<h4>Chapter 173: The Boy Who Walked Away</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    Who would have thought?


    Of all the things in the world, it wasn’t a grand apology or an emotional heart-to-heart that thawed the lingering frost between us.


    It was <i>our game</i>.


    Our ridiculous, pixted town-building game with bunch of fields to grow crops, veggies, and fruits, a bunch of quirky vigers, and an endless list of quests - daily tasks, side missions, and reward chests that popped up every now and then with shiny loot.


    That’s what broke the ice.


    At first, we were barely speaking, just the asional word or instruction from Draven while I tapped on my screen and tried not to lose focus.


    <fn7408> Readplete version only at </fn7408>


    He stayed on the other couch for the first few quests, helping from a distance. His voice was calm, his tone matter-of-fact, but there was an ease slowly seeping into the air between us, softening everything like a gentle tide rolling over the sand.


    Eventually, we decided to take on a group quest, one that required both yers to work together in real-time. That’s when he got up and came over, settling beside me on the same couch.


    "I can’t guide you from across the room," he said with a small shrug.


    I just nodded, pretending like my heart wasn’t starting to beat faster at the thought of him being right there. Close enough for me to feel the heat from his body. Close enough that our knees kept brushing now and then.


    The quest was easy enough, but neither of us were really focusing anymore.


    We were talking. Laughing. Bickering over who forgot to nt the magic herbs or missed an opportunity to defeat the tiny invading goblins.


    The longer we yed, the more we spoke.


    And with eachugh that escaped my lips, with each amused nce he threw my way, the tightness in my chest was beginning to loosen. The stiffness from this morning, the tension fromst night, even the heartbreak of Friday... it all was slowly fading into the background.


    At one point, he reached over and poked my screen. "No, you missed the loot chest."


    "Hey!" I red at him, nudging his arm. "I was saving it."


    "For the fairy queen?" He smirked. "You know that thing’s totally bugged, right?"


    "Shut up! She gives extra EXP if you save the final chest."


    "Sure," he said, not sounding convinced in the least. "Let’s test that theory."


    He snatched the phone from my hand.


    "Draven!" I gasped, trying to get it back.


    He held it above his head, looking all smug and teasing.


    "Give it back-!"


    "You are gonna lose-" he sing-songed, taunting me.


    I scrambled to grab it, leaning into him as heughed, blocking me with his arm. And then, with onest sneaky tap, he lost the round for me.


    My jaw dropped. "Draven! That was my streak!"


    "I was just making it fair," he grinned.


    I turned to re at him... only to realize how close we had ended up.


    His arm was still wrapped around me from his yful attack. Our legs were tangled. My chest was rising and falling too fast. And our faces were just inches apart.


    The moment stilled.


    I didn’t hear the game chime in failure. I didn’t care that I lost a quest. I didn’t even notice the phone slipping from my hand andnding on the carpet.


    All I could focus on was him.


    His eyes weren’t teasing anymore. They were locked on mine - serious, intense, and hesitant all at once. That teasing grin slowly faded as something else crept into his expression.


    Something raw.


    Something real.


    And then, with a slow, shaky breath, he leaned forward.


    He moved like a man testing the water - delicate, uncertain, terrified of what he might find on the other side. But he didn’t stop. His lips brushed against mine softly, so softly that it almost wasn’t a kiss.


    Just a touch. A breath. A taste of something we had both been craving.


    Then he pulled back, just an inch, his forehead nearly resting against mine. His eyes searched mine, desperate, pleading, waiting - for rejection... or permission.


    I didn’t even think.


    I just closed the space and kissed him. And this time, there was no hesitation. This time, I needed it.


    His breath hitched in my throat, and then he moved - no longer holding back, no longer tiptoeing around the line we had been too afraid to cross since previous night.


    His lips found mine again, harder now, firmer. He tilted my head with one hand and pulled me closer with the other, and I melted into him like I belonged there.


    Because I <i>did</i> belong there.


    He tasted like caramel and warmth and something purely him, something I had missed so badly it almost ached.


    His hand got tangled in my hair while my fingers curled against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat under my palm, thundering just as wildly as mine.


    We deepened the kiss, his tongue brushing against mine with a slow, sensual confidence that stole every ounce of air from my lungs.


    We weren’t thinking anymore. We weren’t worrying about what we had said, or what hadn’t been said, or what was still hanging between us.


    This was need. Pure and simple.


    He leaned back against the couch and pulled me onto hisp with ease. My legs straddled his, the fabric of my trousers brushing against the rough texture of his. His hands slid to my hips, gripping them tightly, anchoring me against him as our mouths moved in sync - hungry... almost starved.


    I made a bold move and slipped my fingers under the hem of his T-shirt, mapping the ridges of his stomach and feeling the way his muscles tensed under my touch. He let out a quiet groan, one that vibrated against my lips and shot straight through me.


    This was Draven.


    My mate.


    My wolf.


    The boy who walked away... and the one who had just kissed me like I was everything he ever needed.