Chapter 25 You are Unbelievable

Chapter 25 You are Unbelievable
Elena Thorne

No.

No, he couldn’t be.

The conference room door opened, and there he was.

Our eyes met across the room, and I watched his expression shift from surprise to familiarity.

Kieran was dressed for the conference wearing dark slacks, a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, looking every inch the future Alpha he was supposed to be. 

Nothing like the half-naked runner from this morning or the dream version that had been doing very unprofessional things to me.

He started making his way toward me, and I could see him making polite acknowledgments to the other wolves as he passed.

I looked around desperately for an escape route, but the room was filling fast, and leaving now would be too obvious. 

“Elena.” He stopped a few feet away, maintaining appropriate professional distance in the public setting. His voice was neutral, but I caught the slight tension in his jaw. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Clearly.” I kept my voice cold, matching his tone. “Your father  asked me to take notes on the discussions.”

“He asked me to observe the negotiations.” A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Said it was important for my development as future Alpha. That I needed to understand how territorial agreements are structured.”

We stared at each other, the unspoken obvious hanging in the air between us. Alpha Marcus had sent us here separately without telling either of us that the other would be attending. But why?

“We should probably sit together,” Kieran said quietly, his eyes flicking to the other wolves in the room who were definitely watching us with varying degrees of interest. “For appearances.”

“I’m fine where I am.”

“Elena.” His voice dropped lower, barely above a whisper. “We’re both representing Silvermane. If we sit separately, it looks like we’re divided. People will notice. They will talk. My father won’t appreciate us making the pack look fractured.”

He was right, damn him. Pack politics meant appearances mattered, and two Silvermane representatives sitting separately would raise questions we didn’t want asked.

“Fine.” I moved my bag to the adjacent seat with more force than needed. “But keep your distance.”

“Okay.” He sat down, leaving exactly one seat width between us. Appropriate yet absolutely insufficient.

The moment he settled beside me, my senses went into overdrive. His scent overwhelmed me, then the warmth radiating from his body.

I focused on my tablet screen, pulling up my notes document, typing random words just to have something to do with my hands.

The conference started. Alphas from five territories gathered to discuss boundary adjustments. I took notes, my fingers moving across the keyboard while my mind screamed at the proximity of the wolf beside me.

Kieran shifted in his seat, and I felt the movement like he had touched me. His knee came within inches of mine, and I pulled my leg away, tucking it under my chair at an uncomfortable angle.

He noticed. Of course, he noticed.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said quietly, under the cover of Alpha Riverwood’s opening remarks.

I didn’t look at him. “I’ve been busy.”

“For three days straight? So busy you can’t even be in the same room?”

“We’re in the same room now.”

“Because my father forced it.” He leaned slightly closer, and I could feel his breath on my ear. “Elena, we need to talk about what happened the other night.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I kept my eyes fixed on my screen, my hands steady despite the chaos in my chest. “It was a moment of weakness. It’s over. We move on.”

“Is that what you think it was?” His voice was low. “Weakness?”

“What else would you call it?” I finally looked at him, and immediately regretted it. His gray eyes were intensely searching mine, and far too close. “We were stuck in a storage room. Adrenaline. Proximity. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Didn’t it?”

“Kieran, you are making noise. I want to concentrate.” I had not realized how loud I was, till the wolves by my side turned towards me. 

I passed a stern glare at him because he was the reason, then dropped my eyes back on the note I was taking. 

On my tablet, a new message appeared and I swiped to see that it was from Kieran.

KIERAN: Avoiding me is ridiculous. We’re sitting right next to each other.

I looked at him incredulously. He was staring straight ahead at the presentation, his expression neutral, but his phone was in his hand below the table.

ME: Why are you trying to frustrate me?

KIERAN: That’s not what I am doing. You are the one sitting there pretending nothing happened three days ago when we both know that’s bullshit.

My breath caught. I glanced at him, but he was still looking forward, the picture of attentiveness to the conference proceedings.

ME: This is inappropriate.

KIERAN: So was what we did in that storage room. But you didn’t seem to mind then.

Heat flooded my face. I focused very hard on my notes, typing complete nonsense.

KIERAN: I can still hear the sounds you made. The way you said my name when you wanted more.

ME: Stop.

