Casts 57_Crowned by Fate

Chapter 57 

 Skye’s POV

 Sleep eluded me as Iy in my tent, staring at the canvas ceiling illuminated by moonlight. The cool desert night air seeped through the tant fadds ration goosebumps on my exposed arms.

 Just as I was finally drifting toward sleep, a barely perceptible sound snapped me back to alertness–the whisper of a zipper being carefully drawn open at

 the entrance to my tent.

 My body tensed instinctively, hand reaching for Tink, the silver dagger I kept beneath my pillow. Then a familiar ocean scent reached me, and I rxed fractionally.

 Adrian’s silhouette appeared in the tent opening, his broad shoulders momentarily blocking the moonlight before he slipped inside with surprising grace for someone his size. He sealed the entrance behind him with the same careful silence with which he’d opened it.

 “What are you doing?” I hissed, sitting up abruptly and clutching my nket to my chest despite being fully clothed, “Are you crazy? What if someone ser you?”

 In the dim light, his amber eyes gleamed with an intensity that sent a flutter through my stomach. He moved closer, kneeling beside my sleeping bag with

 careful deliberation.

 “I couldn’t stay away,” he admitted, “I kept thinking about you, about us.”

 I nced nervously at the thin fabric walls of my tent, painfully aware of how Adrian. If anyone discovers you here-”

 und might carry to the other tents clustered nearby. “This is reckless,

 “Did you talk to Ryder?” he interrupted, seemingly unconcerned with my protests about propriety. “Did you exin things to him?” 

 “I tried. He didn’t want to hear it. He’s convinced what he feels is real andsting.” I shook my head. “Maybe it’s youth, or stubborn pride, but he won’t ept that I only see him as a friend.”

 “And Nadia?”

 My gaze dropped to my hands. “I haven’t spoken to her. Not yet. The look on her face when we returned to camp… I just couldn’t find the right words.”

 Adrian was silent for a moment, his expression thoughtful as he studied my face. “And what about us, Skye? What are we to each other?”

 I chose my words carefully, knowing they could affect not just us but the entire pack dynamic.

 ‘Adrian, I care about you. What happened between us tonight… it wasn’t nothing.” I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “But I don’t think now is the right time for us to pursue whatever this is.” 

 His brow furrowed slightly. “Why not?”

 “The pack needs stability. There’s tension with Gravestone Pack, and Kane’s interest in our territory is clearly growing.‘ I gestured vaguely toward the camp beyond my tent. “If we create internal division–with Nadia, with Ryder–how can we present a united front against external threats?” 

 Adrian considered this, his Alpha mind weighing the strategic implications against his personal desires. Finally, he nodded slowly. “I understand. And I can wait. His hand found mine in the darkness, his calloused palm warm against my skin. “I’ll wait until you feel the time is right.”

 I smiled gratefully, though something twisted painfully in my chest as an unspoken thought crossed my mind: Unless your true mate appears in the meantime.

 He seemed to sense my unspoken reservation. “Just promise me one thing,” he said, his thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of my hand. “Don’t avoid me anymore. Don’t pull away from me like you have been.”

 The tension in his voice, the subtle vulnerability beneath his Alpha confidence, touched something deep within me. I squeezed his hand reassuringly. “I promise.”<fn6b82> Chapters first released on FindN()vel</fn6b82>

 Suddenly, footsteps crunched on the gravel outside, passing close by my tent. We both froze, barely breathing, until the sounds faded into the distance- 

 Chapter 57 

 likely a warrior making a </bte–night trip to the designated bathroom area.

 Once silence had returned, I reluctantly pulled my hand away from his. “You need to go,” I whispered. If someone sees the Alpha emerging from my bot dawn, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

 Instead of moving toward the exit, Adrian stretched out beside me on the sleeping bag, hisrger frame barely fitting in the confined spare. Let me may i little longer, he murmured, his arm slipping around my waist. “Just until you fall asleep. I go back to my tent before anyone wakes?

 I should have protested. It was risky, inappropriate given our positions within the pack, andpletely contrary to the boundaries we’d just agreed in maintain. Yet I found myself rxing against him, my head finding afortable ce against his chest.

 *Just until I fall asleep,” I conceded quietly.

 His arms encircled me, strong and secure, creating a cocoon of warmth against the desert chill. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my eat was hypnotic, soothing in a way I hadn’t experienced in over three years.

 Since fleeing Frostshadow Pack, I’d grown ustomed to solitude–to falling asleep alone in motel rooms, in my car, or in rented apartments where ezery creak and distant noise kept me vignt even in sleep.

 My body melted against his, tension draining away as his fingers traced gentle patterns on my back.This wasn’t like our passionate moment on the cliff. This was simplefort, something I hadn’t allowed myself to experience in years.

 As sleep began to im me, I had a final coherent thought: whateverplications the morning might bring, for now, this moment of peace was worth the risk.

 The return journey to Oasisborn Pack the following day was markedly subduedpared to our outbound trip. The exuberant chatter and music that had filled the caravan of vehicles was reced by contemtive silence, each of us lost in private thoughts.

 In the back seat of Adrian’s SUV, I gazed out the window at the passing desertndscape, deliberately avoiding both his asional nces in the rearview mirror and Ryder’s attempts to catch my eye from the seat beside me. 

 Nadia maintained a professional demeanor in the passenger seat, focusing exclusively on pack business and security protocols–speaking only when necessary and always with formal address.

 The tension in the vehicle was thick enough that I nearly sighed with relief when the familiar outline of Oasisborn’s buildings finally appeared on the 

 horizon.

 As our caravan approached the mainpound, I noticed a familiar figure standing at the entrance to our territory, her vibrant auburn hair unmistakable even at a distance. 

 Lydia rarely left herboratory, and certainly never stationed herself at the border to await returning pack members, unless something urgent required attention.

 Adrian clearly noticed it too, his posture immediately stiffening as he elerated slightly. When we pulled up alongside her, the grim set of her mouth was visible even behind her customary half–mask.

 “Alpha Adrian, Beta Nadia,” she greeted them formally, her eyes briefly acknowledging me as well. “You all need toe with me immediately. There’s a situation that requires your attention.”

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Casts 57