Chapter 23 Just A Dream

Chapter 23 Just A Dream
Rafael's Pov

I unhandled her damp breasts in order that she could unhook her skirt, so that I could unbuckle and unzip my pants, and drop them and my drawers. 

She jumped ass backwards onto the desk and spread her legs, her shaven snatch winking with wetness. 

I shuffled forward, in between her slim, honey-dipped limbs, my arrow-straight 
cock pointing stiffly and directly at the girl’s slit, straining to find a home there. 

“Fuck me!” she urged, leaning back against the wall and gathering up her splayed breasts and squeezing them. 

I shouldered her legs, gulped down some air, and then parted her slick pussy lips with my mushroomed cocktop. 

I pushed forward, diving deep into the luscious lady’s sopping twat. I started pumping my hips, slowly at first, then faster and faster, getting a good, hard fucking rhythm going. I churned my rod back and forth in her tight, juicy cunt, the desk banging into the wall, her
ass and boobs shivering with each and every cock-thrust. 

“Gimme those tits!” I yelled, brushing her hands away and grabbing onto her brown jugs. 

I groped them, rolled and pulled nipples, relentlessly pistoning my pulsating 
cock in and out of her pussy. 

She gripped the edge of the scraping desk with white knuckled fingers and desperately twisted her head back and forth against the wall, raven locks falling over and sticking to her perspiration-slick face. 

“I’m coming!” she screamed. 

I shifted it into fifth gear, fucking the hootered honey in a frenzy, my lower body smacking against her rippling butt cheeks, my battering-ram cock splitting her in two. 

“I’m coming, too, baby!” I gritted. 

Her body jerked and her jugs jounced around in my greasy hands, as I hammered the both of us headlong into orgasm. 

The sperm in my balls boiled out-of-control and shot up my shaft and spray-painted the velvet walls of the girl’s gushing pussy.

I blasted wad after white-hot wad into Lola’s love tunnel, in time to the electric shocks jolting our bodies. 

When it was finally all over, I exhaustedly toyed with the girl’s boob, gently squeezing them, primping her nipples, as she quivered with the afterquakes of ecstasy. 

As my still-hard cock sluiced slowly back and forth in her dripping slit…

It dawned on me that I should have felt it.

That was the first thing that hit me harder than the release itself.

No stab in my chest.

No vicious snap of the bond punishing me for touching the wrong body.

No white-hot warning tearing through my ribs.

Nothing.

Just heat…

Satisfaction…

That was wrong.

Very wrong.

The thought barely formed before everything ripped apart.

I jolted awake with a sharp gasp, my heart slamming so hard it hurt, my body still tense, breath uneven, sheets twisted around my legs.

Darkness.

My chambers.

Reality.

“Fuck—!”

I dragged a hand over my face, chest heaving, the echo of the dream still clinging to my skin like sweat.

It had been a dream.

A fucking dream.

I looked down at my trousers and froze.

Wet.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered hoarsely.

A bitter laugh tore out of my throat. “Unbelievable.”

Me.
Rafael Prickette.
Reduced to this.

“A wet dream,” I scoffed, shaking my head. “I don’t have wet dreams.”

I raked my fingers through my hair, pacing the room. “I don’t need them.”

I could have anyone. Any beta. Any omega begging for my attention. All I had to do was reach out…

Pain stabbed through my chest without warning.

“Ah—fuck!”

I doubled slightly, hand slamming against my sternum, teeth gritted as the bond reminded me exactly why I couldn’t.

“Right,” I growled. “Forgot.”

Wrong body.
Wrong scent.
Wrong everything.

“So this is how you punish me now?” I snapped at the empty room. “You take away my choices and leave me with dreams?”

The bond pulsed, silent but smug.

I laughed again, low and furious. “You think this is funny?”

I stopped pacing and stared at the floor, jaw tight.

“I don’t even want her,” I said firmly. “Do you hear me? I don’t.”

The bond tightened.

My lip curled. “I’ve slept with half the pack without this bullshit.”

Another pulse deeper this time. Possessive. Unyielding.

“…You’re forcing me,” I whispered darkly. “That’s what this is.”

I clenched my fists, humiliation burning hotter than anger.

“Betas,” I scoffed. “I’m dreaming about betas now because I can’t touch anyone anymore.”

I exhaled sharply through my nose. “Pathetic.”

And yet what scared me wasn’t the dream.

It was the absence of pain inside it.

That silence.

That terrifying moment where the bond had let me believe just for a second that I was free.

I straightened slowly, eyes hard.

“This ends,” I said aloud. “One way or another.”

