Chapter 42 Luca
The kiss should have ended things instead, it opened something I barely managed to cage. Aria was still close, her breath brushing my jaw every time she inhaled, her fingers curling into the fabric of my hoodie like she needed the anchor. The place we’d chosen, that abandoned overlook above the quarry, felt suddenly too exposed and too intimate at the same time. The town lights below flickered like distant stars, but all I could see was her.
Her lips were swollen, her eyes darker than I’d ever seen them, pupils blown wide as if her body had reacted before her mind caught up. She stared at me like she was waiting for something else to happen.
My wolf surged. It was possessive and every instinct in me aligned toward one truth so clear it hurt: this was her. This was the point where everything that came before stopped mattering. My hands were already at her waist before I realized I’d moved, fingers pressing in as if memorizing the shape of her. She gasped softly, not pulling away, and the sound cracked straight through what little control I had left.
“Luca,” she whispered, my name slipping out like a question she didn’t know she was asking.
That was when I felt it. A tightening deep in my chest with a low heat spreading along my spine, pressure building behind my teeth. My heartbeat changed rhythm, slower but heavier, each pulse echoing with intent.
Mark her.
The thought didn’t come in words. It came in instinct and in certainty. My mouth lowered toward her neck without conscious permission, drawn by the pulse fluttering just beneath her skin. Her scent wrapped around me, warmer now, altered by adrenaline and desire, and it nearly undid me. Aria tilted her head slightly, offering herself and not retreating either. She trusted me. That trust stopped me cold.
I pulled back so fast she stumbled, catching herself against the railing. Her brows knit together, confusion flashing across her face, followed quickly by hurt. I hated to see the last expression on her face.
“What—?” she started.
I turned away, bracing my hands on the cold metal, forcing air into lungs that didn’t want it. My jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it. I could still feel her heat against me, phantom and unbearable.
“Don’t come closer,” I growled, not looking at her trying to control the urge.
There was a pause and I heard her take a step anyway. “Luca,” she said again, firmer now. “Talk to me.”
I turned back slowly, afraid of what she might see in my eyes. When I met her gaze, her expression shifted. She noticed it instantly, the tension running through me, the way my shoulders were rigid like I was holding myself together by force.
“You’re scaring me,” she said quietly.
The words landed like a blade. “I’m trying not to,” I answered, just as quiet.
She studied my face, her eyes flicking to my mouth, then back up again, as if something in her recognized the danger even without understanding it. “You pulled away like I did something wrong.”
“You didn’t,” I said immediately. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then why does it feel like you’re running from me?”
Because I am.
I crossed the space between us but stopped an arm’s length away, deliberately keeping my hands to myself. “Because if I don’t stop now, I won’t stop at all.”
Her breath caught. “That sounds dramatic.”
“It isn’t.”
She swallowed. “Is this about you being a werewolf?”
“Yes.”
“Is it about that bond you mentioned?”
I hesitated, then nodded. Lying now would be worse. “When a wolf is close to his mate,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “there comes a moment when instinct takes over. It’s not about wanting. It’s about claiming. Making something permanent.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Permanent how?”
I didn’t answer directly and didn’t have to. Understanding dawned slowly, her hand lifting to her neck in an unconscious gesture. She wasn’t really afraid but she wasn’t untouched by the weight of it either.
“You almost—” she started, then stopped.
“Yes,” I said.
Silence stretched between us, charged and heavy. The wind stirred her hair, carrying her scent back to me, and my wolf stirred again, restless but restrained. “But I stopped,” I added. “Because you don’t know enough yet. Because you didn’t choose that. And because I refuse to take something from you just because instinct tells me I can.”
Her gaze softened, something intense and vulnerable flickering behind it. “You stopped yourself.”
“I had to.”
She exhaled slowly. “That doesn’t make me feel rejected.”
It should have and the fact that it didn’t terrified me. “Honestly, I hate the distance,” she continued, voice steady despite the storm beneath it. “I just want honesty.”
I nodded. “Then here it is. Being near you makes my control thin and being intimate with you makes my wolf think it’s time to cross lines we can’t uncross.”
“And you’re saying no,” she said.
“I’m saying not yet,” I corrected. “And not unless you’re choosing it with your eyes open.”
She held my starefor a long moment, then surprised me by stepping back on her own. Not retreating but just giving space.
“Okay,” she said.
The word was simple, but it carried weight.
“I’m not done wanting you,” she added softly. “But I don’t want you to lose yourself either.”
Something in my chest eased, just a fraction. We stood there like that, the bond humming quietly between us, alive but contained, like a storm held behind glass. I watched her walk away a few minutes later, every step measured and every glance back deliberate. When she disappeared down the path, I finally let myself breathe. The wolf inside me paced, frustrated but subdued, aware now that restraint wasn’t weakness. It was a choice.
And as I stared out over Silverpine, one truth settled deep and unshakable. Loving Aria wasn’t dangerous because of what I was. It was dangerous because of how much I was willing to give up for her.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
HELLO MY LOVELIES, ARE WE BREATHING OR JUST VIBRATING VIOLENTLY???
Because LUCA. JUST. DID. THAT.
He went from “kiss you against a wall” to
“I almost marked you but I love you too much to ruin your choices” LIKE SIR??? PICK AN EMOTIONAL LANE???
This boy is fighting for his LIFE against instinct, hormones, wolf biology, AND ARIA’S LIPS — and somehow still choosing RESPECT over possession???
The bar is now raised. Nobody is ever allowed to date a normal teen boy again only brooding werewolves with catastrophic self-control issues.
Aria choosing space??
Luca choosing restraint??
THE BOND HUMMING IN THE AIR LIKE A LOADED GUN???
I’m feral and pacing like Luca’s wolf. Next chapter will not save us. Consider this your warning💋🔥🌙.