Kaelen POV

"Alpha..."

Damn it.

Her voice rang out from behind me, and I immediately picked up my pace. All I wanted was to avoid her. Not forever, but at least until this guilt stopped clawing at me every time I looked at her. So why the hell was she chasing after me?

"Alpha Kaelen," she called again, quickening her steps.

By the time she caught up, we had reached a quieter part of the grounds where only a handful of people lingered nearby.

"You’re avoiding me."

I kept walking.

When I still didn’t respond, she rushed in front of me, cutting off my path and forcing me to stop. Unable to stand the weight of her gaze, I kept my eyes lowered, but she let out an irritated scoff at my silence.

Before I could even process what she was doing, she reached up, grabbed my face, and forced my head toward her.

The moment her hands touched my skin, my entire body locked up.

Her palms were soft and warm, and for one brief second, every coherent thought in my head disappeared. Even my wolf went strangely still, completely thrown off balance by something as simple as her touch.

"What is it?" she demanded, her green eyes flashing with frustration. "Why are you doing this?"

That did it.

Whatever restraint I had been desperately holding onto finally snapped.

My hands shot up and wrapped around both of her wrists in a firm grip. In one swift movement, I backed her against the stone wall and pinned her hands securely above her head.

Her eyes widened.

I could see the nervousness she was trying so hard to hide. The slight tremble of her lower lip. The way her chest rose and fell with quicker breaths. The faint uncertainty flickering behind those stubborn green eyes.

And yet she still kept pushing me.

"You’re making this really hard for me," I whispered.

My voice came out rougher than intended, dropping into a low, dangerous register that barely sounded like my own.

Keeping one hand around her wrists, I lifted my free hand and gripped her jaw, forcing her chin upward until her face was only inches from mine.

The sweet, intoxicating scent of her surrounded me instantly. It was impossible to ignore.

Every breath I took only made it worse.

The narrow corridor suddenly felt too small, the space between us too tight, and the control I had been fighting to maintain felt like it was hanging by a thread.

I wanted her. That thought made my jaw tighten.

I wanted to close the distance between us.

I wanted to crush my mouth against hers and finally remind myself what her soft lips tasted like.

But that was exactly why I had been avoiding her.

Because the longer I stayed near her, the harder it became to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t.

"You’re making this really hard for me too," she shot back, even though her voice came out shaky.

I raised a brow and stared down at her. "Am I?"

For all I knew, I was doing her a massive favor by keeping my distance.

I’d seen how happy and relaxed she was with Darius out on the field and how her gaze always seemed to fall into an anxious stillness whenever I was around.

The difference in how she treated the two of us was too obvious to ignore.

Besides, rumors were already spreading among the orphanage staff that the two of them were together, something Darius had smugly rubbed in my face earlier.

"Yeah," she said, gulping nervously as her eyes flickered down to my lips before snapping back up. "All I wanted was to properly thank you for the tutor. It really meant a lot to me, and I figured it was only fair that I told you to your face, but..."

So that was it.

She wasn’t seeing me any differently. She was just grateful.

Why did that sting so damn badly?

Why was I suddenly getting greedy and expecting something more from her when I hadn’t put in nearly enough effort to earn it?

I was being pathetic.

"Okay," I said finally, loosening my grip on her wrists slightly, though I still didn’t let her go.

Then she added, "But why are you avoiding me all of a sudden? Didn’t you once desperately wanted to sleep with me?"

Fuck.

What was wrong with her?

Was she completely clueless about the effect she had on me?

My grip tightened around her wrists at the provocation.

I lowered my head and buried my face in the soft crook of her neck, hoping her scent would calm the dirty, racing thoughts in my head. The shaky breath that escaped her lips at the sudden proximity did absolutely nothing to help my self-control.

Why couldn’t she just take the hint?

Why couldn’t she understand that I was deliberately avoiding her for her own good?

It had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done. For the past month, she had been all I could think about, even when I desperately didn’t want to.

If I wanted to take her right here against this wall, I could. I had absolutely no shame left when it came to her. The problem was whether her fragile body could handle it.

"Shouldn’t you be happy I’m no longer on your neck?" I murmured against her skin. Literally.

A heavy, agonizing silence settled between us as our bodies remained pressed tightly together. I bared my teeth and let them graze lightly over her pulse point, the touch just threatening enough to make my wolf stir. Her answer right now would determine my next move.

"I am," she whispered.

I froze.

The words hit me like a bucket of ice water, instantly snapping me out of my lust and shattering the heat raging through my veins.

I am.

Of course she was happy I was gone.

I immediately pulled back and stared into her wide green eyes for a brief second, catching the fear and confusion swirling inside them.

Disgust with myself crashed over me.

Without another word, I released her wrists, stepped away completely, and turned on my heel, leaving her alone against the wall.

****

I didn’t stop walking until I reached my private lounge.

The second the door clicked shut behind me, I headed straight for the bathroom and turned the shower handle all the way to the right, letting freezing water blast over my head.

I needed it to drown out the lingering heat of her scent, and in a twisted way, the sting of the cold against my still-bruised forearm helped ground me.

But as the water cascaded down my face, a heavy thought hit me.

How the hell was I supposed to survive this?

She was the only female my wolf didn’t react violently to, for whatever godforsaken reason.

And I still had intense sexual needs.

Needs that hadn’t magically disappeared just because I’d spent years forcing them down.

Experiencing sex again after so long had awakened something inside me. It had reminded me what I’d been missing, and now that hunger was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Well, there were plenty of available females around here who weren’t criminals. Maybe I just needed to force myself to find someone else. Anyone else.

Just to get Ella out of my system.

That bitter thought replayed like a broken record in my head as I finally shut off the water, pulled on a fresh pair of sweatpants, and stepped out into the bedroom.

I paused when I saw Darius already seated in the armchair by the window.

"I just got a callback from the Witches’ Coven," Darius said, his usual playful demeanor nowhere to be found. His voice was serious and businesslike. "Prince Kalu and Princess Nala will be arriving next week."

"Good," I said as I grabbed a towel and ran it through my damp hair.

Finally, some good news.

With my wolf going completely berserk more often lately, having the royals from the coven here wasn’t just helpful. It was necessary.

Their magic was one of the few things capable of suppressing the beast’s rage, even if the relief was only temporary.

But next week...

I leaned my head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

Why did next week suddenly seem so damn far away?

Could I really hold on until then?