The words echoed uselessly in my chambers.

I dressed quickly and left before my thoughts could spiral any further.

People were already eating when I went in. Plates were clattering, people were talking quietly, and it felt like normal pack life.

My eyes searched the room automatically and landed on her.

Zara.

She was helping serve food, moving quietly between tables, head lowered, posture careful. Obedient. Invisible.

Good.

I passed her without slowing, without acknowledging her existence. 

If I let myself stop even for a second I’d say something I couldn’t take back.

If I could snap her neck without consequences…

Without pain…

Without this constant irritation clawing at my ribs…

I would have done it without blinking.

I reached the table where Gabriel was already seated, chewing lazily, while Annie sat across from him, stirring her drink with unnecessary enthusiasm.

The moment her eyes landed on me, they lit up.

“Oh my God,” she gasped dramatically, leaning forward. 

“Rafael. What the hell happened to you?”

I ignored her and took my seat.

She wasn’t done.

“You look like a cat that hasn’t slept for days,” she continued cheerfully. “You know. All grumpy. Murdery. Slightly feral.”

Gabriel snorted. “That’s just his normal face.”

I shot him a glare. “Watch it.”

Annie grinned wider. “No, no, this is different. This is ‘I’ve been pacing my room at night questioning my life choices’ energy.”

“I’m fine,” I said flatly.

She tilted her head, studying me like I was a puzzle she was enjoying too much. 

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

Annie sipped her drink, eyes never leaving my face. “You know, denial is usually the first sign.”

“Of what?” I asked coldly.

“Of a breakdown,” she said sweetly. “Or indigestion. Hard to tell with you.”

Gabriel laughed. “She’s got a point.”

I turned to him slowly. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“My side,” he said, shrugging, “is entertainment.”

Annie leaned forward again, resting her chin on her hand. “So. Let’s recap. You didn’t sleep. You’re crankier than usual. You’re stabbing your food like it personally offended you. And you’ve said exactly three words since you sat down.”

“I’ve said more than three,” I snapped.

“Ah,” she said, delighted. “Defensive. That makes four.”

I pushed my plate away. “You’re exhausting.”

“And you’re fascinating when you’re miserable,” she replied. “Do you know how rare that is?”

“Annie,” Gabriel warned, though he was smiling.

“What?” she said innocently. “I’m concerned. Look at him. He looks like he’s one comment away from flipping a table.”

I stood abruptly, chair scraping loudly against the floor.

“See?” she clapped once. “Called it.”

“That’s enough,” I said, voice tight. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For breakfast? For conversation? Or for me?”

“All of the above.”

Gabriel sighed. “Rafael, sit down. You haven’t eaten.”

“I don’t care.”

Annie smiled, completely unbothered. “Running away already? And here I was just getting started.”

I shot her a glare. “That’s exactly the problem.”

I turned and walked away before she could say another word. Behind me, I heard her call out—

“Sleep more! You’re unbearable without it!”

I didn’t respond.

I wasn’t ready for Gabriel’s human mate’s drama. Not today. Not with my nerves already stretched thin.

The corridors were quieter, cooler. I breathed a little easier as I headed back toward my room.

That was when I saw Alessandro.

He was standing near the archway, speaking quietly with one of the guards. Their posture was formal—pack business, no doubt. Orders. Patrols. Territory. Always something.

Alessandro noticed me first. He lifted a hand slightly.

The guard followed his gaze, straightened, bowed respectfully, and walked away without a word.

“Hey, Rafael,” Alessandro said easily. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the dining hall having breakfast with the rest of the family?”

I slid one hand into my pocket, shoulders relaxing just a fraction.

“Not really in the mood for that, Alessandro,” I replied, then added deliberately, “Oh sorry. Alpha.”

I smirked.

Alessandro shook his head, amused. “You never miss a chance, do you?”

“Wouldn’t be me if I did.”

He smiled, warm and familiar. “Come on, brother. You can continue calling me Alessandro.”

“Careful,” I said. “Someone might hear.”

“Let them,” he replied. “I don’t need distance from my own blood.”

I studied him for a moment. Calm. Steady. Untouched by the chaos in my head.

“You look tense,” he said, tone shifting slightly. 

“Everything alright?”

I hesitated just a second too long.

“Fine,” I said. “I just didn’t sleep well.”

Alessandro nodded slowly. “That happens.”

“Not to you,” I muttered.

He smiled faintly. “You’d be surprised.”

There was a pause. Comfortable. Dangerous.

“Well,” he said at last, clapping my shoulder lightly, “get some rest if you need it. We’ll talk later.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Later.”