Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 32

Evan had given something of himself to me last night, something he could never take back. He had yet to tell me he was ready to give up the search for his mate, but what he had done last night, what we had done last night together was proof of something. Or I was in love with Evan. I wanted him to love me. I wanted him to love me unquestioningly, without reserving room in his heart and mind for someone else he hadn't even met yet. Could this really be the beginning of it?

maybe that was just the hope in me burning so bright it shoved away sense, but that was what I wanted to believe.

The curtains over the window let in no light, and Evan must have locked the door so no housekeepers or maids would peek in for their morning cleaning routine. I peeked over the covers just in case, but we were alone in the room. With a small sigh, I dropped my head back onto the pillow.

"You okay?"

My heart fluttered. Evan's voice was slightly scratchy, roughened with sleep, but his eyes shone with full awareness as he watched me. Had I woken him as I stirred back to wakefulness over the last few minutes or had he been awake before me? "I'm okay. Just don't want to be late. You don't have a clock in here."

I leaned into his hand when he stroked my face, fingers trailing down my cheek and tracing my lips. My eyes closed. His touch was so calloused but comforting, strong and solid. I wished I never had to leave it.

"We have time. Rest." "I did rest."

"Rest some more."

"Evan..." I was going to chide him about babying me, but the guilty pleasure of soaking in his attention silenced me before long. I enjoyed the silence, the company, his warmth next to me in the sheets. When we pulled off the covers to get cleaned up, I would probably blush like a fire engine from head to toe, but I would worry about the bashfulness later. This was a moment to bask in.

Except...

The thoughts I had woken up to came back to plague me. Evan had buckled last night, shown me the vulnerability once and for all that he had tried to hold back in vain. I had heard his thoughts, his emotions, all of the tumult in his head and heart as he made love to me, and that was how I knew it was genuine. He cared about me. He was still confused, still angry, still full of pain, but he cared about me.

And yet I couldn't show him the same vulnerability no matter how much I wanted to. I could kiss him, I could hold him, we could make love again, but he would never be able to read what was in my heart no matter how much I tried to bare it to him.

And he deserved to know. It wasn't my fault that I could listen to his thoughts; it wasn't my choice. But it wasn't his either, and I needed to tell him.

"Evan, there's something you need to know."

A sharp burst of cold worry flooded him, and he braced himself as if for a physical impact. But the fear that rushed through him, the suspicion that I was about to tell him I regretted what we did last night was all in vain. I could never regret that. I reached for him, aching to fill that void in his heart that made it so natural for him to doubt, and spoke.

"You probably won't believe this, but listen to me, okay? I'm trying to find a sensible way to say it so you won't think I'm crazy, but I can't think of one, so I'm just going to say it." I turned completely onto my side and looked him in the eye, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. "I don't know why I have it or where it came from, but I've had an ability ever since I was little. I don't remember ever being without it. Evan, I can... hear the thoughts of everyone around me, if they're close enough."

He remained both motionless and silent for a moment as his eyes scanned my face, searching. For what? A sign that I was joking? Or maybe fevered delusions? We'd both been soaked to the bone last night in the rain, after all. But I held the stare, steady and calm, and waited.

"You're not talking about mind-linking, are you?" he asked. "This is something different?"

"Yes."

"What kind of thoughts do you mean? That you can hear?"

"All of them." I hesitated. "Well, some. I can't hear everything all the time because sometimes they overlap and it's hard to make any sense of it. Or if there are too many people, it's like trying to listen to everyone in a crowd at once. Or... sometimes it's like with you, where there's something heavier that can block it completely. Like clouds on an overcast day." "Block my thoughts? You can't hear mine, then?"

It wasn't doubt in his voice so much as apprehension, and I understood it. No one wanted to know their thoughts weren't their own, that somebody was always listening in.

"I can't stop it and it happens on its own," I said gently, reassuring him as best as I could while explaining it, even if it was a poor attempt. "But sometimes, even when it's just that one person and me, and the thoughts that come across are clear, there can be emotions that are even heavier than the words. And a lot of the time, people don't think in words anyway. It's mostly impressions, images, feelings. It's a relief most times since that makes it easier to tune it out." "You don't like it?"

"No. It's awful."

"But you could do incredible things with it." He watched me with eyes that were now as curious as they had been worried. He was uneasy about what I had told him, but the strategic Alpha instincts in him couldn't be denied. "If I had that kind of ability..." "It doesn't let me examine anyone's memories, not the way it might sound. I know what you're hoping, that maybe it'll help us find out what happened that night. But any memories I see in you, it's a perfect reflection only of how you remember it, not how it actually happened. It's why I can't look back into my memories either and remember us meeting." If it really ever happened, a small voice murmured inside me, still doubtful.

"You really don't remember me from that night?"

"I don't. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Still. It was important to you."

"You're here with me now, that's what's more important." He paused. "... Can you hear what I'm thinking right now?"

"I'm trying not to. But some things slip through."

"What's in my head right now, then?"

I closed my eyes, and for the first time in a long, long time, I truly listened. I had spent so much of my life trying to preserve everyone else's dignity by keeping my ability small, doing everything I could to make it shrink, but now Evan was inviting me in. How could I say no? (I love you.)

(I love you, Claudia.)

(Can you hear me?)

The thoughts glided into my head, and I ducked my chin to hide the rampant blush that overtook my face.

For a while, neither of us spoke. But my hand was on his chest, warm and strong, and his arms were around me, holding me tight.

He said he loved me. He meant it, in his heart and his head and every inch of him that lived and breathed. Wasn't this what I had wished for? Wasn't this what I had craved the entire time I had pretended I didn't?

The kiss in the car had changed my life, but making love for the first time with Evan, letting him into my body and giving in to the pleasure and ecstasy, had changed all of me. I could never let him go now. The little orange house with the garden, the whispered talks I had given myself to get over a man who clearly didn't want me enough, the brimming hope I'd started to carry of being able to forget Evan- gone. I still wanted a house, a garden, and I still wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet, but... couldn't I have those and Evan, too?

"I love you," I whispered. "I don't know what comes next, but I love you."

"I don't know what comes next either. But whatever it is, I'll be with you, and you'll be with me. Together."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, so slow and sweet it hurt.

I hoped he never let me go.