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Chapter 88
~Dristan’s POV~
I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.
Valerie’s lips had burned against mine days ago, and yet the sensation still lingered like it just happened.
I told myself to forget it. Over and over again. I did not need that distraction, even though I had been the one to initiate the kiss.
I didn’t deserve it or her.
I trained harder, sparred until my knuckles bled, and repeated every commandnt drilled into by my father until my ears rang with them.
Do not lose control.
Do not show weakness.
Do not forget your place.
And yet...
Every ti I closed my eyes, I saw her face. Every ti I tried to focus, I felt her hands in my hair, and the sound of her breath caught in her throat. The way her eyes had widened when I kissed her.
I had kissed her like I needed to. Like I was afraid I’d never get the chance again.
And she hadn’t stopped . Valerie had kissed back.
And then... nothing.
No answers. No words. We haven’t spoken about it till now. I could sense she was stressing about sothing. Deep down I hoped it was our kiss and not. Why? I couldn’t stomach hurting her.
But then I wanted and needed her. To feel Valerie’s body beneath mine while I showered her with kisses, to hear her sweet moans when my hands road her skin and massaged her lovely c-cup breasts and milky thighs...
I swallowed, taking in a deep breath to calm my body and my desires. Soren was surging with need inside .
We both needed our mate, but everything was just too confusing for her, and I hated how Valerie didn’t bother to co to for help.
All I got was just distance. It was maddening.
I decided to go to class; that way, I could distract my mind from these sinful thoughts.
Soren had been restless all morning, pacing in circles inside like a caged beast. It was a constant hum beneath my skin, like lightning under the surface, like I was going to split open if I didn’t find her.
When I didn’t see Valerie in Psychology Class, I gave up.
No one questioned when I walked out. No one dared.
My steps were heavy as I made my way back to the shared house reserved for the Alpha heirs. I wasn’t thinking straight, not really.
All I knew or wanted then was a cold bath to calm down and my sweet pill, Valerie. But as soon as I crossed the southern archway of campus to the dorms, Soren stilled. Alert.
Her faint scent assaulted my nostrils. Just ahead.
"What’s she doing here?" I muttered, slowing down.
I followed the trail until the house ca into view, but my instincts told not to step out in the open.
So I veered off, ducking into the row of thin trees that lined the west side of the house—barely there, but just enough for to disappear.
That’s when I saw her.
Valerie was standing near the wall of the house; no, she was pressed against it.
And she wasn’t alone. She was with Axel.
I knew it was him even before I saw his face. His scent was always too loud, too smug, and too possessive.
I crouched, hidden, but my entire body went still the second he leaned in. The mont his lips touched hers, sothing inside shattered.
Soren roared to life, snapping and growling, ready to break free and tear Axel off her, but I managed to swallow every growl and snarl.
"Let out," he snarled.
"No," I said, barely keeping my composure. My claws were halfway out. My jaw locked.
Because she didn’t pull away, she wasn’t shoving him back like she had stopped later when I wanted to touch her after our kiss.
She wasn’t yelling or getting angry. She wasn’t even flinching. Instead, Valerie Nightshade was kissing him back.
And not just out of instinct, but with feeling.
"She’s mine," Soren howled. "She kissed us first."
Yes, we did take it, but sohow Xade announced it and opened the door for the others to go after her.
I swallowed down the pain burning up my throat, rage twisting through my ribs like a knife.
But I didn’t move. I couldn’t because no matter how much I wanted to drag her away from him, throw Axel through the damn wall and claim her again, I knew what that would look like.
Desperate. Unstable. And worse—weak.
So I forced myself to stay crouched in the shadows like a goddamn spy, chest heaving, fangs clenched so tightly I thought they’d crack.
I hated this.
Not just because she kissed him, but because sothing in her had changed.
She wasn’t confused. She was choosing.
Or maybe she wasn’t choosing anyone and just letting things happen. Letting herself be pulled in all directions while the rest of us unravelled.
And yet... just as fast as it started, it stopped. Valerie pulled away. Her fingers lifted toward her temple like she was shaking sothing off.
I watched her stiffen at first, then her eyes flicked toward the trees—toward .
She felt .
I didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, but I knew. Sohow, she’d sensed . And then she looked away.
She placed a hand on Axel’s chest when he tried to kiss her again and said sothing I couldn’t hear. They spoke for a few minutes before she walked away.
My entire body trembled with the effort not to follow her.
I pressed a hand to the tree trunk beside , nails digging into the bark as wood splintered beneath my palm.
When the house was finally empty, when Axel was gone too, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
My heart felt like it had been stomped on and set on fire.
What was worse was the fact that I didn’t have the right to be angry. I had kissed her. She kissed back.
And Valerie owed nothing. Still, like a love fool always in control, it didn’t stop the ache nor stop Soren’s growl from echoing through my skull.
"Next ti," he whispered. "We won’t let go."
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