the last stretch.
All this… and I still don’t know if he’ll even want to see me.
The door creaks open, light spilling out into the dark. I blink against it as a figure appears in the doorway.
“Nova?”
I let out a small breath. “Hey, Misty.”
Of course it’s her. She’s always the one at the door.
Her eyes widen as she takes me in—my soaked clothes, the way I’m barely standing straight, the hood still pulled low over my face.
“Come… come inside,” she says quickly.
I step inside, moving slowly. My gait is uneven, every step painful.
I step in slowly, each movement stiff and painful. My body protests with every step, my gait uneven from the long journey. My feet are torn up from walking, and I can feel every blister now that I’ve stopped moving.
But it’s my face that hurts the most.
The dull, throbbing pain there never lets up.
I keep my head down, my hood still hiding most of the damage. I don’t want the questions. Not yet.
Not until I see him.
I keep my hood up, hidining my face.
Misty nods quickly. “I’ll get him.”
I watch her hurry up the stairs, her footsteps fading into the silence.
The house is quiet, empty except for the soft drip of water from my clothes onto the marble floor.
My heart pounds harder with every second that passes. What if he doesn’t want to see me? He’s married now.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come.
Before I can let the thought take root, I hear footsteps—fast, urgent, coming from upstairs.
My breath catches.
Then I see him.
Cassain stands at the top of the stairs, frozen like he doesn’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
And neither do I.
He’s dressed for sleep, loose black pants hanging dangerously low on his hips, his chest bare. Strong, familiar, marked in ways I remember too well. The sight of him hits me all at once, stealing the air from my lungs.
“Nova.” My name leaves him softly, like he doesn’t quite mean to say it out loud.
He runs a hand through his messy hair and starts down the stairs.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt as soon as he gets closer. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
He stops right in front of me.
His scent surrounds me, warm, familiar, grounding in a way nothing else has been.
His eyes move over me carefully, taking everything in.
“What happened?” he asks quietly.
I lift my hand and push my hood back.
“Jax.”
That’s all I say.
It’s enough.
His breath sharpens, his expression tightening as he takes in the damage.
A sharp breath. His jaw tightens, brows pulling together as his gaze fixes on my face.
For a second, he doesn’t speak.
But the anger in his eyes says everything.
He steps closer. Then closer again, until there’s barely any space between us.
His hand lifts, hesitating for just a moment before his fingers brush lightly against my cheek.
Pain shoots through me. I flinch back with a sharp inhale.
His expression darkens instantly.
“Death would be too easy for what I’m going to do to him,”Cassain says, his voice low and dangerous as his gaze drags over my injuries.
I gently catch his wrist, pulling his hand away from my face. “If it makes you feel better… I think the only reason I’m still alive is because he hit me. If I hadn’t blacked out, I don’t think I would’ve made it.”
His eyes darken even more, something sharp and terrifying settling in them. “I’m looking at what he did to you, Nova,” he says quietly. “Nothing about this makes me feel better. Not until I deal with him myself.”
That’s when it hits me.
This isn’t just Cassain, my friend, the boy I used to laugh with for hours.
This is the Alpha. The one people fear.
My teeth start to chatter anyway, the chill finally catching up to me. “Can we… talk about this tomorrow?” I murmur. “Can I just stay the night?”
Before I can even finish, his hand closes firmly around mine, and he pulls me toward the stairs.
“Don’t talk like you’re leaving,” he says, not even looking back. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I blink at the back of his head as he leads me up, my heart thudding unevenly in my chest. There’s something final in his tone. Possessive. Unyielding.
We pass the hallway that used to lead to my room.
Instead, he keeps going.
Straight to his.
“I didn’t mean to come here like this,” I say quickly, my voice softer now. “I don’t want to cause problems between you and your wife…”
He lets out a quiet, almost disbelieving scoff and pushes his door open.
The bed is slightly messy, like he had been sleeping just moments ago. But there’s no sign of anyone else.
No Violet.
No shared space.
Just him.