Page 8 of The Alpha's Temptation
“I still have to talk to her first before I do anything with Selena,” I say.“Penny deserves to hear it from me and not from my scent on Selena’s skin.”
Cyrus grimaces.“Graphic, but point taken.”
Camden glances at the calendar hung beside the door and sucks in a breath.“You better hurry.”
Rhodes follows her gaze.“Full moon is coming up fast.”
My wolf surges, the word hitting him like the crack of a whip.Full moon.Even the civil part of me knows what that means.Emotions heighten, instincts sharpen, and the pull between mates is braided with blood heat until it’s a sensual rope.I can white-knuckle my way through anything when it’s only me suffering.I don’t know if I can do it when it’s Selena.
“Understood,” I say, already shoving back from the table.“I’m done here.”
“Go,” Rhodes says without judgment, his command wrapped in permission.“And Foster?”
I pause in the doorway.
“Don’t let fear talk you into cruelty,” he advises.“Avoiding her like she’s a mistake will hurt worse than the truth.”
I nod.My wolf huffs impatiently.We’re aligned for once.
I’m out of City Hall and into the wind in less than a minute, my stride eating the sidewalk, heart out ahead of me like a scout.The town looks like it always does: flower boxes, the spinning barber pole, the chalkboard outside the general store listing peaches and sweet corn.But I’m a different man walking through it.Everything hums.I can feel her even when she’s not in sight.It’s not telepathy; it’s gravity.
I cut behind the diner—the shortcut I told myself earlier wasn’t a shortcut—and I head for home.I need to talk to Penny.Then I’ll find Selena.
The wind shifts as I step onto the porch.Sweetness.Cake.Vanilla icing and a delicious note that belongs only to Selena.My wolf is instantly alert, ears forward.
That’s when I remember that Selena is coming here tonight to celebrate.
I open the door, and there she is.My mate.
Selena is half-turned, gathering up her things like she’s about to leave.When the door clicks behind me, she looks up.Blue eyes lock with mine.The bond hits again, a hot cable running from spine to sternum.My wolf shoves at me so hard I have to plant my feet.
Mate, he snarls, triumphant, then softer,mine.
“Hey,” Penny says brightly, spinning out of the kitchen with plates in hand.“Want some cake?Selena and I were just finishing up.”
Penny takes in my expression, then Selena’s, before her gaze returns to me.Her smile falters.My sister isn’t dumb.
“Can we talk?”My voice comes out rougher than I meant.“All three of us.”
Penny sets the cake down with forced cheer.“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s important.”
Selena’s fingers flex around the cups.I can feel her pulse from here.Or I’m imagining it because mine won’t settle.
We sit, but it’s not comfortable.Penny drops onto the couch, shoulders squared.Selena sinks to the rug beside the coffee table like she has a hundred times, but her posture is different now, coiled, ready.I take the chair opposite, like I’m putting a table between a forest fire and the rest of the house.
“Just say it,” Penny says when I don’t start fast enough.“What’s wrong?”
I look at her.I made a promise to that heart.It’s why I’m here before anything else.
“This morning,” I say, gentling my voice because this has to be a bridge, not a blade.“I scented my mate.”
The room stills.Even the balloons stop their lazy bobbing as if the air itself is holding its breath.
Penny blinks.Swallows.“Who?”
I shift my gaze to Selena because not looking at her would be crueler.Her lips part like a secret has just walked into the room.
