As Cassandra’s tears finally subsided, Ashton slowly released her, giving her space. She suddenly felt shy when she saw how she'd messed up his shirt. He sensed what she felt and shrugged as he smoothened his shirt. "It's okay, Cassandra."
He gently pointed to the side of her face. “Look,” he said softly, his gaze tracing her healed places that had been bruised by Johann earlier. “Your wolf… she's made you as good as new.” Cassandra touched her cheek in surprise, her fingertips grazing the newly smooth skin. She couldn’t help but smile, feeling lighter. “One good thing I've found in my werewolf life."
"And I'm glad you're finally embracing it." He smiled as he held out a hand to her which she filled with her smaller soft hand.
Just then, the warm glow of fairy lights flickered on around them as the sun sank below the horizon. Cassandra took in her surroundings, realizing they were in a beautifully lit park. "It's a lovely place." It felt peaceful here, and she sensed Ashton's quiet pride as he gestured around. "I thought you needed some air. Welcome to Serenity Garden."
They fell into step, taking a path lined by soft lights and flowers.
"So," Cassandra started, "this place was your idea?"
"Yeah. I thought even we werewolves needed a safe space." He loved how her blue eyes glowed in the fairy lights.
"Just like the Arts Center?"
Ashton paused before he replied. "Yeah, that's in line with the Shine Scheme. I believe werewolves should give expression to all of their abilities, and not just the ones that are wolf or pack based."
"Really?" Cassandra was touched, she believed so too.
As they walked on, Cassandra saw Ashton was a progressive thinker, not wanting to bind the pack to the former conservative patterns. He cared deeply about his people and wanted the best for them. She had gotten a hint of that when she came into Blue Falls and it was all beautiful, a great contrast from what she had left behind.
The only beautiful thing about Blue Falls before was the Blue Falls, the waterfall they all went to have fun. But now everywhere was simply breathtaking. Now it had expanded and Blue Falls was just like the capital town of the entire Silver Moon Region. And right now, Cassandra felt the beauty in the pack simply reflected Ashton's caring heart for his people.
As they walked, Ashton couldn’t shake his growing fascination with her—the delicate scent of lilies and apple blossoms that lingered around her, the way she instinctively tucked her hair behind her ear while she spoke. The night around them deepened, and he found himself captivated by her every mannerism.
Eventually, they found a bench and sat down. Not far from them, an elderly couple were seated together watching the stars turn up.
Ashton held out an earbud to her, "Let's listen to music." Cassandra smiled as she took it.
They sat together in silence as the music began to play in their ears. Cassandra turned to him at the first sound, "Lindsey Stirling?"
"Yeah. For the first few days when you arrived here, it was only her music you would play on your violin."
Cassandra’s eyes fell to her lap, "I made a lot of noise, didn't I?"
"I thought it sounded beautiful." Ashton smiled and eased into the bench. The old couple were leaving now. He waved at them when they bowed their necks to him before leaving.
Cassandra stared at the beautiful sky. With the music playing in her ears, she tried to replay the scenes of her day. It had started well, turned bitter and then led her to this gentle moment. She smiled as she placed her hands on the bench. Hers rested just close enough to his that she felt his warmth. Their hands were almost touching and the awareness of each other in the quiet beautiful night seemed to tense up the atmosphere between them.
