CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The air is thick with the scent of pine and the distant murmur of conversations. A soft breeze whispers through my honey-blonde hair as I watch Alex leaning against a rough wooden table, his brown hair catching glints of the fading sunlight. His laughter reaches me, deep and smooth, and I can't help but feel a pull in my chest—a mixture of longing and something darker.
"Alex always had that effect, didn't he?" I murmur to myself, trying to shake off the feeling like droplets of water from my skin after a swim in the lake.
"Who has what effect?" The voice beside me is as familiar as my own heartbeat, and I turn to find Mark, my Alpha and husband, with a brow quirked inquisitively, his dark eyes searching mine for answers I'm not sure I want to give.
"Nothing," I reply,
