Chapter 25: ²⁵: two-timer?

Kael’s POV

I was furious!

Even if I wanted to see reason, I couldn’t. It was strange, really strange. The more I watched Athena Moonvel being close to someone else, the more I could feel myself losing control.

I wanted nothing more than to march over there, pull her into my arms, and tell her who she belonged to.

Which was absurd. Absurd because I had told myself I would treat her just like every other she-wolf who had tried to get close to me.

Yet here I was, not even seconds after seeing her with someone else, already thinking that she belonged to me.

What is this strange thing happening to me that even I don’t understand?

If I hadn’t been cursed to never know who my mate was, I would have believed she was my mate just by the way my wolf was behaving right now.

Before I did something I would regret later, I decided to leave the hall. Maybe getting away from the sight of her dancing so closely with someone else would save me from this torcher and help calm the fire burning inside me.

"I’m going to get some fresh air. You all continue," I said to everyone around me before walking out of the hall without waiting for anyone’s response. I didn’t care if they were confused or wanted to ask where I was going.

The moment I stepped outside, I took a deep breath. My wolf was behaving strangely. No... Not strangely. Wildly.

It was almost as if it wanted to rip free from me, storm back into that ballroom, and claim Athena Moonvel in front of everyone.

Wait what? Claim? My eyes widened. Had my wolf actually accepted Athena Moonvel as someone who could become our mate?

No.

No.

I can’t let that happen.

Given how everyone around me was trying to manipulate my future over the issue of who would become my mate and the mother of my heir, I could not allow my wolf to become emotionally attached to anyone.

I can not! I repeated it to myself over and over, trying to suppress the beast inside me. But my wolf seemed determined to do the exact opposite.

It was becoming harder... Far harder than I had expected.

Even though I kept reminding myself that we couldn’t get emotionally involved with anyone, I was failing to convince even myself.

Right now there was nothing I wanted more than to go back into that hall, grab Athena Moonvel, and finally kiss those tempting lips she had once offered to me... The same lips I had rejected myself.

As if the torment inside me wasn’t already unbearable, I suddenly heard footsteps. Then the sweet scent of honey and vanilla drifted toward me. Every wall I had built inside myself collapsed in seconds.

Knowingly or unknowingly, that scent had engraved itself into my mind like an addictive drug. Before I could think or before I could stop myself, my body moved on its own.

I grabbed Athena Moonvel, pulled her behind one of the massive pillars lining the hallway, and crashed my lips against hers as though my life depended on it.

The moment our lips met, every rational thought disappeared. I pulled her even closer, wanting more of the intoxicating taste she carried.

It was nothing like I had imagined. It was infinitely worse... Because now I knew exactly what I had been denying myself.

I deepened the kiss instinctively, unable to stop. But before I could lose myself completely, she shoved against my chest.

The force wasn’t enough to push me away.

I stepped back on my own.

"What is wrong with you, Alpha Kael?" she demanded, breathing hard as she stared at me in disbelief. "How can you do something like this out of nowhere?"

Her expression... She looked disgusted.

Disgusted? Why was she looking at me like that? Wasn’t she the one who had come to my office and practically begged me to kiss her?

"Why, Miss Moonvel?" I asked, moving closer again until only inches separated us. "Didn’t you want me to kiss you the day you came to my office? Now that I’ve finally done what you wanted, you’re acting as though you never wanted it."

I searched her eyes. "Why?" I asked again, unable to stop myself. "Is it because you’ve found someone else now?" A strange burning sensation twisted inside my chest.

"What?" she asked, blinking in confusion before looking at me as though I had completely lost my mind. "What do you mean?"

"You are asking if I’ve found someone else?" she scoffed. "Shouldn’t you be more worried about the fact that you already have a girlfriend, yet you’re standing here in a secluded hallway trying to kiss another woman?"

She shoved my chest again, clearly irritated by how close I was standing.

I frowned. "Girlfriend? What are you talking about, Miss Moonvel? Is this some strange excuse to push me aside now that my brother has shown interest in you? Because as far as I know..." I looked straight into her eyes.

"I don’t have a girlfriend."

I expected her to explain what she meant by saying that Mayla was my girlfriend.

Instead, she looked at me as though I had just told the biggest lie imaginable.

"You don’t have a girlfriend?" she repeated incredulously. "Really? Then do you think Mayla Kayden walked into the ballroom beside you wearing a matching outfit just for fun?"

She crossed her arms confidently, looking at me as if I was a thief, clearly convinced she had caught me red-handed.

For a second... I simply stared at her. Then I laughed. A genuine laugh escaped me.

Looking at her adorably furious face, the way she glared at me as though I were the biggest scoundrel in the world it finally dawned on me.

No wonder she had scoffed at me earlier.

No wonder she had looked at me as though I disgusted her.

This ridiculous little woman...

Actually thought I was a two-timer.