Alpha's Hidden Precious Luna-Chapter 173

Lucas POV

Alpha Gregory studied me a moment longer, then grunted noncommittally and turned to leave, pausing only to place a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. "Be careful," he murmured to her. "Leopards rarely change their spots."

When we were alone, Vanessa approached me, her expression guarded. "Did you mean it?" she asked quietly. "Or is this just another manipulation?"

I reached for her hand, half expecting her to pull away. When she didn’t, I interlaced our fingers, feeling the familiar warmth of her skin against mine.

"I meant it," I said, the admission easier than I’d anticipated. “About giving up Lily entirely—I won’t lie to you about that. About valuing what we have, what we’ve built together. That was never a lie, Vanessa."

She squeezed my hand once before releasing it. "It’s a start," she said, her voice carrying a fragile hope. "A small one, but it’s something."

As started moving towards the door but I caught her just in time pulling her back.

“Don’t go, baby,” I murmured grinding the evidence of my desire on her. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’m not in the mood to satisfy your sexual urges, Lucas. Let me go.”

She made a feeble attempt to move away but I pulled her closer, covering her neck with my hand, making sure it was tight enough for a single moan to escape her lips. Vanessa loved things like this, I knew that.

“Let me go!” she cried again, making another attempt.

“Please baby,” I murmured running my tongue around her ears.

“My father will be waiting, I have other things that requires my attention. In case you haven’t noticed, I had to run the pack in your absence.” She managed to wiggle out of my hold and turned to face me.

“You cannot just waltz in here and expect that we continue from where we stopped. I cannot forgive you yet, Lucas. You went after Lily, I cannot forgive that.”

I closed the distance between us in three swift strides and caught her wrist which had reached for the door handle. I felt her pulse quicken beneath my fingers.

She could have pulled away – we both knew it – but instead she remained perfectly still, caught in the same gravitational pull that had drawn us together from the first moment we accidentally had sex.

“Nessa,” I breathed her name. “I’m sorry.”

She turned then, her blue eyes meeting mine with sadness in them. “Don’t,” she whispered, though her body betrayed her and she was leaning toward mine. “Don’t try to manipulate me. Not now.”

"No manipulation," I promised, releasing her wrist to cup her face gently in my hands. "Just us. Just this."

I kissed her with all the complex emotions roiling inside me—regret for the pain I’d caused her, gratitude for her unwavering loyalty, and the fierce, possessive love that had always been real despite my obsession and love for Lily. Her lips were soft, familiar territory that somehow felt new again in this moment..

For a heartbeat, she remained unresponsive, and I feared I had truly lost her. Then with a small sound of surrender, she melted against me, her arms winding around my neck as she returned the kiss with equal fervor. Our mate bond between us came to life, leaving my wolf howling with satisfaction.

I backed her against the wall, one hand tangling in her dark hair as the other traced the curve of her waist. Her scent enveloped me—wild jasmine and rain-soaked earth, the distinctive notes that had always meant home to someone like me who had rarely felt truly at peace anywhere else.

She deepened the kiss. There was anger in the way her teeth caught my lower lip, punishment in the sting of her nails digging into my shoulders. But there was love too, fierce and undeniable, in the way she pressed herself against me as if she was trying to remove any space between us.

I hate what you did," she gasped against my mouth, her words contradicted by the heat of her kiss. "I hate who you’ve become."

"I know," I murmured, trailing kisses along her jaw to the sensitive spot beneath her ear that had always made her shiver. "I know."

She tangled her fingers in my hair, pulling my head back to look into my eyes. "But I still love you," she admitted, the words sounding torn from somewhere deep inside her. "What does that make me?"

"Mine," I growled, "As I am yours."

Desire flickered in her eyes, a reminder that beneath her controlled exterior as a perfect Luna she was a vixen in bed. One of the reasons I could bear marrying her instead of Lily. She came forward, claiming my mouth in a kiss that was all fire and demand, her hands exploring the familiar contours of my body with rekindled hunger.

Our mate bond vibrated between sending doses of desires between us. I could feel her heartbeat against my chest, I could taste the sweet-salt flavor of her skin as my lips trailed down her throat. Her head fell back, offering more access to her body.

My fingers found the buttons of her blouse, unfastening them with practiced ease even as she tugged impatiently at my shirt. The need to feel skin against skin, to reaffirm our connection in the most primal way, overtook all other concerns—my impending trial, her father’s disapproval, Lily’s confessions.

"Lucas," she breathed my name, "Tell me this is real. Tell me I’m not a fool for still wanting you."

I pulled back just enough to meet her gaze, suddenly desperate for her to see the truth in my eyes. "This has always been real," I said, pressing my forehead to hers. "Everything else—Lily, the obsession—it was like a sickness. But you, Vanessa... you’ve always been my anchor, my true North. Even when I was too blind to see it."

A single tear escaped the corner of her eye,. I caught it with my thumb.

"I want to believe you," she whispered.

"Then believe this," I replied, guiding her hand to my chest, pressing her palm flat against my heart. "Feel it. Feel us."

The mate bond pulsed between us, stronger now than it had been in months—as if the truth we’d finally acknowledged had somehow cleansed it of the shadows that had clouded our connection. Vanessa closed her eyes, her breathing synchronizing with mine as she focused on the sensation.

"I feel it," she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. "But it’s not enough, Lucas. Not anymore."

"What do you need?" I asked, which we were not talking right now. "Tell me."

"Time," she said. "Proof. Actions, not just words or...or this." She gestured between our bodies, still pressed close together. "I need to know that I’m not just a consolation prize because you couldn’t have Lily."

The accusation stung, all the more because there was truth in it.

"You were never a consolation," I said firmly, framing her face in my hands. "You were the gift I was too foolish to appreciate. The mate I’ve never deserved but have always needed."

She studied my face, searching for deception and finding none. "Show me," she whispered finally, her arms twining around my neck once more. "Show me I’m not making another mistake by giving you this chance."

I captured her lips again, pouring everything I couldn’t articulate into the kiss—my remorse, my gratitude, my commitment to making amends. She responded with equal passion, her body arching into mine as if our physical connection could somehow bridge the emotional space between us.

I backed her against the table in the room, lifting her easily to sit on its edge. I cleared on the papers on it, not caring if they were important or not.

My hands slipped under her top, skimming along her rips before cupping her breasts through the thin fabric of her bra.

A moan esxaped her lips as my thumbs circled her nipples, in response, she wrapped her leg around my waist, pulling me closer.

“I need you, Lucas,” she murmured, stroking the evidence of my desire pressing hot against her thigs. Then proceeded to tug at my belt.

After a lot of pulling and tugging, my pants pooled at my wrist. She opened up herself wider to me, reaching for my lips again.

“Make love to me, Lucas, please.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I lined myself up at her entrance, stop to coat my desire with her warm juices already seeping onto the table. In one final move, I pushed inside her.

She moaned like a banshee, throwing her head backwards and began to move against me. I palmed her bottoms, thrusting into her – following a tempo playing in my head, imagining it was Lily I had before me.