Caspian

The sharp beep of a W******p notification dragged me out of sleep at exactly 6:30 in the morning. I groaned softly and buried my face deeper into my pillow. Absolutely not. Nobody should be awake this early on a Saturday. For almost thirty seconds I debated ignoring the message completely before anxiety slowly crept into my chest again.

Hunter. I had tried calling him multiple times last night after Damon dropped me home, but none of my calls went through. Every horrible possibility imaginable had kept me awake for hours. What if Bane hurt him? What if something actually happened? I couldn’t bear not knowing anymore, so with a sigh I reached blindly for my phone on the bedside table and unlocked it.

The moment I saw the name on the screen both my eyes flew open instantly. Caspian. My heart immediately started racing in the most embarrassing way possible. One text. Just one text and suddenly I was wide awake.

"Had a busy night last night."

I stared at the message in horror. How did he know? No seriously. How the hell did he know? My fingers moved quickly across the keyboard. "What are you talking about?" Maybe lying wasn’t mature. But it was absolutely necessary. Three dots appeared almost immediately. Then. "You know exactly what I’m talking about, sunshine."

I glared at the phone like somehow that would help. The stupid nickname should not affect me this much. Unfortunately my stomach still flipped every single time he used it. I typed back quickly. "What’s it to you? We aren’t even friends." His reply came so fast it was almost unfair. "No. We’re more."

My brain completely stopped functioning. “What?” I sat up too quickly, lost balance, and literally fell halfway off the bed. Somewhere deep inside me, Nyx huffed tiredly. Another message appeared. "Meet me at Crescent Lake Trail. 7:00 AM." I froze. I knew where that was. A quiet walking trail not too far from town near the edge of the woods. Which raised another question. Should I even go? I checked the time immediately. 6:50 AM. “Oh my God.” Nyx remained suspiciously quiet. No advice. No helpful wolf wisdom. Nothing. Meanwhile my brain was screaming at me not to go.

Unfortunately I almost never listened to my brain. I jumped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom before I could think too hard about it. Toothbrush. Face wash. Hair tied quickly into a messy ponytail. Done. I hurried back into my room still clutching my phone tightly while internally panicking.

Should I go? Shouldn’t I? Why did he even want to see me? I threw myself dramatically back onto the bed and pulled both my blanket and pillow over my head like they could physically protect me from Caspian.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Bad idea. Because the moment I did all I could see was silver eyes. Sharp jawline. Golden tanned skin stretched over lean muscle. That stupid gorgeous mouth.

I groaned loudly into my pillow. “I’m going to die of embarrassment one day.” The alarm on my phone suddenly screamed exactly at 7:00 AM. Then the blanket was violently yanked off my body. I gasped and sat upright instantly. And froze.

Caspian stood beside my bed. Inside my room. Tall. Broad shoulders filling the space effortlessly while early morning sunlight spilled across his skin. His brown hair looked slightly messy like he had run his fingers through it on the way here, and those silver-grey eyes stared directly at me with shameless amusement. My brain completely short circuited.

“How.....” Then I noticed the open window. Oh my God.

He climbed through my window. Like an actual psychopath. “Nice choice of pajamas,” he said casually. His gaze dragged slowly down my body. “I prefer seeing you in nothing though.”

My entire soul left my body. I looked down at myself in absolute horror. Blue sleep shorts. Tiny tank top. And written across the front in big letters EYES UP HERE. Except the top barely covered anything. And because the Moon Goddess clearly hated me, the cold morning air had made things even worse. His eyes lingered. Very deliberately.

I yelped loudly and crossed my arms over my chest before practically launching myself toward my closet in humiliation. Behind me, Caspian laughed softly. Deep. Smooth. Ridiculously attractive. Which honestly made everything worse. “What are you doing here?!” I whisper-shouted from inside my closet while trying to recover my dignity.

Talking to him from inside the closet felt safer somehow. If I looked directly at his face too long, my brain stopped working properly. “You didn’t come to me,” he replied easily. “So I came for you.” My stomach flipped again. This Lycan was genuinely messing with my head.

Quickly I changed into actual clothes a fitted cream long-sleeve top tucked into high waisted black trousers that hugged my hips slightly before loosening around my legs. Simple. Normal. Much safer than whatever disaster I had on before. After taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the closet and immediately regretted it.

Caspian was lying comfortably across my bed now with his back resting against the headboard like he owned the place. Like he belonged there. One powerful leg stretched lazily across my mattress while the other bent slightly. His black shirt clung perfectly to his chest and arms, outlining muscle far too nicely for my emotional stability, while dark jeans rested low on his hips.

Honestly, it should be illegal for somebody to look that good this early in the morning. I tried very hard to stay annoyed. I really did. But every time I looked at him, my thoughts dissolved into complete nonsense. Because Caspian didn’t just look handsome. He looked dangerous. The kind of beautiful that felt unfair. Ancient almost. Like something crafted too perfectly to belong around normal people.

His gaze slowly wandered around my room, studying the paintings hanging on my walls, the stacked sketchbooks beside my desk, the tiny little details nobody else ever paid attention to. Then his eyes landed back on me instantly the moment I stepped closer. And stayed there. Slowly dragging from my face downward before returning back to my eyes again.

“A shame,” he murmured. “I preferred what you were wearing before.” My heart stuttered painfully. Heat rushed into my cheeks so fast it almost hurt. The way he looked at me felt dangerously close to being undressed without him even touching me. “Stop looking at me like that,” I snapped finally.

Caspian tilted his head slightly. “Like what?” He sounded genuinely amused. Like I was the confusing one here. “Like a perv,” I answered immediately. His mouth twitched slightly. “How can I be a perv,” he said smoothly, “when I’m looking at something that belongs to me?”

My head snapped toward him instantly. Excuse me? He had to be joking. Right?