Page 9 of The Alpha's Temptation
“Selena,” I say.
She makes a small sound.Not a gasp.Not a sob.Something in between, like relief breaking free of a cage.The joy that flashes across her face is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had the fortune to see, and it guts me because I’m about to put reins on it.
Penny doesn’t light up.She goes very still, and color rises high in her cheeks.“No,” she says quietly.Then louder: “No.”
“Pen—”
“You promised.”She’s on her feet, plates rattling on the coffee table.“You promised me, Foster.You promised you wouldn’t do this to me again.You promised you wouldn’t touch my friends, you?—”
“It isn’t like that,” I say, also standing because sitting feels like betrayal.“I didn’t choose this.I would never?—”
“You didn’t choose it?”Her laugh is sharp.“That’s convenient.”
I remember Rhodes’s advice from the meeting, but those words don’t carry the same weight when your sister’s hands are shaking with hurt and betrayal.
“It’s fate,” I say, hating how weak that sounds for something that’s bone-deep.“I came here first because I respect and love you.Because I won’t do anything without talking to you.”
Penny’s eyes shine with tears.“You should’ve kept it from happening.”
My wolf lunges with a hot snarl.
I clamp down on him hard.“You know I can’t.”
“Then you should’ve told fate to pick someone else,” she snaps back.
I see the vulnerable kid in her, the one who was used by girls who liked her because her brother was the future Alpha.
“Penny,” Selena says softly from the rug.“This isn’t like?—”
“Don’t.”Penny flinches as if Selena’s voice burns.She backs up a step, then another.“I can’t.I need—” Her voice cracks.“I need a minute.”
She spins and bolts down the hallway, the bathroom door slamming, the lock clicking with a finality that shivers through the house.The balloon bobs again, stupidly cheerful.
I stand there, breathing hard, every protective instinct in me snapping awake.My wolf wants to smash doors.My human wants to give her time.The second one wins by a breath.
“Pen?”I call, moving closer but not touching the door.“I’m not going anywhere.I’ll wait out here.When you want to talk, I’m here.In no world would I ever choose to hurt you.”
Silence behind the wood, then a watery, “Just…go.”
Her rejection grinds like broken glass in my chest.“I’ll give you some time.”
I step back because if I don’t, my wolf might test the doorhandle.
When I turn, Selena is standing.The distance between us is five long steps and ten years.Her eyes are wet, but she’s not crying.Her jaw is set like a girl who has learned to live without.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“For what?”My voice is rough.
“For making this harder.For wanting you anyway.”
My wolf surges to the surface so fast that my vision edges with heat.Every part of me is hyper-focused on the flutter of her pulse in her throat, the freckle near the corner of her mouth, and her fingers twisting in the hem of her shirt like she needs something to hold on to that isn’t me.
“Don’t apologize for what you are to me.I should’ve told Penny years ago that there was a clause in my promise.That if fate stepped in, I’d answer it.”
Selena swallows.“You kept your promise to protect her.You came here first.That matters.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough.”
