Chapter 65 HAPPY ENDING
ZARA’S POV
I was sleeping soundly in my room that evening. I seemed to be having a dream, a very interesting one, I must say.
Apparently, I was just coming into this academy newly, and everyone seemed to be so nice to me, yet I could feel that they weren't happy to have me in their midst.
The dream bled into something sweeter. The cold walls of the academy corridors melted into soft gold lights. My shoes didn’t echo; instead, I heard footsteps behind me, steady, confident, familiar. I turned around and saw Kai walking toward me, expression unreadable, eyes burning like I was the only person in the dreamworld that mattered.
“Kai?” I whispered.
He didn’t speak. He only stopped right in front of me, close enough that the heat of his chest seeped into mine. His fingers brushed my cheek, feather-light but enough to ignite something low in my stomach.
My breathing trembled.
“Zara…” he whispered, voice deep, warm, sinful.
“You don’t have to pretend you don’t want this.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to ground myself, yet a pleasant warmth settled between my thighs. My wolves purred in satisfaction.
In the dream, Kai dipped his forehead to mine, noses brushing. His breath tasted like spearmint and trouble.
“Say it…” he pressed, lips brushing the edge of my jaw.
“…you want me.”
My heart squeezed painfully. “I”
My eyes flew open.
Darkness. My room. The night breeze. And my body burning up.
I dragged in breath after breath, clutching the sheets like they were the only thing keeping me from falling apart.
Except… someone was sitting beside my bed.
Slow, steady breathing.
“Kai?” I whispered.
A familiar voice answered.
“You moan in your sleep, you know.”
My heart stopped.
This guy had been watching me sleep.
I shot up in bed, hair sticking everywhere. And there he was....Kai, sitting backwards on my desk chair, arms folded across the backrest, eyes hooded and locked on me like a starving man watching a full-course meal.
Heat shot up my spine.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, though it came out more breathless than angry.
He smirked. Damn.
“You invited me.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You said my name three times,” he shrugged, voice low.
“If that’s not a summoning ritual, I don’t know what is.”
I swallowed down a very undignified sound.
“Well, next time don’t answer.”
He stood slowly....way too slowly...and walked toward my bed. Each step dragged my pulse higher.
“Kai, stop,” I warned, even though every cell in my body screamed "don’t you dare stop."
He didn’t stop.
He sat on the edge of my mattress, causing it to dip. His scent surrounded me...cedar, smoke, rain, and something dangerously male. The kind that crawls into your bones.
“You look flushed,” he murmured, brushing one knuckle across my heated cheek.
“Dream something… interesting?”
I pulled away, staring at my blanket instead of his face.
“I don’t remember.”
He tilted his head.
“Liar.”
"Pretty little liar..."
Silence. Heavy, charged silence.
I could hear his heartbeat. Fast, uneven. He was pretending to be calm, but he was losing it just as much as I was.
“Why are you here?” I finally asked.
Kai inhaled slowly.
“Because I can’t stay away anymore.”
My breath hitched.
“Zara… I miss you.”
I looked up sharply. His eyes were naked....stripped of pride, stripped of anger, stripped of pain. Just honest.
“I miss hearing you laugh. I miss you insulting me every morning. I miss your wolves snapping at me because I breathe near you.” He blinked.
“I miss sleeping next to you. Training with you. Arguing with you. Existing near you.”
My throat tightened.
“But most of all…” his voice dropped an octave.
“…I miss touching you.”
Heat slammed through me.
“Kai”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” he whispered.
“I only want to be near you again. Even if you hate me.”
My defences trembled.
“I don’t hate you,” I breathed.
His shoulders sagged... relief flooding his body.
We stared at each other, the room too quiet, the air too charged. His gaze dropped to my lips.
Don’t look at my lips.
Don’t look.
He looked.
“Kai…” It was a warning, but also a plea.
He smiled a little.
“You have no idea what you do to me, Zara.”
My eyes dropped to the bulge in between his legs.
"I think I have an idea." I said, smiling.
I laughed breathlessly.
“You think you’re the only one suffering?”
The room froze.
Kai leaned closer, voice low and sinful.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll get cocky.”
He laughed quietly, brushing hair away from my neck.
“I’m already cocky.”
I rolled my eyes, but the way his fingers trailed down my jaw stole my breath.
“Your heart is racing,” he murmured.
“You’re close,” I snapped back.
“Do I make you nervous?”
“You make me homicidal.”
“And… nervous?” he pushed.
My wolves snickered inside my head.
“Very,” I whispered.
Kai inhaled sharply.
“What did you dream about?”
I reddened.
“Not telling you.”
He grinned.
“I was in it, wasn’t I?”
I clenched my sheets.
“Zara,” he whispered, leaning in, mouth inches from mine.
“If you want to kiss me, you don’t have to dream it.”
I froze.
Then… I reached forward and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer until our breaths tangled.
His pupils dilated.
“You want honesty?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been driving me insane.”
He exhaled shakily.
“Every time you look at me…” I continued.
“…I forget how to breathe.”
His fingers grazed my hip through the blanket. I gasped, electricity shooting through my body.
“And if you don’t stop touching me like that,” I whispered, voice unsteady.
“I might drag you into this bed and...”
A knock pounded the door.
We both jerked apart.
Mira’s voice echoed through wood;
“Zara? Kai? Emergency meeting in five minutes!”
Kai groaned.
“Worst timing ever.”
My face burst into flames.
His eyes locked on mine again, dark and hungry.
“This isn’t over,” he promised.
Something fluttered violently inside my chest.
“I know,” I breathed.
And stars help me…
I wanted it not to be over.