Chapter Two:

~Jane~

As Nathan drove me to school, I stared out the window, watching the world pass in a blur of color and light.

But I wasn’t really seeing any of it.

My mind was still back in the shower.

With him.

The heat hadn’t faded. It sat just beneath my skin now—quieter, but deeper. Like something had been awakened and wasn’t ready to sleep again.

The water had poured over us, warm and endless, as his hands moved over me—firm, certain… like he already knew exactly how to make me unravel.

My breath hitched at the memory.

My back had been pressed against the shower wall, cool against my heated skin… his body close, holding me there. Every inch of him grounded me and unraveled me all at once.

There hadn’t been space to think.

Only to feel.

His hands had wandered slowly, deliberately, learning me in a way that made my pulse race… like he wasn’t just touching me, but memorizing me. Worshipping me in every way.

And the way I responded—

It was instant.

Uncontrolled.

My body had already stopped questioning it… like it knew him before I did.

A soft breath slipped from my lips as I shifted slightly in my seat, my fingers curling against my thigh.

I could still feel it—the warmth of the water, the press of his hands, the slow, unhurried path of his lips against my skin.

Every place he touched still burning.

Like the memory had soaked into me just as deeply as the water had.

The way he says my name…

Low. Rough. Close enough that I felt it more than heard it.

It sent something through me I couldn’t explain…tightening, pulling, until nothing else exists.

Not my thoughts.

Not my control.

Just him.

My chest rose slowly as I tried to steady my breathing, but even now… sitting beside him… it wasn’t enough.

Because it was all still there.

That pull.

That heat.

That quiet, aching need that never fully fades when he’s near.

The way he looks at me… like I already belong to him.

And when he touches me—everything else disappears.

It wasn’t just desire anymore—it felt familiar in a way I didn’t know how to explain. That’s been there since the night we met.

I turned my head slightly, glancing at him from the corner of my eye.

Calm. Focused. Hands steady on the wheel.

But I know he feels it too. Even if he tries to hide it, I know it’s there.

Lingering between us. Unspoken, but very much alive.

And no matter how overwhelming it becomes… I don’t want it to fade.

I want this.

Him.

For as long as I live.

It wasn’t long before I felt it-

The gentle touch of his hand against my cheek pulled me from the memory and grounding me back into the present.

I blinked softly, clearing my thoughts as I turned my head in his direction.

We were parked.

The school lot stretched out around us, filled with students arriving, voices faint in the distance—but inside the car, it felt like none of it existed.

Like none of it could reach us.

His touch was soft… careful.

But the look in his eyes told me something entirely different.

There was something deeper there.

Something heated.

Like he had been thinking about it too.

About us.

My breath caught slightly as his gaze flickered—just for a second—down to my lips.

That was all it took.

My heart stumbled, my chest tightening as I tried to steady my breathing.

The bond between us stirred, pulling tight, alive in a way that made it impossible to ignore. It reached for him the same way it always did…

What we had… it didn’t fade.

It only grew stronger.

And a part of me held onto that, clung to it—hoping that whatever this was between us… it was meant to last.

Forever.

But then—

That fear slipped in again.

Quiet. Cold.

A whisper in the back of my mind that refused to stay silent.

Telling me this won’t last.

Telling me he won’t be mine.

Telling me everything I feel… everything I want… could be taken away.

My chest tightened as I fought against it, trying to push it back, to ignore it like I always do.

Because when I look at him—

When I feel him—

It quiets.

Not completely.

But enough.

Enough for me to breathe.

Enough for me to hold onto what we have right now.

Because this—

This love between us… it was real. And right now, it was the only thing that mattered.

His thumb brushed softly along my cheek again, grounding me as my thoughts began to drift off again.

“Jane,” he whispered.

The way he said my name… it does something to me.

Soft. Heavy. It carried more than just sound—it carried feeling.

Need.

It was the same way I felt when I said his name… when everything inside me reaches for him.

My heart pounded harder, the sound filling my ears as the space between us seemed to shrink, thick with everything we weren’t saying.

He felt it too.

I knew he did.

Without hesitation, he unfastened his seatbelt, then reached across to release mine.

Before I could even fully process it, his hands were on me—guiding, steady—as he pulled me gently onto his lap.

My breath caught.

My legs settled on either side of him, my body instinctively aligning with his like it always did.

Like a missing puzzle piece.

His eyes locked onto mine, filled with something so intense it made my chest tighten.

His hand remained at my cheek, his thumb brushing slowly against my skin, while his other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer-leaving no space between us.

My hands pressed against his chest, and I felt it instantly—

His heartbeat.

Fast. Strong.

Matching mine.

Our breathing fell into the same rhythm, uneven but shared, as the tension between us built again… stronger with every second.

“Jane…” he murmured, his voice low, strained in a way that sent warmth through me. “The things you do to me…”

A breath slipped from my lips as I leaned into him slightly.

