Chapter b25 /b

Caleb’s POV

When we finally parted ways after dinner, we all headed back to our own cars.

Just as Mia had been on Shane’s passenger seat, Caroline had been on mine; we came here together from my house, which was basically a ce our families shared due to the pack ranks.

We walked to my car side by side, but just ias /iI reached for the door handle of the driver’s side, Caroline suddenly said, “Hey, hold on.”

I turned to her curiously. “Yeah?” I prompted. “What is it?”

Her lips curled into a smile, and in her eyes, I could see the reflection of the moonlight, just like the light reflected off of the sea. “Walk with me,” she said, a bit hesitantly. “There’s a park nearby. I want to rx a bit.”

As we walked toward the park, the night air carried a certain stillness, a quiet that wrapped around us like a familiar embrace. Caroline had asked me to walk with her, and I hadn’t hesitated. I never could when it came to her. There was something about the way she looked at me-. soft yet unwavering–that made me feel like I could follow her anywhere, even if I didn’t quite know where we were going.

The park was empty, save for the rustling trees and the faint chirping of crickets. The swings creaked slightly as we sat down, the chains groaning under our weight. The moon hung high, casting a pale glow over the yground, bathing everything in an eerie, silver light. Caroline’s fingers curled around the chains of her swing as she kicked at the ground, making small movements back and forth. I watched her for a moment, the way her golden hair fell over her shoulders, the way her lips pressed together as if she was carefully considering her next words.

“The moon will be full soon,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure what she was getting at. “Yeah, I guess it will.”

Silence stretched between us, thick and heavy. Caroline was never one to bring up something without reason, and that realization made me sit up straighter, my hands gripping the chains a little tighter. She was avoiding my eyes, staring at the sky instead.

“What’s on your mind, Caroline?” I finally asked, keeping my voice gentle.

She exhaled slowly, her breath visible in the cool night air. “I don’t know how to say it,” she admitted, tilting her head slightly as if searching for the right words. “But I feel like… things are going to change.”

Something about the way she said it made my stomach twist. “Change how?”

She finally turned to look at me, and for the first time tonight, I saw something flicker in her gaze–something deep and unspoken, something that sent a shiver down my spine. It wasn’t scary exactly, but it was close.

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted, shaking her head slightly. “But I can feel it, Caleb. It’s like… this pull, this weight pressing down on me. Like something big is about to happen, and I don’t know if I’m ready for it.”

I frowned, studying her face carefully. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

She gave me a small, almost sad smile. “I know. That’s why you’re my best friend.”

My chest tightened at her words. I leaned back against the swing, my gaze fixed on the stars above as I listened to her words.

“You know, it would be really pretty if there was a full moon on your birthday,” she mused. “I’m pretty sure you’re well aware of this–there’s this superstition that Alphas are born on full moons, so on their eighteenth birthday, the moones in full swing, too.” Sheughed lightly. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I think it’s a–really beautiful thing.”

bI /bexhaled slowly, rolling my head to the side to look at her. “Alright, Caroline. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

She blinked, caught off guard, and turned to face me fully. “What? What do you mean?

I gave her a look. “Come on. I’ve known you since we were kids. You do this thing, where you start talking nonsense whenever you’re stalling. Like, when you broke my mom’s vase and tried to distract me with some story about crows remembering faces-

That was a fact, she cut in, crossing her arms.

I huffed out augh. “Yeah, but it had nothing to do with the fact that you shattered a hundred–year–old vase.

She bit her lip, looking away, fingers picking at the hem of her hoodie. Maybe I just like sharing fun facts, she muttered, but there was no fight in her voice. Just hesitation.

“Caroline. My voice softened, but I held her gaze. “Just say it.”

She swallowed, her throat bobbing, and for a moment, she looked so small, so unlike the stubborn, headstrong girl I’d grown up with. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to say it. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.

But I waited anyway.

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