Where Soft Light Shines Darkness Fades From Tired Hearts by Evan Holt Crane 418
Third Person’s POV
Trista looked at the man in front of her–stubborn, borderline delusional, and clearly trying to exert control over her again. A low snarl of pure disgust vibrated in her throat as she shut him down. “Cassian, do you even hear yourself?”
She enunciated every word, delivering the final death sentence. “We Rejected each other. I am free. What I do with Elias–and whose clothes I choose to wear–is absolutely none of your business.”
“Is that so?”
“None of my business?”
Cassian stared at her, a chilling, hollow laugh escaping his lips. It was the sound of an Alpha’s sanity finally snapping.
Trista flinched. That laugh was a red flag that he’d crossed a line. “Cassian, what the hell is so funny?”
Before she could finish, his aggressive, sub–zero aura slammed into her.
In one fluid motion, he hooked an arm around her waist and hauled her off her feet. His grip was like a steel vice as he marched toward his SUV.
A few minutes later, the air inside the cramped front seat was thick with the suffocating scent of clashing pheromones.
Cassian caught Trista’s slim wrist, forcing it upward so he could inspect the ugly bruising Thomasina had left behind.
A raw, visible ache flickered in his eyes. His voice was a jagged rasp. “You let yourself get hurt like this just to save Xander some trouble? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I a dead man to you now?”
He stared at her, a pained sound catching in his throat. “Is my credit really that far gone with you? Is there nothing left?
Trista wrenched her arm back, her skin burning from the friction of his calloused fingers
She lunged for the door lock, but with an Alpha’s lightning reflexes. Cassian blocked her effortlessly
A cold sweat broke out across her neck. The feeling of being trapped in his territory again was making her feel like she couldn’t breathe “Cassian, what is wrong with you!! Let me out
His dark eyes remained pinned on her face searching for a ghost of the woman she used to be
“I’m taking you to a hospital to get those bruises treated. Then, we’re taking that dress the que that winelle like another male–to the cleaners. And then I am going with you to give it back to Elias”
Before she could explode, he added with a chilling, obscaive calm. “Or, if you’re that attached in it. Fil write Manwaring a check for thirty million myself. Either way, you aren’t going to see that man a single
favor.”
12:07 pm W
2019
8
Trista felt a wave of nausea at his blatant, suffocating need for control.
“Cassian, drop the ‘territory‘ act! You have zero right to interfere in my life. If you don’t let me go right now, I’m calling the Werewolf Council!”
She reached into her bag for her phone, but Cassian’s arm shot out like a whip, the sheer force of his movement cutting through the air as he snatched the phone from her hand.
That was the last straw. Trista threw herself toward the driver’s side, desperate to grab the phone he held out of reach.
In the cramped space, the struggle became a trap.
Trista lost her balance, and Cassian used the momentum to pull her down, pinning her right onto his lap.
They were face–to–face, her legs straddling his. In the sudden silence of the car, the sound of their racing hearts was deafening. It was a position that screamed intimacy, but all Trista felt was a humiliating sense of violation.
She tried to scramble up, but his powerful arms locked around her waist, anchoring her in place.
Cassian looked up at her, his eyes swirling with a pfimal, desperate hunger as his pulse throbbed in his neck.
“Trista, I don’t want to fight,” he whispered. “Just be good. Let me fix your arm, and then we’re going to talk to that shark and set things straight.”
Trista raised her bruised arm, a sharp, mocking smile on her face. “Cassian, look at me. This is my body. If I get hurt, it has nothing to do with an ex–Alpha. And what happens between me and Elias? You don’t even get a vote.”
Cassian’s expression shifted, a wave of pure regret threatening to drown him. “This morning, when I was in so much pain I thought my soul was burning… when I collapsed in that store, you didn’t even look back. But the second you get a scratch, my instincts won’t let me stand by.”
Trista suddenly burst out laughing. Cassian’s face went dark, his jaw tightening until it looked like stone.
She stopped laughing and looked at him with a terrifying clarity, like she was staring at someone who had completely lost touch with reality.
“Cassian, did you forget? When we fought, and I fainted right in front of you–when I could barely breathe -you didn’t give a damn about whether I lived or died. You were too busy running off to find Samantha because she was in heat.”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “If I survived being abandoned by my mate, I think you’ll survive a little stomach ache. Who are you even putting on this ‘devoted‘ act for?”
Their eyes locked.
The scar on Cassian’s heart was torn wide open, the blunt force of her words hitting him with agonizing precision.
12:07 pm
“I’m sorry…”
0.91
That familiar, soul–crushing desperation returned. Once again, Cassian lost control, pulling Trista into a crushing embrace, trying to use her body to fill the hole in his soul.
Trista fought him with everything she had. Her voice, muffled against his chest, sounded cold and utterly foreign. “I don’t want your ‘sorry.‘ It just makes my wolf want to gag.”
Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.