Chapter 367 Above The Horizon
Ella
“The Ferris wheel?” I asked, cocking my head at Logan.
Logan nodded, a soft smile gracing his lips. “Yeah. Will you come with me?”
Maybe out of the fear of getting closer to him, I blanched slightly at the prospect. “You know that’s the ride people either take their small children on or where couples go to make out, right?”I said, unable to hide a hint of blush that crept into my cheeks at the thought.
Logan turned to me, his eyes mirroring the lights of the carnival. “Stop being such a downer, Ella. I promise I won’t try anything. I just want to see the city from up high. Don’t you?”
Something in the way he said it-so earnest, so innocent-made me relent. “Okay,” I sighed. “Let’s go.”
The cart-small, intimate, and barely large enough for the two of us-awaited as the Ferris wheel descended to greet us. Logan allowed me to step in first, a courteous gesture that both touched me and stoked the fire of conflicting emotions burning in my belly.
As we ascended, the world below us shrank while the horizon expanded. Buildings became toys, cars transformed into moving dots, and the people below merged together until everything looked like a miniature diorama.
“Wow,” Logan gasped, his eyes wide as he absorbed the sprawling cityscape. “This city really is stunning.”
I followed his gaze, my eyes lingering on the glowing skyscrapers, the winding river, and far- off patches of green. “It is,” I admitted. “It’s beautiful.”
“Do you think we’ll visit it again?” Logan’s voice was soft, tinged with a sense of childlike wonder that was nearly infectious.
I felt a smile tug at my lips. My mind suddenly created an image before I had the chance to stop it-a snapshot of us walking hand-in-hand, a real couple, surrounded by this city’s unparalleled vibrance. But I had to push that thought away, at least for now. And maybe, most likely, forever.
“This city isn’t going anywhere,” I said instead, wrapping my arms around myself more to comfort myself than to keep myself warm. “You can come whenever you want.”
Logan paused for a second, then sighed. “I meant with you, Ella. I’d like to see it again with you.” His gaze shifted from the panoramic view to meet my eyes, but I couldn’t return it. I quickly looked away, averting my gaze toward the people below, as tiny as ants.
I said nothing, letting the silence fill the cart as we made our descent back to reality.
My wolf gnawed at my consciousness- berating me for my hesitance, urging me to embrace a chance for something more.
But when the Ferris wheel came to a stop, I stepped out, my feet landing firmly on the ground even if my heart was left hanging somewhere up in the air.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper. “For the ride, I mean.”
Logan nodded, a soft, resigned smile gracing his lips. “Anytime, Ella. Anytime.”
The walk back to the hotel was an exercise in silence. Every step seemed to echo on the empty streets, and yet neither of us filled the void with words.
But finally, halfway through the walk, Logan broke the silence. “Ella, I’m sorry for kissing you earlier,” he said, his words seeming to tumble out of his mouth like a torrent that he couldn’t stop. “I didn’t mean to. You looked so beautiful, and I… I got caught up in the moment.”
I stopped walking and looked up at him. My emotions were a swirl of contradiction- irritation, embarrassment, but also a hint of something I couldn’t quite place.
“Logan,” I said after a moment of hesitation, “if you’re going to kiss me randomly, then this arrangement becomes complicated. I’ll forgive you this time, but stop it, okay?”
He paused, his eyes searching mine as if sifting through a haystack in search of a nonexistent needle. “I thought you were developing feelings for me, Ella. I mean, remember the old playroom at Harry and Marina’s wedding shower? You kissed me back. I thought you-”
“Enough,” I interrupted. I blanched. How dare he bring that up? “That’s not the case. You’re seeing things that just aren’t there.”
However, at my words, my wolf spoke up in my mind.
“Liar.”
“I’m sorry,” Logan said, a note of defeat in his voice. “I’ll keep my distance from now on.”
My wolf howled internally as we kept walking in silence. “You’re making a huge mistake, Ella. This trip was your chance to get closer to him. Do you even hear yourself?”
“This trip was designed for him to meet my father so we can move to the next stage of our fake relationship,” I shot back. “Nothing more.”
“You want a real relationship, not a fake one,” my wolf retorted. “When will you admit it?”
But I ignored her, mentally drowning her voice as we resumed our walk.
When we reached the hotel, its grand lobby was shockingly quiet, both unsettling and a relief at the same time. The opulence of the surroundings felt even more superficial now, though, and I suddenly wished that I was alone.
“Goodnight, Logan,” I said, standing in front of the door to my room.
“Goodnight, Ella,” he responded.
I entered my room without another word, shutting the door quietly behind me. My heart, however, continued to pound loudly, echoing in my chest like a war drum.
My wolf broke her silence again. “You should have said something, Ella. You’re going to regret this. I’m sure of it.”
Briefly, for the first time that night, I wondered if she was right. I had a thousand chances to break through the emotional barriers I had put up, a thousand chances to listen to my wolf, a thousand chances to make this more than a game of pretend.
But the door was closed now-literally and metaphorically. And I held the key.
“It just can’t happen, Ema,” I murmured aloud as I sat on the edge of my bed and tugged my shoes off. “It would never work.”
“But why wouldn’t it?” she shot back, clearly annoyed beyond all belief. “You’re being silly, and you know it, Ella. You like him. Stop acting as if you don’t.”
I scoffed, tossing my boots onto the floor along with my jacket. “Okay, so maybe I do like him just a little bit,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t matter. Logan and I-we would never work. I don’t need to explain it. We just wouldn’t work out in the end.”
“But you’re fated mates, Ella. Fated mates always-”
“No, they don’t,” I shot back, my voice almost a growl. “There are plenty of cases of fated mates rejecting each other. This is no different.”
“Sure,” Ema conceded, “but those who reject their fates mates, more often than not, wind up regretting it. Immensely. Do you want to regret it for the rest of your life, Ella? Or would you rather give it a try, at least, before you make that decision?”
Ema’s words gave me pause, but only for a moment. “Look, I’ve already made my decision, and I have my reasons,” I said, choosing to ignore the fact that my ‘reasons’ were becoming thinner and thinner by the day. “No more discussions.”
My wolf fell silent, but I felt her presence still there in the back of my mind. She was angry with me, I knew that much.
And maybe, in an odd sort of way, I was a little angry with myself for being too damn stubborn.
