Chapter 39

It was a lovely day for Cassie.

She just has breakfast outside with Liam who jokingly handed her a rose he bought on his way being his usual goofy sweet self despite them being together for years now. It was probably an unneeded apology for leaving her after their date to go spend a day out of town, but she was more than happy for him and herself to have a day away from each other where they both can do their own thing.

Solitude was indeed enjoyable.

However, when he paid for their meal and left, she found herself all alone at the table wondering what to do and who to see.

She wasn't going to be staying at this town forever, and while she did want to stay for Eli and teach him how to deal with his struggles as an omega, she was actually there for Ari. From the very beginning it was Ari who was on her mind, the sad beautiful boy who confused her.

Something was going on, and she wondered about a few things.

It seems luck hasn't been on her side lately because her target was elusive. There were days where he was nowhere to be found as if he was intentionally avoiding her, and there were days where he'd just disappear into the woods making her lose sight of him. Turns out she was just unlucky until now. The moment she was about to leave her table and take her black sketchbook, was the moment she saw him walk by.

Cassie waved her hand to get his attention and spoke out his name knowing that she didn't need to yell out for him to hear her.

"Aurelius, here please."

His ears picked up her voice and he turned his head towards her locating the direction of the source, and his confused frown turned into a lovely smile as he approached her. A smile that made her sigh at just how fond of it she became, and it was her first time seeing it!

Ari was just all around lovely and she wished he could be happier.

"Enjoying breakfast?" He asked holding a book in his hand and she shook her head in answer.

"Just finished, actually. You missed my mate, Liam. He was here not long ago." She told him standing up from her table taking the sketchbook as she did so. "Where were you heading?"

Ari gestured at his book. "To read."

"In the woods?" It was a correct guess. "I've seen you go there a couple of times."

"It's quieter there." He explained, but it seemed like there was more to it judging by the wishful look he didn't know was on his face. "Would you like to join me?"

"I would love to." Cassie answered with complete honesty and was quick to link their arms trapping him, but Ari seemed to be willing to be trapped by her if his smiles were anything to go by. "How have you been? I haven't seen you after that day in town."

The idea was idle chatter until their arrival, but it seems like there was something significant enough to make his whole mood drop along with his smile.

"Oh, I have been..." He trailed off looking in the distance as they walked. "There's a lot on my mind."

"Did something happen with- Did anyone find out? I will take full responsibility." She told him taut and worried.

She had planned all of this just so a day with Eli wouldn't blow up in his face, but it seems like it had. This wasn't at all what she wanted. She had felt and seen how ostracized he became among his friends, and unfairly so.

No, this wasn't her plan.

He probably sensed it because he immediately gave her a reassuring smile paired with a chuckled. "Nothing like that, I actually want to thank you for it." His sincerity was already clear in the way he was looking at her, but the hand he placed over their linked arm added to it. "I don't think anyone ever did anything like that to me."

"Oh, Aurelius." She sighed sadly. "All I want is for you to be happy."

"You think I am not happy?" He blinked in surprise and she pulled him into the woods where they treaded further in as she shook her head.

"I think you could be happier."

"Maybe you're right." He replied in quiet contemplation before he tugged her arm gently. "This way."

Cassie allowed him to lead her into his spot enjoying the ambient sounds of nature around them, and she was delighted to see an isolated place with a fallen log that could be sat on and a few rocks she could lean against. It even had the perfect amount of shade. She understood why it was his reading spot as she gleefully looked around before her eyes fell on something disconcerting.

There was something metallic lodged into one of the trees surrounding them and she reached for it before she realized what it was.

"There's a pocket knife here..."

"Yes." Ari replied unflinchingly.

"There's blood on it, love. I can smell it." She told him turning around with a pale face ready to take off at any second, but the complete nonchalance he showed shocked her.

Instead, he laughed it off.

"I know, it is there sometimes. It's just a hunter."

It was a lie, Constantine sometimes forgets his knives.

"Oh, you're probably right." She relaxed laughing at her paranoia before she decided to forget about the knife and go sit with Ari on the log, patting it as she did so. "I really like this place you found."

"It's quiet." Ari nodded before his eyes fell on her sketchbook. "I didn't know you draw."

Cassie smiled placing her sketchbook on her lap before opening it to the first page for him to see. There was a huge name filling the page and Ari realized she drew names instead of objects or people. It wasn't what he expected, but the way she decorated it was done beautifully.

"Who is Amelia?" He couldn't help but ask and Cassie gave him a soft smile.

"The first omega I met. I draw their names here and I try my best to reflect their personalities when I do." She told him flipping to the other page where another name was drawn in a style usually found in graffiti. "This one was rebellious and she did love tagging walls. She outgrew that, though."

"You're really talented." Ari told her staring at the name in awe. "How many are there?"

"Seven. I only met seven omegas." She told him handing him the sketchbook so it was sitting on his lap instead. "Eli's name is there, too. I recently finished it."

Ari flipped to the next page marveling at her talent. He couldn't help but appreciate every detail as he felt like this was something intimate she was sharing.

"Only seven...That's so little."

Cassie shrugged. "We aren't many."

She watched him silently flip through the pages appreciating her creations before he stopped at a certain name and just stared at it with what she could only describe as the motionlessness of a statue made of stone. That moment was eternal, and despite no words being said, it was also one of the loudest moments she had ever experienced.

Shakily, he closed the book without even looking at the seventh name, Eli's name.

"Since when?"

She immediately held his hand in hers when she heard the terror in his voice. All she knew was that Ari is now petrified. Something about it was terrifying to him, and she knew what he was asking.

"Since the party."

Ari looked at her like he wanted to cry, but he was still unsure if he could just yet. "Does anyone else know?"

"Only me, just me." She reassured him softly as she rubbed her thumb on his hand and she didn't know if it was the motion or her words that soothed him, but she was glad to find him relax even for just a little bit. "It is the name I enjoyed drawing the most."

Ari said nothing as he swallowed nervously, his hand was trembling.

"This is why I left you alone with Eli when he got his heat, and that's why I wanted you to have a day with him." She continued squeezing his hand and looking at him with an earnest look on her face. "We're rare, Aurelius. Why are you hiding it? You can't pretend to be a beta forever."

But Ari wasn't really listening, he was panicking. It was why his mother moved him away, it was why his mother hated him, and it was why nobody could know. The only reason he has a place to live right now is because he convinced everyone that he's a beta. Otherwise, his mother would be too disgusted with the idea of people knowing her son was nothing but a filthy omega.

It used to be that only his mother knew.

But then Constantine knew.

And then Cassie knew.

And it is only a matter of time before someone else emerges where they, too, knew. Or maybe one of them would slip and reveal it. It'll only take a short amount of time before news spreads, and he can't survive that.

He's too weak to defend himself against his mother, and he is too weak to fend for himself without her. He doesn't want the attention and he'll be getting plenty.

"If anything happens, I'll be there for you." Cassie's voice cut through his panic as she rubbed his back. He didn't realize he was crying until he looked at her and was met with a blurred face. "I am not telling anyone; it isn't my place to tell."

And what else could he do but slowly nod and trust her?

She didn't say anything when he fearfully hugged her feeling like his whole heart would give out at any minute. Cassie only held him in a comforting hug that lasted until he was able to breathe again because he hid that part of himself his whole life and he felt smothered by it.

Cassie would have held him for a whole day if he needed it. She would have.