Chapter 26: ²⁶: clearing doubts

Athena’s POV

"Why are you laughing?" I asked, looking at him in confusion as my arms slowly fell to my sides.

"Mayla Kayden is not my girlfriend. She merely wants to be," he said, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear as he closed the remaining distance between us. "That’s why she came dressed like that. She wasn’t even invited today. She only came in her father’s stead."

"What?" I blinked. "She isn’t your girlfriend? But Rose said it’s rumored that she’s going to become your mate!" I asked trying to make sure all the doubts brewing inside me were cleared.

He cupped my face, gently caressing my cheek with his thumb before whispering, "Exactly, a rumor. Mayla can wish for that all she wants."

"Now..." he continued, his thumb still absentmindedly brushing against my skin, "may I know why, after everything you said in my office that day, you were dancing with my brother tonight?"

I looked at him in confusion as his other hand settled around my waist, his grip tightening ever so slightly.

"Are you two close by any chance?" he asked, searching my face so intently that it felt as though he were trying to read every thought hidden behind my eyes.

"Your brother? Are you talking about Louis Dreven?" I asked, already feeling my mood that had started getting better after learning he didn’t have a girlfriend begin to sour again.

"Yes. Louis Dreven," Kael replied with a quiet sigh, his hold around my waist tightening just a little more.

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the absurdity of the question, only the possibility of me being close to Louis Dreven made me shudder.

"Louis Dreven is the last person I’d ever want to get close to. He’s far too full of himself. I don’t like people like that." I said recounting all the small meets I had with him- all of them terrible.

As soon as those words left my mouth, the darkness that had clouded Kael’s expression seemed to ease. "Then why were you dancing so closely with him?"

The irritation I had finally managed to bury resurfaced immediately. "I was just giving him a taste of his own medicine!" I snapped before glaring up at Kael with my anger filled eyes.

"I know he hates me for receiving the Dravera instead of him. Ever since then he’s looked at me as though I’m his greatest enemy, which I honestly find incredibly childish."

I wanted to continue complaining about Louis, but Kael simply shook his head with a quiet laugh, stopping me mid-sentence.

"Let’s not waste tonight talking about him, Athena Moonvel." His lips curved into a faint smile. "Let’s go back to the fact that I don’t have a girlfriend... and I don’t think I should feel guilty for kissing you here."

He spoke as though everything I had just said had been nothing more than an amusing joke.

I wanted to scold him for brushing my complaints aside... But my mind was back to one thing. He didn’t have a girlfriend!

I looked straight into his eyes, feeling every plan I had thought had fallen apart suddenly come back to life. So I can still move forward with my plan.

Excitement bubbled inside me and before letting myself hope completely, I asked one final time,

"So... you don’t have a girlfriend, and the announcement about you needing a mateless she-wolf to bear your heir still stands?"

The hand that had been gently stroking my cheek suddenly stopped. The smile he had on his face till now, disappeared. Slowly, he lowered both of his hands and took a step back.

"Yeah..." he answered after a brief pause. "That... that announcement still stands, and you... you need to understand exactly what it means."

His eyes settled on mine once more, all traces of warmth fading until they returned to their usual cold, unreadable state.

"You can only be with me as the woman who will one day bear my child. You won’t receive anything else in return."

Even though his sudden change in expression felt strange, I didn’t dwell on it.

In fact, I felt as though I didn’t have the luxury to. I was thrilled.

The first step of my plan - Getting Alpha Kael Dreven to accept me had succeeded.

Now I have to move to the next part of my plan - make his experience with me unforgettable. I had to become his addiction- something he could never let go of, something that lingered in his mind no matter how hard he tried to forget, like a drug that even if he knew would ruin him he would still take it.

"You... are happy?" Kael asked, staring at me as though I had completely lost my mind.

"You’re smiling?" His brows knitted together. "Do you even realize what you’re agreeing to? What you are getting yourself into? You’ll have to give everything... even your life... once the child is born, and you’re smiling?"

He was looking at me, his eyes held something deep. Something dark. Something that instinctively made a chill run down my spine. But I pushed the feeling aside.

I smiled at him. I had to keep selling him this lie if I wanted my revenge. "I’ll worry about that when the time comes."

I stepped toward him until barely any distance remained between us, lifting my chin to meet his gaze.

"For now..." I said softly, "...I have you all just to myself and that is what I want to worry about."

Before he could respond, I reached up, placed my hand behind his head, and rose onto my toes, to put my lips on his.

I had expected that I would have to take the initiative again, that I would have to break through the wall of indifference he had built around himself.

I was wrong.

The instant our lips met, I found myself pressed back against the solid marble pillar behind me as Kael responded with an intensity that completely caught me off guard, he kissed me as though he had been fighting the urge far longer than he wanted to admit.