Chapter 141 141
Damien POV
“Are you absolutely sure this is Theo?” I ask, cutting my eyes sideways toward her.
“Yes. Of course…”
“Have you actually spoken to him?”
Silence.
“No, then…” I growl, my grip tightening on the steering wheel until my knuckles ache. “Aurélie, this could be a trap. You need to think more clearly.”
We’d been driving for nearly thirty minutes in complete silence. She wouldn’t even look at me, her face turned toward the passenger window, studying the neat rows of human houses as if they were infinitely more interesting than I was. If I couldn’t hear the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat, I might have thought she’d lost interest entirely but I knew better. She was fighting every instinct not to glance my way.
An incoming call from Lucas finally makes her turn toward me.
“Lucas?” I answer immediately.
“Alpha, the photo is definitely a fake…” Of course it fucking was. “…our IT team confirmed it’s been photoshopped.”
“The sender?” I press, cutting straight to what matters.
“They’re still working on it, but they’ve traced the origin to a financial firm in the capital. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thanks, Lucas.”
“Are the kids okay?” Aurélie finally speaks, directing the question at him before I can end the call.
“They’re absolutely fine, Alpha. Florence and I are keeping a close eye on them.”
“Okay. Thanks, Lucas.”
“Of course.”
The line goes dead, and jealousy claws unexpectedly at my chest jealousy of my own beta. Of how easily she spoke to him, warm and open, while she continued to shut me out.
I’ve had enough.
I pull off the main road and turn sharply onto a quiet side street, bringing the car to a stop.
“What are you doing?” she asks, uncertainty flickering across her face.
“I preferred the sarcasm and the shouting to this silence.” I place my hand boldly on her thigh.
She’s still wearing the tight yoga pants from earlier, the fabric clinging to her in a way that leaves very little to the imagination.
“We don’t have time for this!”
“If you’re right and it really is Theo and he’s managed to keep this guy calm overnight then adding ten more minutes to our journey won’t change anything.” My voice softens, but my gaze doesn’t waver. “Talk to me.”
She exhales deeply, and only then do I realise she hasn’t been breathing properly at all.
When she finally places her hand over mine, I seize the moment, pulling her toward me until she’s straddling my lap in the driver’s seat.
“Damien!” she gasps, startled by the sudden movement.
“That’s better,” I murmur. “I told you it was fake. I wouldn’t do that to you. You drive me insane it takes every ounce of restraint I have not to mark you.”
“It does?” Her bright green eyes widen, glowing even more intensely as she looks at me.
“Why do you think I took a shower…”
She’s so close now that all it would take is one movement my hand closing around her throat, pulling her neck toward me, sinking my teeth into her skin. One mark, and she’d be mine.
But she’d never forgive me for stealing that choice from her.
She’d already rejected the Luna position once, before I even knew she was my destined Luna. Now that I know… I feel that rejection all over again. She isn’t marked, but the mate bond is twisted tight enough to tell me exactly what she was meant to be.
I’d never admit it to her, but if she rejected me now, I’d be lost. I couldn’t survive another woman leaving me too soon.
“I’m sorry, Damien. I just assumed”
“That I was a pig.”
“That you were a pig,” she says with a small chuckle, warmth finally returning to her face.
My heart kicks violently in my chest at the sight of her smile at the knowledge that I put it there. I study her quietly, trying to read past that formidable barrier she keeps wrapped around herself.
The silence. The shouting in her office earlier. All of it is part of that shield one I’m only just beginning to crack. It’s easier for her to keep it up than to let it down.
I used to think Geneviève was strong. Now I know Aurélie is the strongest person I’ve ever met. I betrayed her. Her parents died because of who I am. And still, she’s willing to let me close.
That kind of strength is almost unbearable.
“What are you doing?” she whispers as I lift my hand to her face.
She closes her eyes instinctively, a soft moan slipping from the back of her throat as my fingertips trace her skin. I can feel the sparks jumping beneath my touch, leaving tingles wherever I go.
My fingers slide to her neck, and I draw her closer before pressing my lips to hers in a slow, sensual kiss one meant to linger, to brand itself into her memory. I pour everything I feel into it. She tries to deepen it, to rush it, but I refuse.
I want her to know I can be more than hunger and heat. I can be steady. I can be the man she leans on.
The one who will never let her down again.
Her phone rings, tearing us apart.
“Theo?” she answers, putting it on speaker.
“Alpha, I’m going to have to knock him out,” Theo says quietly.
“We’re coming,” I snap. “Ask him what he wants I’ll pay it.”