I pull in a slow breath through my nose and turn around.
Lucas is standing too close. He has not let go of my wrist. His shirt is slightly rumpled, his hair mussed, but I refuse to look too closely at any of that. I lift my eyes to his face instead.
He is watching me as if I may detonate.
Smart man.
“So,” I say, my voice coming out steadily in a way I’m proud of, “you’ll humiliate me in front of any woman.”
His brow furrows. “What?”
“Any woman,” I repeat, louder. “Any random woman who walked through that door, you would’ve pushed me away like I was some horrid thing you didn’t want to be caught holding.”
“Sienna, how did—”
“How did you humiliate me?” I cut in, mimicking what I’m sure he was about to say. “Is that what you want to know? Let me help you. You had your tongue in my mouth one minute, Lucas, and the next, you were telling me to leave, like I was some drunk girl at a bar who’d been a mistake.”
His face changes. That unmoving, composed mask he wears falters, and for one clear second, he looks deeply uncomfortable.
“That isn’t what—”
“It’s exactly what it was.”
“I couldn’t have anyone see you like that.” His voice is rough, and his hand is still on my wrist. “Sienna, you are in a delicate position in this pack. You are here as an official representative of Moonvale. Lydia is my household coordinator. If it had gotten out that I—”
“That you what, exactly? Kissed me? Your fated mate?!”
His jaw drops open, but no words come out for a few seconds. “I’m sorry,” he says finally, quietly. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
I stare at him.
I don’t know what to do with this man. Either he’s looking at me like I’m a stray cat he needs to shoo off the porch, or he’s kissing me like the world is ending. And then, he’s apologizing in that low, careful voice that makes my stomach flip traitorously.
My wolf is yowling inside me, half with fury and half with a softer emotion that I refuse to examine.
I pull my wrist out of his grip. He lets me. I walk a few paces away from him because I need the space to breathe. Standing that close to him is messing with my head.
I look up at the birch trees. At the scattered sunlight on the water. At the moss. At anything that isn’t him.
Then, I turn back, and whatever he sees in my face makes him press his lips together and remain silent.
“Why did you kiss me?”
He blinks once.
“You don’t want this bond. You’ve made that painfully clear. So, why did you kiss me, Lucas?”
“It was unintentional.” He says it stiffly, like he’s reading a statement into a record.
I let out a loud laugh. I can’t help it. It bursts out of me because I am genuinely delighted at how absurd that sounds.
“Unintentional,” I repeat. “So…you, what, unintentionally fell on my mouth? Unintentionally held my face? Unintentionally ran your hand through my hair?” I tilt my head at him. “You must be the clumsiest alpha I have ever met. Has someone looked into that? Do you often just trip and land tongue-first on women’s faces?”
His jaw tightens so hard, I can see the muscle jump. Color rises along the sharp line of his cheekbones.
He is humiliated.
Good. Welcome to the club, Alpha Steele. I’ve been a member for a while.
