[Alice's POV]
She told herself she was just walking.
That she needed air.
That the quiet of the woods would help her think.
But the truth settled in her bones like gravity pulling her in one direction.
Toward him.
Alice stopped outside Kane's house, the pale moonlight slicing through the trees and painting the porch in silver. She stood there for several seconds, debating whether to knock, whether to leave, whether to admit at least to herself what she was really doing.
She didn't knock.
She just opened the door.
[Kane's POV]
He felt her before he heard her.
The door eased open and there she was small frame, sharp eyes, dark hair curled behind her ears. She stepped inside like she belonged there, like hesitation was beneath her. But Kane could tell.
She was unsure.
Curious.
Wanting.
He didn't say a word. Just leaned back in the old chair by the fireplace, one arm resting along the top.
Alice closed the door slowly, her eyes scanning the room. "You let your door stay unlocked?"
"I knew you were coming."
That got a twitch of her lips.
"I didn't know I was coming."
"You did."
Alice tilted her head. "Confident."
"Observant."
She walked further in, arms swinging lightly at her sides. Every step was graceful, calculated, but Kane saw the tightness in her shoulders. She was trying to act casual.
He liked that she tried.
She came to a stop a few feet away from him.
"I saw Rosalie," she said softly.
"I know."
Alice's brow lifted. "And you let her leave?"
"She needed to."
Alice's golden eyes flicked to the floor for a second. "She looked… off. Quiet."
Kane smiled, slow and knowing. "She'll be back."
Alice's pulse sped up not from fear, but from something she didn't want to name.
She hated how drawn she was to him. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She wasn't supposed to want him. Not with this much heat in her chest. Not with this much ache in her throat.
But here she was.
Still standing in his house.
Still watching his every movement like her life depended on it.
"You're different," she murmured.
"I know."
She folded her arms. "You don't ask why we're watching you."
"I already know why."
Alice stared at him for a long moment. "Why?"
He stood, slow and deliberate.
And suddenly, he was right in front of her.
Not touching.
Just close.
"Because you feel it," he said, voice low. "All of you do."
Alice's throat tightened.
She didn't back away.
"I don't know what to do with that," she whispered.
"You don't have to do anything."
He reached out, not to touch her, but to brush his fingers through the air near her shoulder close enough to feel the static between them.
"You don't need to understand it to feel it."
Alice looked up at him, her mask cracking just slightly. "It's dangerous. This thing… whatever it is."
Kane smirked, his voice like thunder wrapped in velvet. "So are you."
That caught her off guard.
She blinked. Once.
Then laughed, softly. "That's not a compliment I get often."
"It's the only kind I give."
They stood there, the distance between them so thin it barely existed.
Alice didn't move for a long time.
Then, finally, she exhaled and turned away.
"I should go."
"You won't."
She paused at the door, hand on the knob.
And didn't turn it.
Kane stepped behind her close enough to feel his presence at her back, not touching, but claiming space.
"You feel it too," he said.
Alice closed her eyes.
"Yes," she whispered.
And when she left, it wasn't fast.
It wasn't rushed.
It was reluctant.
Because she knew she'd be back, too.