Free Web NovelChapter 61: Chapter 61 Too Close to Deny
Ryder’s POV
I tried, I really tried to pay attention to the staff.
“...Allow me to brief you on today’s activities.”
My gaze slid back to Jade before I could stop it.
She sat across from me, fingers curled around her glass, listening politely to the staff. The morning light poured in from the glass wall behind her, turning her skin warm and soft, like she’d been painted there on purpose. She nodded when the staff spoke, lips curving in a small smile, and something in my chest tightened hard enough to make me shift in my seat.
Stop staring, I told myself.
My wolf didn’t listen.
It prowled restlessly under my skin, alert, keyed in, every instinct tugging toward her like gravity. There was a pull there, low, steady, undeniable. Not sharp. Not frantic.
Dangerous.
“...beginning with a couple’s photoshoot—”
I dragged my eyes to the table, speared a piece of fruit I had zero interest in eating. Ronan cleared his throat beside me.
“You hear any of that?” he muttered under his breath.
“Nope,” I muttered back.
Renzo shot us both a warning look, but even he wasn’t immune. His gaze flicked to Jade for half a second too long before he masked it.
The staff finished explaining the schedule, bowed slightly, and stepped away.
Jade took a sip of her drink. “So,” she said lightly, “sounds... busy.”
Her voice snapped something tight inside me.
“Yeah,” I said too quickly. “Busy.”
Ronan shot me a look. Jade glanced between us, brows knitting just a little, then smiled again and looked back down at her plate.
She was calm.
Too calm.
How was she not feeling this?
We finished breakfast in near silence, and when the staff returned to lead us to the photoshoot, I was almost grateful for the distraction.
Almost.
The set was beautiful.
Flowers everywhere. Soft white draping catching the ocean breeze. The sea stretched endlessly behind it all, blue and impossibly bright.
Jade stopped walking.
“Oh,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
She turned slightly, like she wanted to share the moment, and I was right there, watching her face light up.
Mine, my wolf whispered again.
The photographer greeted us with an easy smile. “Let’s start simple. Stand together.”
We didn’t.
Not really.
We stood close enough to technically qualify, but there was space, careful, deliberate space. The photographer lifted his camera, paused, then lowered it slowly.
“...Okay,” he said. “We’re a little tense.”
Ronan let out a humorless huff. “You could say that.”
The photographer laughed, then waved a hand. “Solo shots first. We’ll use that to warm up and ease the tension.”
And so we started with solo shorts.
But the solos were awkward too. Renzo looked like he was being interrogated. Ronan looked like he wanted to disappear into the ocean. I... I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Jade was watching.
Then it was her turn.
And everything shifted.
She stepped forward like she belonged there. Shoulders back. Chin lifted. When the photographer asked her to turn, to smile, to look toward the horizon, she did it effortlessly.
“She’s good,” the photographer murmured.
Too good.
I caught Ronan staring. Renzo too. None of us looked away when we should’ve.
“Alright,” the photographer said finally. “Couples.”
We stiffened again.
He sighed, frustration clear, and made a call. A few minutes later, the resort manager arrived, posture straight, voice polite but firm.
“You boys so know that Alpha Ashford planned this personally right? ” he asked. “And he expects full participation from you all.”
Ronan muttered something under his breath. Renzo nodded once.
I swallowed.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
Jade stepped into the center.
I moved closer. Too close.
“Hand on her back,” the photographer instructed.
I hesitated.
Jade glanced at me, eyes steady. “It’s okay,” she said quietly.
I placed my hand against her back.
Electric.
My breath hitched before I could stop it. I felt her warmth through my palm, felt the way she leaned just slightly into the touch like it was natural.
The photographer kept talking. “Good. Now closer.”
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Her shoulder brushed my chest. Her hair shifted with the breeze, and the scent of her, soft, clean, her, hit me like a blow.
“You’re shaking,” she murmured, so low only I could hear.
“I’m not,” I said, lying through my teeth.
She smiled like she knew better.
At one point, she reached for my wrist, guiding my hand gently into position for the camera. That small, confident touch nearly unraveled me.
I forgot to breathe.
When it was finally over, I stepped back like I’d been burned.
The next activity was scuba diving.
We changed, wore the gears, listened to the instructors explain the gear. Jade asked questions, focused, serious. I hovered closer than necessary, my wolf alert, watching every move she made.
We entered the water.
At first, it was incredible. Quiet. Weightless. Schools of fish moved around us like living color.
Then Jade’s movements changed.
She jerked slightly. One hand flew to her equipment.
No.
It seemed like her gear had malfunctioned and she was unable to sleep.
I swam toward her just as Ronan did from the other side. Her eyes were wide now, panic clear even underwater.
Something was wrong.
I grabbed her arm, signaling. Renzo was there instantly, steady, controlled. We moved together without thinking, guiding her upward.
Breaking the surface was chaos.
She coughed, gasping, hands clutching at us. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her upright, heart slamming violently against my ribs.
“I’ve got you,” I said, voice rough. “I’ve got you.”
Her fingers curled into my suit like she was afraid I’d vanish.
Ronan swore softly. Renzo was already signaling for help.
She was breathing now. Shaky. Alive.
I didn’t let go.
Cause in that moment, nothing else mattered.
Not rules. Not denial. Not fear of what this meant.
Just the bone, deep terror of almost losing her, and the devastating truth that the thought alone had nearly broken me.
As the staff rushed toward us, Jade looked up at me, eyes still wide, lips parted.
“You scared me,” I said quietly.
