25. Casandra
“Are you absolutely sure you’re okay with this, Cassie?”
Ilinca adjusts the strap of her high-heeled shoe, her large, expressive eyes reflecting a mix of intense gratitude and nagging guilt. She looks stunning—her hair pulled up, a soft blush on her cheeks that has everything to do with the fact that Magnus has a full evening planned for them.
“Ilinca, stop asking,” I say, letting out a soft laugh as I lean against the kitchen counter of our shared apartment. “I am absolutely, one hundred percent fine with it. Go have a normal, romantic evening with your mate. You both deserve it.”
Elena, Darius’s sitter had to catch a sudden emergency flight back to Romania almost a week ago because her sister fell severely ill and was left entirely alone.
With Elena gone, Ilinca’s routine had been completely thrown off.
Magnus had planned this special date a while ago, and the second Ilinca found out Elena wouldn’t be back in time, she was ready to cancel the whole thing.
I couldn’t let her do that. Not after everything she and Magnus have been through.
I stepped in and promised to look after the little whirlwind for the evening.
Ever since Magnus marked Ilinca, her life has transformed.
She spends every waking moment split between classes, Magnus’s side, and taking care of Darius.
They’ve become this fierce, protective little family unit, and seeing the quiet joy in her eyes makes the lingering ache of my own complicated life a little easier to bear.
I kneel down on the plush rug, leveling my gaze with the three-year-old currently constructing a chaotic tower out of colorful plastic blocks. “Hey, little man,” I murmur, tapping his nose. “Are you ready to spend the night with Auntie Cassie?”
Darius drops his blocks, his amber eyes lighting up with pure, unadulterated enthusiasm. “Yes! Can we play monsters?”
“Absolutely,” I promise, grinning.
A heavy, rhythmic knock echoes against the front door. Ilinca checks her watch, a bright, excited smile breaking across her face. “That’s Magnus,” she says, practically floating across the hardwood floor to swing the door open. “Hey, love, I’m almost—”
She cuts herself off, her breath catching.
Magnus is standing in the corridor, looking sharp in a dark tailored jacket, but he isn’t alone. Nikolai steps into the frame right behind him.
My smile instantly vanishes, my posture going rigid. Nikolai is wearing a black hoodie, his golden eyes sweeping over the apartment before locking directly onto me. The air in the room suddenly feels thick, charged with that suffocating, primal current that always flares between us.
“Hey, beautiful,” Magnus says, stepping inside to press a quick kiss to Ilinca’s forehead before offering an apologetic shrug. “Nik offered to help out tonight. He heard about the sitter situation and said he’d watch Darius so Cassie wouldn’t have to handle the little monster completely alone.”
I narrow my eyes at Nikolai, a sharp wave of annoyance prickling under my skin. I know that as Magnus’s best friend, Nikolai has spent plenty of time around them. But having him here feels like an ambush.
“Oh,” Ilinca says, shifting awkwardly as she looks back at me. “Um, Magnus, we actually have it covered. Cassie is watching him, and I wouldn’t want to impose on—”
“Uncle Nik!”
Before Ilinca can finish her sentence, Darius lets out a joyful shriek.
He abandons me entirely, his small feet thumping loudly against the floor as he sprints toward the door.
Nikolai’s icy expression melts in an instant.
A genuine, blinding smile breaks across his face as he drops to one knee, catching the toddler mid-air and hoisting him effortlessly into his strong arms.
Darius wraps his little arms around Nikolai’s neck, then looks back at me with wide, ecstatic eyes. “I get to spend time with both Aunt Cassie AND Uncle Nik? This is gonna be so much fun!”
Ilinca bites her lip, looking incredibly uncomfortable as she glances between my furious expression and Nikolai’s smug, quiet satisfaction.
I let out a long, defeated sigh, crossing my arms over my chest.
Pushing Nikolai out the door right now would only confuse Darius and ruin the kid’s mood, and I refuse to let my issues with the arrogant prince ruin the little boy’s night.
“I guess that’s fine,” I mutter, my voice dripping with cold indifference. “Come on in, then.”
“Thank you, Cassie,” Magnus says, shooting me a look of profound gratitude before taking Ilinca’s hand. “We won’t be too late.”
With a final round of goodbyes, the door clicks shut, leaving a sudden, heavy silence in the apartment. Nikolai stands in the center of the room, still holding a babbling Darius, his golden gaze tracking my every movement as I walk back into the living space.
I ignore the way the scent of cinnamon buns suddenly saturates the room. I look directly at Darius, softening my voice. “Alright, little man. What do you want to do first?”
Darius squirms down from Nikolai’s grip, his feet hitting the rug. “First, we gotta build forts! A giant fort! And then we watch a movie and eat lots and lots of ice cream!”
I drop my jaw, letting out a dramatic, horrified gasp as if he’s just suggested we burn the academy down. “Ice cream? For dinner?”
A low, rich chuckle rumbles through the air.
My eyes involuntarily snap to Nikolai. The sound of his laughter does something treacherous to my pulse, a sudden warmth blooming in my chest before I can stop it.
He looks entirely relaxed, lost in thought as he smiles down at Darius, the hard, defensive edges completely replaced by a soft, genuine tenderness.
For a second, he catches me staring, his golden eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my breath hitch.
He doesn’t look at me with loathing right now. He just looks... present.
“Well, if we’re building a fortress, we need supplies,” Nikolai says, his deep voice snapping the tension.
To my absolute surprise, the terrifying Alpha heir turns out to be good at fort building.
