Page 15 of The Alpha's Temptation
“I remember that day.It was fun.”
She looks at me like she’s memorizing everything about me.I can feel the moment we realize we’re standing too close because the air changes.Warmer.Denser.The bond pulls.My wolf surges, his claws scraping the inside of my ribs.
Now,he insists.Take.
It costs me everything, but I step back.“Let me walk you home.”
She studies me, then nods.“Okay.”
The return path feels shorter.Or I’m holding my breath.We reach town before the light fades, which my sensible brain notes with approval.The rest of me is aware of everything else: her hand brushing the strap of her backpack, the pulse at her throat, the way people on Main Street glance once and then twice like they can feel the current between us without knowing its source.
At her door, we stop.The world goes quiet in that big, cinematic way it does when something important is about to happen.A dog barks two streets over.Someone laughs near the diner.
“Thank you for walking me here,” she says softly.
“Always.”
We stand there.I tell myself I’m going to leave.Then she sways closer, and I realize leaving might be the one thing I can’t do.
Her eyes drop to my mouth.
Mine do the same.
Traitors.
The space between us shrinks until the rules we made for ourselves blur.I can feel the warmth of her breath.I can smell vanilla and the faint, clean scent of the soap she uses, and it is suddenly very easy to imagine how her mouth tastes.
My wolf shoves.I bend until our foreheads almost touch, and the sound I make is a low ache.
“Foster,” she whispers my name like a lit fuse.
“Selena, we can’t…Penny,” I say hoarsely, my sister’s name a hand on my collar.
I see the war in Selena’s eyes: love, loyalty, hunger.The same emotions I know are reflected in mine.
We step back at the same time.It would be funny if it didn’t feel like losing the best thing we’ve never let ourselves have.
“Tomorrow’s the full moon,” she says, a reminder and a warning.
“I know.”
“What will you do?”
“Work.Run.Stay out of rooms that smell like you.”My words shock me, yet the truth steadies me.“Maybe…leave town for the night.”
Her eyes flash with pain.“If that’s what you need.”
“I don’t want to,” I tell her, and it’s the most honest thing I’ve said today.“But I need to, so I can keep my promise to Penny.”
She swallows.“What would you want?If you could?”
I look at her mouth before lifting my gaze to her eyes.“All of it,” I reply, because neither of us deserves half-truths.“All of you.”
She exhales like my words hurt and heal.“Go,” she murmurs.“Before I forget I’m a good friend.”
I nod and do the hardest thing I’ve done in a long time: I turn and walk away.
When I get home, Penny has dinner ready for us.She smiles at me as I walk in, and I try to smile back, but it feels dim and forced.