“I feel the same way, Nathan,” I whispered. “There’s nothing in this world I want more than to be yours… completely.”

His hold tightened just slightly at my words, his gaze never leaving mine.

“Soon, my love,” he said softly. “Soon you’ll be mine… and I’ll be yours. Completely.”

There was something in his voice.

A certainty

A promise.

Without hesitation… I believed him.

“I want that more than anything,” I breathed. “I want you to be the one the Goddess has chosen for me.”

His expression softened, something deeper moving through his eyes.

“I love you more than life itself, Jane Foster,” he said quietly. “You are my life… the beginning and the end of it.”

Emotion tightened in my chest.

“I love you too, Nathan,” I whispered. “More than I can even understand. Every part of me… it all leads to you.”

For a moment, we just stayed there.

Breathing.

Feeling.

Existing in something that felt bigger than both of us.

Then—

He leaned in.

His lips met mine.

Slow. Gentle.

Filled with everything he hadn’t said out loud.

This wasn’t just heat.

Not this time.

This was uncomfortable love.

Deep. Certain. Unshakable.

I kissed him back just as softly, pouring everything I felt into it—every hope, every fear, every piece of my heart that already belonged to him.

Hoping…

When my wolf awakens… It will be his scent she recognizes.

That he’s our mate.

As we remained there, lost in each other, holding onto the moment as if time itself had slowed just for us—

A sudden knock against the window shattered it.

The sound pulled us back instantly.

Back to reality.

Back to everything waiting outside of the world we somehow always fall into when it’s just the two of us.

Nathan pulled away from our kiss, slow… reluctant.

I felt it.

He didn’t want it to end.

Neither did I.

My eyes stayed closed as I tried to steady my breathing, his forehead resting gently against mine as he did the same. For a few seconds, we stayed like that… holding onto what little of our moment we had left.

That space between us—the one nothing else ever seemed able to touch.

But reality is never far behind.

It always finds its way back.

After a few quiet heartbeats, his hand slowly slipped away from my cheek, and the absence of his touch left my skin feeling suddenly cold… empty.

I felt it immediately.

The loss of him.

A soft sound followed—the window lowering—and with it came the cool breeze from outside, carrying the noise of the real world back in.

Voices. Movement. Life continuing.

Just like that… our world was gone.

I opened my eyes slowly, straightening slightly though I still sat on his lap, my hands resting against his chest where his heartbeat still lingered beneath my palms.

And then I saw him.

Jay.

Standing just outside the car, looking in Nathan’s direction like he had done this a hundred times before.

Which… he probably had.

A small, almost shy warmth crept into my cheeks at the realization.

This wasn’t new.

Moments like this—getting lost in each other right before I had to go into school—they had become a pattern for us.

And somehow…

Every single time still felt like the first.

My thoughts drifted for a second, pulling me back to the very beginning—to the first time we had shared something like this.

How new it all felt.

How overwhelming.

The heat. The emotions. The way my body responded to him without warning.

I hadn’t understood any of it back then.

Honestly… sometimes I still don’t.

But it’s different now.

I don’t fight it anymore.

I’ve let myself fall into it… into him… into everything we are together.

“The bell’s going to ring soon,” Jay called from outside.

His voice was casual, but the meaning was clear.

Time was up.

Nathan gave a small nod, not saying a word, and Jay stepped back, heading toward his car to wait for us.

The window slid back up, shutting out the noise again.

For a brief second…

It was just us.

Again.

Like the world had given us one last pause.

Nathan’s hand returned to my cheek, his thumb brushing softly over my skin, and I leaned into it without thinking.

I never wanted that feeling to leave.

Never wanted him to pull away again.

His other arm still held me close, steady and grounding, like he wasn’t ready to let go either.

Our eyes met.

And just like always… everything else faded.

His blue eyes held mine, filled with something deeper than words could explain.

He let out a quiet breath.

“What I wouldn’t give to stay here with you forever, Jane,” he murmured softly. “I wish moments like these didn’t have to end…”

His voice trailed slightly before he finished.

“But… it’s time to step back into the real world.”

I felt it in the way he said it.

He didn’t want to.

And neither did I.

A small ache settled in my chest as I held his gaze.

Because if I could…

I would stay here.

In this moment.

In this feeling.

With him.

Forever.

But we couldn’t.

The real world was still out there.

Waiting.

And no matter how much we wanted to stay in ours…

We had to go back.

A few more heartbeats passed as we remained there, lost in each other’s eyes.

Neither of us spoke.

But we didn’t need to.

Because even in the silence… there were words.

Unspoken, yet louder than anything we could have said out loud.

Feelings that moved between us so naturally, so deeply, carried through whatever this bond was that we shared.

A bond I still didn’t fully understand.

But I knew it was there.

I felt it.

