Page 29

Story: Loving A Stranger

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**Tasha's POV**

I can still sense the heaviness of his stare long after I've turned and walked away.

It haunts me like a ghost, pressing against my skin, crawling into my bones. No matter how much distance I put between us, it's there. He's there.

I don't stop walking until I'm on the opposite end of the courtyard, where the laughter and the sounds of people talking fade into background noise. My heart is racing, and I hate that. I hate that one run-in with him can do this to me—make my hands tremble, make my breaths come unevenly.

You belong to me.

His words curl around my mind like a menacing promise.

I shake my head, trying to clear the fog of emotions that's already starting to consume me. This is what he wants, what he is waiting for. He's waiting for me to break, to cave, to let my guard down. But I won't. I can't. I simply refuse to bend to his will.

I force myself to look away from him and instead looked at Mina, who remains near the fountain, darting glances at Cass when she doesn't think anyone is watching. At how Cass is standing, too rigid, too aware of her.

He's fighting it.

Just like the Lycan Alpha.

Just like me.

And suddenly, I am weary.

This constant fighting, the push and pull, the words unspoken—it's suffocating. Maybe we're all just dumb.

A sigh escapes my lips as I go to grab my phone, my hand hesitating on the screen. I should call my mom. I should check in. But I know deep down that I'm just looking for an excuse—a distraction from the storm brewing inside of me.

I haven't yet made up my mind when a voice I know all too well speaks my name.

I stiffen.

Not him again.

I tutor my face into one of nonchalance before turning around, to find not the Lycan Alpha, but Cass.

He looks... unsure. And that in itself twists my stomach into a knot. Cass is never unsure. He's always the level-headed one, the rational one. The fact that he looks conflicted now worries me.

"What's up?" I ask, attempting to be nonchalant.

He doesn't answer right away. Instead, his gaze flicks briefly to Mina before he looks back at me.

"We have to talk," he says eventually.

I cross my arms. "Sounds ominous."

"It is."

Something in his voice makes my stomach drop.

Cass doesn't joke around. If he says it's serious, it is.

I nod, and I lead him to a more private area nearer to the trees. When we're out of range of prying ears, I face him. "Okay. What is it?"

He releases a slow sigh, as if trying to find the right words. "It's about him."

I don't need to ask whom he's talking about. There's only one him in my life.

Cass studies me closely, his piercing eyes searching for something—weakness, maybe. A reaction.

When I don't answer with one, he continues.

"I know you're upset," he says. "I know you think you have every reason to keep pushing him away."

I snort. "Think? I do have every reason."

Cass doesn't argue, but the look in his eyes is knowing. "Tasha... you have no idea how much he's holding back for you."

Something in my chest tightens. "I never asked him to."

"No, but you also don't know what it's costing him."

I shake my head, refusing to let his words get to me. "Cass, don't. Don't try to make me feel guilty for standing firm."

"I'm not," he says softly. "I just want you to see the whole picture."

I snort a derisive laugh. "The whole story? You mean where he disappears for days, where he won't let me in, where he treats me like some burden he's saddled with?"

Cass's jaw tightens. "He's trying to protect you."

I roll my eyes. "Oh yeah. The old standby. Let me take a wild guess—he's 'dangerous,' and I'm too 'fragile' to handle the truth?"

Cass ignores my sarcasm. "You know that's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?" I challenge. "Because where I'm standing, all I see is a guy who constantly pushes me away yet still expects me to wait for him."

Cass hesitates, and for a moment I think he's going to drop it. But then he goes and does the one thing I don't anticipate—he steps closer and lowers his voice.

"You think he doesn't want you?" he whispers. "You think he enjoys staying away?"

I swallow, refusing to answer.

Cass's eyes slit. "Do you have any idea what it is for a Lycan to reject his mate? To fight against every instinct commanding him to claim her? To stay away when every cell in his body is screaming for her?"

My breath catches.

"He's hurting, Tasha," Cass continues. "More than you have any idea."

Something in me falters.

I don't need to sympathize with him. I don't.

But the expression Cass is wearing, the gentle urgency in his voice—it erodes my resistance.

I shake my head, trying to cling to my anger. "Then he should have thought of that before he shut me out."

Cass exhales, like he anticipated that I would say that. "Just... don't push him too much."

I frown. "What is that supposed to mean?"

His expression darkens slightly. "There's a limit to the control a Lycan possesses. If you push him beyond that...";

He breaks off.

He doesn't need to.

The suggestion alone makes me shudder.

Cass shoots me a final glance before he turns back. "Just be careful, Tasha."

Then he walks away, leaving me standing there with my thoughts in an uproar.

I breathed sharply, my fingers clawing into my temples.

I don't want to care.

I don't want to think about him, about what Cass said, about the pain in the depths of those stormy eyes.

But it's too late.

The damage is already done.

But I can still save Damon, by staying away from him.

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