KIERAN: Why? It’s the truth. You enjoyed it. Running is the same as pretending you didn’t.

I should put my phone away and focus on the conference.

Instead, I typed: This needs to stop.

KIERAN: Does it? Because I’ve been replaying that night for three days straight. And I know you have too.

I was going to kill him. 

Alpha Riverwood was droning on about hunting quotas, and I was supposed to be taking notes, but all I could focus on was the phone in my lap and the wolf beside me who was systematically destroying my composure.

KIERAN: You were incredible, you know. The way you responded to me. The way your body moved. You are such a pro.

ME: Kieran. STOP.

KIERAN: Just admit it. That’s all I want. Admit you liked it. You can’t just have that moment of your life and be running from me after.

My fingers trembled over the keyboard.

ME: Why does it matter?

KIERAN: I deserve my praise," he added a laughing emoji. "Also,  I have been walking around for three days as hard as a rock every time I think about it. Because I haven’t been able to focus on anything else. I think we stumbled onto something good and you’re running from it."

“I really should not have allowed myself to make that mistake to be with someone like you. You are such a child and you seem like the perfect boy that would kiss and tell.” I was about to send this but I deleted it.

Another message came: don’t misunderstand me. I’m not asking for anything serious, Elena. I’m not stupid enough to want that. But three days ago? That was good. Really good. And I think we’re both adult enough to acknowledge it.

I stared at the message, trying to process what he was actually saying.

ME: What exactly are you suggesting?

KIERAN: I’m suggesting we stop pretending we don’t want each other. We already crossed that line. Why torture ourselves by acting like we didn’t?

ME: Because it was a mistake.

KIERAN: Was it? Or was it just convenient to label it that way so you could go back to avoiding me?

KIERAN: Here’s what I think happened. We got trapped in a small space. We felt a sexual pull. We gave in. And it was fucking incredible.

My face burned reading his blunt assessment.

KIERAN: And now you’re scared. Because if you admit you enjoyed it, then you have to face the fact that maybe we could do it again. And again. Without all the complicated emotional bullshit.

ME: That’s what this is about? You want to use me for sex?

KIERAN: I want to stop fighting something that clearly works. We’re both adults. We both have needs. Something about the fact that we were once bonded makes the sex amazing—you can’t deny that. Why should we suffer just because the relationship part didn’t work out?

ME: You’re unbelievable.

KIERAN: Look, I’m not going to lie to you and pretend I want to date you or work on our bond or any of that romantic crap. I can’t give you that. But what happened in that storage room? I can give you that. Whenever you want it.

ME: So I’m supposed to just be your convenient fuck buddy?

KIERAN: You say that like it’s a bad thing. Most wolves would kill for consequence-free sex with someone they’re chemically compatible with.

ME: Most wolves didn’t get publicly rejected by that someone.

The typing indicator appeared, disappeared, and appeared again. Finally: True

I stared at the message, feeling something cold settle in my stomach. Was this all he thought to say?

ME: And what do I get out of this arrangement?

KIERAN: Besides multiple orgasms? Freedom. No emotional complications. No worrying about whether I’m going to hurt you again because there’s nothing to hurt. Just pleasure. Isn’t that worth something?

ME: You’re asking me to degrade myself.

KIERAN: I’m asking you to be honest. Tell me you didn’t come three days ago. Tell me you didn’t enjoy every second of it.

After I gave no response, a message came from him. 

KIERAN: That’s what I thought. Your silence says everything.

ME: Enjoying something once doesn’t mean I want to repeat it.

KIERAN: Come on, Elena. You’re a terrible liar. I can see your pulse from here. I can smell the change in your scent. Your body’s already answering the question your mind won’t.

I pressed my thighs together, hating that he was right. Hating that my traitorous body was responding to his words and the memories they invoked.

KIERAN: Just think about it. That’s all I’m asking.

Another message: We could set ground rules. Keep it private. No one needs to know. When we want each other, we take care of it. When we don’t, we go back to our separate lives. Simple.

The sheer arrogance of that message made me want to throw my phone at his head.

I stood abruptly, my chair scraping against the floor. 

It earned me a look from the other wolves but I ignored and walked toward the exit with as much dignity as I could muster while my legs trembled and my mind screamed.