Deep in my soul.

And that’s what made it so confusing.

Because this—what we had—it wasn’t a true mate bond.

Not yet.

A true mate bond is sealed under the full moon, in the presence of the Moon Goddess… binding two souls completely.

Nathan and I hadn’t done that.

And yet… sometimes it felt like we already had.

The way my soul reached for him…

The way I needed him…

The way everything inside me responded to him like he was already mine—

It felt like something more.

Something deeper.

Something that both comforted me…

And terrified me.

“Are you ready, Jane?”

Nathan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I blinked softly, looking back into his eyes, hesitating for just a second before giving him a small nod.

Slowly, I shifted off his lap and settled back into my seat, reaching down to grab my bag from the floor and placing it on my lap.

Before I could even move to open the door, Nathan had already stepped out of the car.

I watched him as he walked around the front, the morning light catching against him, something steady and familiar in the way he moved.

Then he opened my door.

Just like he always did.

His hand extended toward me, waiting.

I took a small breath before placing my hand in his.

His grip was gentle as he helped me out of the car.

The moment I stood beside him, he closed the door and locked it with a click of his keys.

My hand remained in his.

Like neither of us wanted to be the one to let go first.

With my bag now over my shoulder, he led me forward, guiding us toward Jay, who stood waiting by his own car.

Without a word, Jay fell into step behind us.

Together, we made our way up the stairs, blending in with the other students heading inside.

The noise grew louder as we stepped through the doors—voices, laughter, movement in every direction.

Reality.

It wrapped around us quickly.

Students filled the hallways, some gathered in groups, others rushing toward their classes or lockers.

Nathan and I paused just inside the entrance for a brief moment… like we were both holding onto that last second of quiet before letting it go.

Then we moved.

When we reached my locker, he finally let go of my hand.

I felt it immediately.

That absence.

I opened my locker and placed my bag inside, grabbing what I needed for my first class. As I closed the door, I turned back to him.

“Could you walk me to class?” I asked softly.

A small smile touched his lips.

“Always, Jane.”

His hand found mine again, and together we walked down the hallway.

But with every step…

It got harder.

That familiar feeling settled in my chest—the one that came every morning.

The one I hated.

Knowing that soon, he would leave.

That I would have to stay here… while he went back to his responsibilities.

It never got easier.

If anything… it only got worse.

The closer we became, the harder it was to watch him walk away.

To feel that distance.

To feel that pull inside me—my soul reaching for him, begging him not to go.

But I knew…

This was how it had to be.

I had school.

And Nathan… he had responsibilities as the future Alpha.

As we neared my classroom, I spotted Riley standing near the door.

The moment she saw me, her face lit up, and she gave me a small wave.

A smile instantly formed on my lips.

Riley always made things easier.

Being with her helped fill the space… even if nothing could truly replace him.

When we reached her, she stepped forward and wrapped me in a quick hug. I returned it just as easily, holding onto that small comfort.

After a second, she pulled back, smiling at me.

“How are you, Jane?” she asked warmly. “Your birthday’s in a few days, right? Are you excited?”

I hesitated.

Just for a moment.

“I’m good, Riley. Thank you,” I said, giving her a small smile.

But at the mention of my birthday…

That uncertainty crept back in.

Part of me was excited.

It’s when my wolf—Aleu—would finally awaken.

When the moon reaches its highest point… that’s when she would feel our mate.

But that’s what scared me the most.

What if it isn’t Nathan?

What if it’s someone else… someone I don’t even know?

Even with the mate bond…

Would I ever feel the same way?

Would it feel like this?

Would I crave him… the way I crave Nathan?

The questions circled endlessly in my mind, tightening something deep in my chest.

I swallowed, pushing the thoughts away before they could take over.

“I am excited,” I added, a little more firmly this time. “I can’t wait to finally meet my wolf.”

Riley’s smile widened.

“I can’t wait either, Jane.”

I nodded, understanding her excitement.

And it’s not like I’m not excited too.

But with that excitement…

Comes fear.

It’s like Nathan can always tell when I start to slip into it—when my thoughts begin to pull me somewhere darker, somewhere I don’t want to go.

I don’t know how he does it.

But he feels it.

He always has.

Sometimes I try to hide it… try to keep it from showing.

But moments like this—

It’s written all over me.

And somehow… he just knows.

Just like he knows when the nightmares come.

He never asks.

Never pushes.

He just pulls me into his arms and holds me there… letting me breathe, letting me find my way back—without a single word.

And it always works.

I felt it then—

That same quiet reassurance.

A gentle squeeze of my hand.

I looked up at him, my eyes finding his, getting lost in that familiar blue that always seemed to steady me.

A breath slipped from my lips.

For a moment…

Everything felt okay again.

But even then… in the back of my mind, the fear remained.

Quiet.

Waiting.

That fear remained.