novelraw Chapter 93: Her room
Chapter 93: Her room
Leo’s POV
I thought she would push me away. I was prepared for the sting of rejection, for her to tell me that she belonged to Ethan or that our bond was a mistake. But as I leaned in and our lips finally met, she didn’t pull back. She responded.
The moment her mouth opened under mine, excitement and pure, unadulterated pleasure rushed through my veins like lightning. I groaned into the kiss, the sound vibrating between us as I hooked my arms under her thighs and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around my waist instinctively, her wet skin slick against mine. My wolf was clawing inside me, howling for dominance and demanding that I mark her right here under the moon, but I pushed him back. I just wanted her. I kissed her passionately, tasting the cold lake water and the fire of her soul.
God, I had wanted this for so long. For two years, I had pictured us like this—kissing in the water, in the open air.
But then, she suddenly pulled away.
The heat in my blood turned to ice the second I looked at her. Her eyes were wide, and the sea-blue I loved was gone, replaced by the glowing, primal intensity of her wolf. My heart sank into my stomach. She hadn’t kissed me because she wanted to; she had kissed me because her wolf had taken the reins. She didn’t know how to control her wolf’s emotions yet, and the bond had simply forced her hand.
I felt heartbroken. The passion I’d felt seconds ago now felt like a hollow lie. It wasn’t real for her. It was just the mechanical pull of a mate bond she was fighting with every fiber of her being.
I let her go. She swam to the other side of the lake, putting distance between us that felt like miles. I stayed where I was, the freezing water suddenly feeling much colder as I watched her dip herself under the surface a few times, trying to wash away the sensation of my lips on hers. When she finally stepped out of the water, she didn’t look back.
I followed her out, pulling on my jeans in silence. The playful mood from earlier was dead. As we walked back toward the packhouse, the silence between us was awkward.
"Scarlett," I said as we neared the trellis of her balcony. I didn’t want to let her go yet. I was selfish, and the dream I’d had earlier was still haunting me. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?"
She stopped and turned, her brow furrowed in a deep frown. "No, Leo. Absolutely not."
"Please," I pleaded, stepping into her space, my voice full of entreaty. "I won’t do anything. I swear. I just... I miss sharing a bed with you. Remember when we were kids? When the thunderstorms were too loud and you’d sneak into our room? You’d sleep right between us because you said we were the only ones who could keep the monsters away."
I looked up at her balcony, then back at her. "The monsters are a lot louder these days, Scarlett. I just want to make sure you’re okay."
"We are not kids anymore, Leo," Scarlett said, her voice sounding older and more tired than it ever had. She looked at me with a coldness that made the lake water feel like a warm bath. "And as for those monsters? You and your brothers have spent the last two years turning into them yourselves."
The words hit me harder than a physical blow. I stood paralyzed as she turned and began to scale the trellis. She moved with a jagged, angry grace, disappearing over the stone railing of her balcony without looking back.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I stood in the shadows of the packhouse grounds, the grass damp beneath my bare feet. I knew she could feel me there. The bond was a two-way street; she could feel my pulse, my guilt, and the stubborn way my wolf refused to leave his mate’s side. Ten minutes passed. Twenty. The wind picked up, biting at my damp skin, but I remained like a statue. I was waiting for... I didn’t even know what. Maybe just for the light in her room to go out so I knew she was asleep.
Suddenly, the doors on the balcony creaked open.
A shadow moved against the stone. Scarlett leaned over the railing, her hair a wild mess around her face. She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t look away either. We stared at each other for a long moment, the silence of the night stretching between us.
"You’re a stubborn idiot, Leo," she whispered, her voice barely carrying down to me. "The guards will be doing their rounds in five minutes. If they catch a shirtless Alpha standing under the traitor’s daughter’s window, even your father won’t be able to stop the fallout."
I went to open my mouth to argue, but she cut me off with a sharp wave of her hand.
"Come up," she snapped, sounding completely exhausted. "Before I change my mind and let you freeze out there."
I didn’t need to be told twice. I was up the trellis in a heartbeat, my heart soaring even as my mind warned me that this was a dangerous game. I vaulted over the railing and landed on the balcony. She was already walking back into the room, leaving the doors open for me.
"On the floor," she said, pointing to a rug near the window without looking back. "You stay on the floor. If you even think about the bed, I’m throwing you off the balcony myself."
I looked at the small, hard rug and then at her back. I didn’t care about the floor. I didn’t care about the cold. I was inside. I was with her.
"Thank you, Scarlett," I murmured.
She didn’t answer. She climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, turning her back to me.