Page 23 of Alpha's Secret Baby
But I forced myself to stop kissing her long enough to tell her what I should have done seven years ago. I kept my hands on her waist, still needing to feel her. “You are my Luna. You always have been. You’re meant to be at my side. I know it with everything I am.” My dark eyes captured her stare as a flicker of uncertainty moved through it. My voice gentled, “You don’t need to be afraid. I promise this time, Cherry, I’ll treat you as you deserve.”
I felt her tremble beneath my touch, and I sought to comfort her. “Cherry, whatever’s wrong, we’ll talk about it. Please, trust me.”
But she shook her head. “Dylan, I can’t…”
Regret for how I’d hurt her in the past needled through me. If I’d only nurtured the bond with my mate as I should have, she wouldn’t be distrustful of me now. Her words contradicted what her kiss had told me: shewasattracted to me. I thought of what she’d told me about her life, saying she was happy with her work. Was it simply the fear of losing what she’d worked so hard to achieve?
I searched her face. “Listen, I know what you’ve accomplished away from the pack, and I’d never want to take that away from you. You know we have fashion designers in Seattle, too, right?” I tried to inject some levity into our exchange as it was clear she was suffocating beneath whatever worries plagued her.
But her anxious expressiondidn’tchange. But I refused to be defeated, reminding myself that I’d tasted the hunger in her kiss. I’d sensed that her wolfwantedmine as desperately as mine did hers. It wasn’t my wolf that she was afraid of; whatever worries she had were something else. Besides, the deeper instinctual urge I felt from my wolf as Alpha gave me more insight into Nuu-Chah’s will, and it sang of how Cherry and I were fated mates. We had always been. And would always be.
“You’remy mate, Cherry,” I tried again, grasping her waist harder, wanting nothing more than for her to acknowledge that too. We belonged together. As my hands clutched at her, I felt my wolf stir as it had the night I’d claimed her. She wasmine.
“I told you before; Ican’tbe your mate.”
Her words were like claws cleaving my chest open. Why did she look like her heart was breaking when she was the one shattering mine?
Again.
The broken pieces she’d left seven years ago, which had scarred over and healed imperfectly, imploded in my chest.
Feeling hollowed out, my hands slipped from her waist, even as my wolf howled mournfully inside. With one last devastated look, Cherry turned away, fleeing back into the reception room.
My mind kept cycling over her words, trying to make sense of her rejection, but everything within me kept returning to her heated kiss and the humming satisfaction I sensed from her wolf. I couldn’t fathom what had just happened. Why had she rejected me again?
My weary gaze fell upon the bar that had been set up out here on the balcony. Clearly, for celebratory drinks after my ascension ceremony, but it was a commiseration drink I needed now—a long one. I strode over to the table, picked up a bottle of red wine, and a sense of Deja-vu rippled over me. I thought of how familiar this chain of events seemed. Why did it feel as if my Luna was determined to destroy me when all I wanted to do was love her?
With a bitter toast to my mate, I raised the bottle and swigged. As the wine soured on my tongue, my thoughts darkened. The first act my pack had witnessed me try to accomplish, to claim my mate, had failed. But then, Cherry’s sincere voice haunted me:“The fact that you’re putting the pack first, Dylan, shows what an amazing Alpha you’ll be.”
Her words burned like the wine that hit the back of my throat. But I thought again of how my connection to the Moon God had deepened since ascending to the Alphahood and imagined telling Cherry again that the pack’s and my needs were the same: we needed her. And God damn it, I didn’t know how yet, but I was going to prove it to her.
But right now, I downed the bitter liquid, praying for a speedy deliverance into oblivion.
Chapter 16 Cherry
As I hurried inside from the balcony, my heart raced. But while I left Dylan behind physically, the look of anguish on his handsome face wouldn’t leave my bruised heart. I’d told him Icouldn’tbe his mate, and I’d meant it. I’d meant it seven years ago, and I meant it now. I hadn’t come back to Starsmoon for Dylan. I’d come here because pack rules had forced my hand.
Yet, the distress stamped across his strong features made me ache to go back and comfort him. But Icouldn’t. I didn’t belong here. I had a whole life elsewhere. I hadFern.
The thought of my daughter finally had me quickening my pace across the reception room. I moved so quickly I barely noticed Lucy strutting towards me. But my wolf’s quick reflexes rose within me. I ducked out of the way of Lucy’s hand as she struck out at me—the long cream dress she wore and her wavy curls seemed to ripple with fury.
“You’re a conniving little bitch!” Lucy shrieked.
I gawped at her, my body churning with too much feeling. Still reeling from the shock of Dylan’s confession to me, I felt as if I was in a trance.
Lucy continued her tirade, her tall, slender form shaking. “I saw it yesterday. I knew you were back here just to seduce him, even though you rejected him.”
“Dylan’s Beta demanded I come back,” I argued. “I came here because pack rules forced me to. Otherwise,” I emphasized, “I’ve gotnothingto do with Dylan.”
The same unrelenting suspicion marred Lucy’s face.
Exasperatedly, I exhaled and said, “In fact, I’m leaving. Right now.” Turning on my heel, it was with breath-taking relief that fresh air hit my face as I left my old Luna and Alpha’s home.
But the feeling was short-lived. The hubbub of gossip filled the gardens where the pack had emerged. A throng milled about the lawns under the marquees. I tried not to look, but I felt their eyes on me. I couldn’t help bristling that these people, my old pack and friends, had been pleased to see me only an hour ago. But now my skin prickled with unease as I sensed them regarding me with censure and judgment. Did they, like Lucy, blame me for disturbing the peace? Guilt churned through me as I thought of how I had kissed Dylan back only minutes ago. My lips tingled with the memory of his hot, hungry mouth. But I quashed the thought. My body had responded to his before I could think. I hadn’t meant to kiss him. It hadn’t meant anything.
With balled fists, I willed myself not to worry about them. I had come back because of pack law. What I’d said to Lucy was the truth. And with every step I took, I resolved to damn well prove what I’d said by never setting foot on the Starsmoon compound. Ever again.
Trudging down the dirt path, I had a pit stop at Bert’s house. Thankfully, he’d left the door unlocked. Even better was the fact he wasn’t in. I didn’t think I could take the same accusations from my oldest friend as Lucy. I was almost certain that he’d take my side, but feeling shaken, I had no intention of waiting around to find out.