He is pretty creative, pulling the cushions off the sofa, dragging chairs from the dining table, and using his height to anchor heavy blankets to the tops of the bookshelves.
He must have peeked somewhere between the age of three and five.
He is entirely involved in the game, crawling on his hands and knees on the rug, growling playfully whenever Darius tries to attack the fortress walls. I find myself caught up in the rhythm of it, passing him pillows and laughing despite myself whenever Darius dictates a new rule for our kingdom.
“The fort is secure,” Nikolai declares, poking his head out from beneath a blue velvet sheet. “Now, where is that scandalous ice cream?”
“I’ll go get it,” I say, pushing myself up from the floor.
I spend a few minutes in the kitchen, scooping vanilla ice cream into bowls and gathering a couple of spoons. When I walk back into the living room, the space is quiet save for the soft humming of the TV screen.
Nikolai is sprawled out across the length of the sofa, his long legs stretching over the armrest. Darius is curled up tightly right next to him, his small head resting against Nikolai’s ribs as they flip through the streaming menu, searching for a movie.
I walk over, intending to sit in the single armchair across from them to maintain my distance, but Darius instantly spots me. He sits up, pointing a small finger at the empty space on the couch right next to him. “No, Auntie Cassie! You gotta sit with us!”
I freeze, the ice cream bowls heavy in my hands. I look at Nikolai, expecting him to make an excuse, but he just shifts slightly, clearing a space next to Darius and watching me with an unreadable expression.
“You gotta, Auntie Cassie,” Nikolai murmurs, a faint trace of amusement in his voice.
Awkwardly, I navigate the edge of the blanket fort and slide onto the couch. Darius immediately wedges himself directly between us, completely content now that his two favorite giants are within arm’s reach. He picks a classic Disney movie, the bright colors instantly illuminating the dim room.
I watch Nikolai out of the corner of my eye, a sudden, heavy ache settling deep in my stomach.
I can’t help but think about how beautiful this could have been.
How effortless. If he wasn’t such an absolute asshole, if he hadn’t spent weeks treating me like a plague, this exact scene could be our reality.
He fits into this domestic space so perfectly.
He seems like he would make such an incredible, attentive father.
The thought is a dangerous, poisonous fantasy, and I violently force it down, focusing back on the screen.
The warmth of the room, the soft cadence of the movie, and the exhausting toll of my daily training slowly begin to catch up with me.
My eyelids grow heavy, the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of Nikolai’s chest beside Darius acting like a lullaby.
Eventually, my vision blurs, and I drift off to sleep.
When I open my eyes, the room is completely dark, save for the pale moonlight filtering through the window.
The TV is off. The apartment is entirely silent.
I try to shift my weight, but I realize I can’t move. A heavy, muscular arm is wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling my back flush against a broad, solid chest. A face is buried in the crook of my neck, the steady, hot breath of a sleeping wolf fanning across my bare skin. Nikolai.
My heart leaps into my throat, a frantic, chaotic thudding that echoes in the quiet room.
He is holding me so tightly, his grip possessive and unyielding, as if even in his sleep, his instincts refused to let me go.
A sudden, overwhelming wave of warmth crashes through my body, a treacherous sense of absolute safety that makes me want to melt backward into his touch and never leave.
I move slightly to look for Darius, and the sudden shift startles Nikolai awake.
He gasps softly, his golden eyes snapping open in the moonlight.
For a fraction of a second, he just stares at me, his grip tightening automatically as his wolf registers my proximity.
Then, reality seems to crash into his brain.
He realizes what he’s been doing—realizes that he has been cuddling the girl he claimed to despise.
He lets go of me so fast he practically recoils, scrambling backward against the opposite end of the couch. His expression is a volatile mix of shock, confusion, and a sudden, guarded panic.
I force my voice to remain steady, desperately trying to ignore the lingering, electric warmth where his skin had been pressing into mine. I sit up, my eyes scanning the dark living room. “Where... where is Darius?” I ask, my voice rough from sleep.
My eyes land on a small, white piece of paper sitting on the coffee table. I lean forward, picking it up. The moonlight is bright enough for me to decipher Ilinca’s neat handwriting.
Thanks so much for watching him! We came back and saw you completely passed out on the couch, and we didn’t want to wake you up. Magnus just carried Darius over to his place for the night. See you tomorrow! - Ilinca
I drop the paper back onto the table and stand up, smoothing down my sweater as I refuse to look at Nikolai’s tense form. “Well, since Darius is gone, I’m going to go take a shower,” I say, my voice cold, formal, and clinical.
Nikolai doesn’t move from the corner of the couch. The panic in his eyes slowly recedes, replaced by that familiar, infuriatingly arrogant mask. A slow, wicked smirk cuts across his handsome face, his golden eyes darkening as they track the line of my body.
“Hm,” he rumbles, his voice carrying a deep, post-sleep rasp that vibrates straight down my spine. He leans his head back against the cushion, his smirk widening. “Want me to join you, Cassie?”
I huff, letting out a sharp, annoyed breath as I turn on my heel. “No.” I snap over my shoulder, marching down the corridor toward the bathroom.
I slam the bathroom door shut and lean against it, my heart hammering like a frantic drum against my ribs.
I close my eyes, my breath shaking as I touch my fingers to my neck where his breath had been lingering just moments ago.
I hate him. I absolutely hate how much power he has over my body, just because of this stupid bond.
Because as I turn on the hot water and watch the steam begin to fill the room, a small, terrifying part of me knows the truth.
I half-wished he would have followed me.