Marrying a Warhound (Cassian) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Chapter 136

ATASHA’S POV

59

155 voletiers

“Why bring me back here?” I asked as we stepped into the cave’s mouth. Our hands were linked. He led, and I kept pace.

“To breathe,” he said simply. “We’ve been inside the walls for days, fighting, planning, surrounded by people. I wanted a place where no one’s watching.”

I felt my face heat up before I could stop it. It was ridiculous how easily a few words from him could do that. I was glad he wasn’t looking at me.

We moved farther in. I could already hear the pool ahead. Our footsteps echoed the same way they did the first night we hid here.

“How did you find this place?” I asked.

“When I was younger,” he said, like he was giving a report. “I’d come to places I didn’t remember. Mendez told you it was easier to hold me down back then. That’s true. Smaller body. Less damage when they tried. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to overpower them.”

“You don’t remember any of it?”

“Most nights? No. Sometimes, during the day, pieces come back, short flashes. Like a sound or a smell. Blood on my hands and no idea whose. The path here is one of the few I could retrace even when I couldn’t think straight.”

We cleared the narrow bend, and the cave opened to the pool, a wide bowl of water catching thin strands of light from a pearl above. The surface barely moved. The air was colder here.

Cassian stopped at the edge. “When the moon turns red, I don’t remember much. The faces blur and names vanish. It’s different with you.”

I blinked. “Different how?”

“I remember.” His gaze shifted to me. “Not everything. But I remember enough. That’s how it is with mates.”

Almost immediately, the ceremony flashed through my head. He’d said mates changed everything. He wasn’t lying. After drinking from the cup, my body felt steadier, stronger. My ability sat close to the surface, like it wanted to move without me asking.

Then my thoughts drifted to him. How many years he must have lived like this. Alone. Hiding in caves when the red moon came. Fighting through nights he couldn’t even remember. I pictured him younger, smaller, waking up surrounded by claw marks on stone and blood on his hands, not knowing what he had done or who he had hurt. No one beside him. No one to tell him it wasn’t his fault.

The way he’d said “to breathe” earlier finally made sense. This cave wasn’t just shelter. It was where he hid from everyone and everything, even himself. All those years, he’d been surviving, not living. Every full moon must have been a reminder of what he’d lost, his control, his family, his peace.

15:40 Thu, Oct 9

Chapter 136

a

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The realization made my chest ache. I understood now why he always seemed so guarded, so distant. He wasn’t heartless, he was used to being alone. It wasn’t strength that kept him that way, it was habit.

He turned then, catching my chin between his fingers and tilting my face up. His eyes held mine, as if he’d seen the thoughts forming behind them.

“Don’t pity me,” he said.

My mouth opened to argue. He touched a finger to my lips.

15:40 Thu, Oct 9

Chapter 136

55 vouchern

I’d seen him like this countless times, during training, after battles, when he returned covered in blood and exhaustion, but this was the first time there wasn’t armor, blood, or distance between us. There was nothing to distract me from the man standing in front of me.

The faint light traced every line of muscle, every mark that told a story of what he’d survived. My throat went dry. I told myself to look away, to stop staring, but my eyes didn’t listen right away. When they finally did, I turned sharply, clutching my cloak as if it could stop the heat crawling up my neck. “Cassian-”

“I’m not going to touch you without your say,” he said, still facing the water. “I’m telling you what happens next so you choose with both eyes open.”

I nodded, even if he couldn’t see it.

“The mark isn’t something meant to be witnessed,” he said. “It’s something you live with. It’ll sting for a moment, your skin will burn, your chest will tighten, and mine will do the same. But it fades quickly.”

“Where?” My voice came out thin.

His head turned slightly. “Here.” He tapped the place where neck met shoulder. “It won’t scar, but it will stay.”

“But… I will be gentle,” he added, like he was trying to reassure me. The words didn’t quite fit him. Cassian and gentleness never belonged in the same sentence. The idea alone made a chill run down my spine. Then he held his hand towards me. “Come…”

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