"Well," she said softly, "looks like the Luna couldn’t sleep."
I ignored her.
My gaze stayed on Mike.
"You said I ant nothing?" I asked. Feeling more hurt than I had expected.
I was so direct I caught him off guard.
I watched as his expression darkened.
"That’s not what I...."
"It is exactly what you said, and definitely what you ant." I cut in.
Silence fell between us.
"Then why are you here?" he shot back.
The question caught off guard.
"What?"
"If you don’t care," he continued, stepping closer, "why are you standing outside my door in the middle of the night?"
My breath hitched slightly.
"I was passing by."
"Liar."
The word was quiet.
Certain.
It sent a strange shiver down my spine.
"I don’t owe you any explanations," I snapped.
He won’t believe anyway.
I just couldn’t fall asleep thinking about him and the things he had done to .
But even if I told the truth, he wouldn’t believe it.
His lips curled slightly.
"No," he agreed. "You don’t."
But the way he said it...
Didn’t feel like agreent.
It felt like a challenge.
"Then go back to your room," he added.
His tone was cold and dismissive. As if I didn’t matter.
As if I was the most insignificant thing.
Sothing inside snapped.
"Gladly," I said.
I turned sharply, ready to leave. Who wanted to stay close to him anyway?
"Valerie."
His voice stopped .
I froze.
Just for a second.
Then slowly, I turned back.
"What?"
His eyes locked onto mine.
You don’t get to walk away like this."
A bitter laugh escaped .
"Watch ."
Why couldn’t I walk away?
Did he want to stand there and watch him get it on with Innocent like the last ti?
I don’t have that kind of hobby.
I turned again
But this ti, his hand caught my wrist.
Firm.
Unyielding.
Heat shot up my arm.
"Let go," I said quietly.
"No."
My pulse quickened.
"Mike...."
"Why do you care?" he interrupted.
The question hit harder than I expected.
"I don’t."
"Another lie."
His grip tightened slightly.
"Let go of ," I repeated, my voice sharper now.
"Answer ."
His voice dropped.
"Why do you care if I’m with her?"
Seriously.
How could he ask such a question?
He is my mate for crying out loud. He is ssing around with another woman and he wonders why I get angry?
Who does that?
"I don’t!" I snapped.
"Then why are you angry?"
"I’m not angry!"
"Then what is it?" he pressed.
His eyes searched mine like he was trying to rip the truth out of .
I couldn’t breathe properly.
Couldn’t think straight.
Because the truth...
Was sothing I didn’t want to face.
"I just don’t like being disrespected," I said finally.
That was safe.
It was not the truth, but it was sothing I could control. Unlike the truth.
His gaze didn’t waver.
"Disrespected?" he repeated.
"Yes."
"You think this is about respect?"
His tone changed.
Sothing darker crept in.
"Isn’t it?" I shot back.
He stepped closer.
Too close.
I could feel his heat.
His scent.
My body reacted instantly, and I hated it.
"Say it again," he murmured.
"What?"
"That you don’t care."
My throat tightened.
"I don’t..."
His other hand ca up, tilting my chin slightly.
Forcing to look at him.
"Look at ," he said softly.
I already was.
But now...
I couldn’t look away.
"Say it again," he repeated.
My heart pounded violently.
"I... don’t care," I said.
The words felt wrong even as they left my mouth.
His eyes darkened.
"Then why are you shaking?"
I froze.
I hadn’t even realized it.
But he was right.
My body was trembling.
"Because you’re holding too tight," I snapped.
It was a lie. And we both knew that.
His lips curved slightly.
The kind of smile filled with amusent.
"Keep lying to yourself," he said quietly.
He let go.
Just like that.
The sudden loss of contact felt... wrong.
I stepped back imdiately, putting distance between us.
"Stay with her," I said coldly. "Isn’t that what you were about to do anyway?"
I could feel the jealous burning like inferno.
I didn’t want this, but it was happening anyway.
His expression hardened.
"You’re the one who pushed away."
A flicker of sothing passed through my chest.
A sharp unexpected pain.
"I told you I wasn’t ready. I don’t rember telling you to run back to another woman’s arms." I said.
"And I told you you’re my mate."
"That doesn’t give you the right to touch whenever you want!"
"It does," he said bluntly.
My eyes widened slightly.
"As the Luna, you can’t even satisfy your alpha." Innocent butted in arrogantly.
I ignored her.
My gaze stayed locked on Mike.
"You really believe that?" I asked.
His expression didn’t change.
"That you can just take what you want?"
His jaw tightened.
"You’re mine."
The words hit differently this ti.
But his tone made sound like an object he could possess.
I hated it.
Sothing inside cracked.
"I am not your property," I said quietly.
"You are my mate."
"That’s not the sa thing."
"It is to ."
The finality in his voice sent a chill down my spine.
For a mont, neither of us spoke.
"Goodnight, Alpha," I said.
My voice was calm.
And this ti...
When I turned and walked away...
He didn’t stop .
But I could feel his eyes on the entire ti.
Burning into my back.
That gaze held so much possessiveness it was terrifying.
I regretted leaving my room earlier.
No matter how suffocating, I should have stayed in bed or just sat down at my desk to work.
Now, I had opened a can of worms I wasn’t ready to face.
Because I still didn’t know why Lizzie kept telling I couldn’t be intimate with Mike.
I was loathing what would happen on the night of the full moon.
That was one of the most important nights when mates marked their mates and claid them for the first ti.
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