Page 95 of Wanted
Reese styled my shorter hair into a beautiful twist that hangs freely, stopping a few inches above my shoulders. The gray streak I’ve covered up for years is prominent in the front right side of my hair.
His stare is as powerful as if it were his hand on my face, tracing it with the tip of his finger. His eyes narrow.
All of a sudden, my mother’s words about long hair being ideal come to mind. To her natural, short hair looked messy, unkempt and even unsightly. Fear grips my chest as the idea that Chance could ever associate me with any of those words overtakes me.
Does he hate it?
Should I have cut it?
I could have fought harder to find a place that does the hair treatments I normally get. Or, I could’ve bought a flatiron and learned to straighten my own hair.
The regrets and questions invade my mind so much that I don’t even notice Chance approaching me. Not until he’s close enough that he cups the side of my face with his massive palm.
The warmth of his touch causes me to snuggle my cheek against his hand. I open my eyes to meet his. The glow remains.
It’s as if that glow envelops my entire body, warming me from the inside out. No one has ever looked at me as if I’m the only person that exists. Not just in the room but in the entire world.
“So fucking beautiful,” he says, his voice low but with a growl in it.
“Ohhh, did Beta Chance just curse?” one of the young children in the room says from somewhere, but his mother shushes him.
Even the knowledge that we’re surrounded by at least ten different pack members doesn’t cause me to break eye contact with him.
I can’t look away. I want to hold on to this moment for as long as I can. Right here and now, I feel as if I know what it is to be the center of someone’s world.
Chance leans down and presses a kiss to my lips. He pulls back, though I can tell he’s reluctant to do so.
I gasp as I’m soon lifted off of my feet and into his arms.
Before I can blink, Chance is carrying me out of the kitchen, out of the house entirely. He doesn’t take his eyes off of me as I throw my arms around his shoulders. I don’t need to ask where we’re going or what he has planned.
The look in his eyes says it all.
It might be my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear I can smell my own arousal. Because it is arousing to be stared at the way he’s watching me.
“I’ve left some lunch for you in your fridge,’” Ms. Elsie yells from the doorway of the alpha’s house. I don’t have time, nor am I in the right mind to ask her how she had the foresight to put lunch in Chance’s refrigerator, because we reach his home in record time.
Chance spends the remainder of the afternoon, messing up the twist out, Reese styled my hair in.
Yet, I have not one regret in letting him do so.
CHAPTER 26
Emery
“Am I supposed to do something?” I ask Chance probably for the third time as we walk to where the Supermoon Ceremony will take place.
We end up coming to an expansive field about a mile or so from the main area of the pack’s commune. My palms are sweaty, and I attempt to pull my hand from Chance’s firm grip to wipe the sweat away. However, he doesn’t release my hand.
It’s as if he has to be touching me whenever we’re in one another’s presence. Which, honestly, I don’t mind.
Then I realize I’ve asked my question out loud without looking at him. I tug on his hand to get his attention.
“What am I supposed to do for my wolf to come out?”
He stops and turns me to face him as he takes my free hand, ensuring both of my hands are in his.
“Your wolf knows what to do,” he says, his voice sounding strong and certain. As if he knows she’s inside of me just waiting to come out. “Trust her. Allow Mother Moon to guide her to do what she was born to do.”