NOVPUB
Chapter 23: _ The Forbidden Kiss
My heart plunged as Gamma Rhett ignored my greeting and went straight into questioning.
"Have you read the pack’s lore, as I instructed?" He asked, his voice cold as the winter wind.
I had no idea why it felt hurtful that he didn’t accord me a single pleasantry word. Yet, I was forced to swallow my rising ire and simply nod. "I have."
It was Gamma Rhett before, after all. The formidable military head who had been protecting the pack for years under the rule of the former Alpha.
My answer was met with a long, scrutinizing stare. Then, a hint of something akin to relief flickered across his face. "And what did you learn?"
"About the curse," I decided to look up at his amber eyes that were dulled now.
He nodded, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "Do you understand now, why I can’t let you and Kylo be together?"
Kylo’s words about how that law was outdated echoed in my mind. I met Gamma Rhett’s gaze now with the courage I found in thinking about Kylo. "The new Alpha abolished that law. He called it a superstition."
His reaction was unexpected. He took a step forward, then stopped abruptly. I could tell he was trying hard to suppress his meanness. His Adam Apple danced up and down.
He let out a sharp sigh, frustration twisting his face. "The moon goddess doesn’t want you two to be together," He said.
What the hell was wrong with this man?
Did he think he was some seer or something? How would he know what the Moon Goddess wanted?
"No offense, Gamma Rhett but how would you know what the Moon Goddess wants?" I challenged, surprised by my own courage.
I watched Gamma Rhett flap his suit jacket and then begin to shake with a somewhat mockery chuckle. "Ah — youngsters..." He mused to himself...
... And then, to me, "Let’s just say I know more than you think."
Bull. Gamma Rhett – you don’t know shit; I thought. Hell, heavens, earth, cosmos, everything – why couldn’t I just say that to him?!
But then again, this man was full of surprises. First, he wouldn’t stop being formal with me at the headquarters but now he showed up uninvited in front of my door and started calling me ’Isleen’?
Like, who does that? Make it make SENSE!
"Did you come all this way just to tell me that, Gamma Rhett?" I questioned, my voice laced with irritation. "Couldn’t you have like — sent the pack’s soldiers instead or something?"
To my surprise, he tilted his head. "It’s just you and me, Isleen. Call me Rhett."
What in the hell is wrong with this bloody man?!
RHETT?!
Why would he want me to call him Rhett?
A prickle of unease crept down my spine. "You are a notable figure in the pack, sir. I’m sorry, I can not do that."
"Really?" A mischievous glint flickered in his eyes and then, he began to advance to me.
Instinctively, I took a step backward and then wondered what I was running from afterward. My wolf paced back and forth, urging me to spring myself in his arms like tendrils.
Behave. Get a grip, Isleen.
Suddenly, he paused and his head snapped up and his eyes glimmered as if he were listening to a distant echo. "Who’s the young boy living with you?"
W – what?!
The question slammed into me unexpectedly. It stole my breath and churned my stomach into a haze of storm and confusion. I now understood why Gamma Rhett had come down here himself. There was no sending the pack’s soldiers here without me getting arrested.
Hm. Seemed this cold man did have some softness to him. He came to warn me. However, how did he know about Liam? No one outside this house... unless Kylo...
... Ah – Kylo had probably informed him about the adoption plan.
With a forced calmness, I answered, "He’s an orphan who also happens to be my student. He lost his brother in the last attack."
Gamma Rhett fell silent, his frown deepening. He studied me for a long moment, then spoke, "Take him to an orphanage. He has no place staying over at your place. You know that too."
Yes, Gamma Rhett, I know the rules. Fuck you.
"I want to adopt him," I declared, my voice surprisingly firm despite the tremor in my legs.
His disapproval was palpable, a thick fog. "No," he growled, taking a menacing step closer. "That boy is..."
He couldn’t finish his words. He was too close. We were barely a foot away from each other. The mate bond sparked. The pull to him was more than a magnet pull.
My wolf howled in my mind, her voice urgent, pleading.
Her mate.
He stood before me, closer than before, his disapproval dissolving into something raw and hungry.
His amber eyes that had been dulled all along burned with desire. I swear, I saw desire in Gamma Rhett’s eyes.
I could feel the heat radiating from him, the scent of pine and earth filling my senses. He was all hard angles and power, yet my body craved his embrace.
Hesitantly, he reached out his hand, tracing the line of my jaw with a trembling finger. My heartbeat accelerated.
What was going to happen?
I knew what was about to happen. I should run. I should sprint away. Far away from him. Oh, Lord, why had he come here?
Before I could register the shift, he was upon me, his breath warm against my cheek. "Isleen." He whispered. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
I gulped. I swallowed. I lost stamina. I lost control.
My head tilted back, offering him my throat. His lips hovered over mine, too close, I smelled every deliciousness in his breath. He was taking it slow. He wasn’t in a rush. He made it clear.
My wolf was happy. She was excited. Her mate’s breath was upon us. Hesitantly, and almost reverently, he closed the gap. Then, his lips were on mine.
It was a kiss unlike any I’d ever known. Wild and desperate. All of the things I knew were missing in my past intimate moments, this short kiss filled it.
His lips moved on mine with a raw hunger – of desire. I opened my mouth, a groan escaping. And then, the kiss intensified. His tongue danced against mine, igniting a fire that threatened to consume us both.
It would consume us both. It was consuming us both.
My hands, which had been clenched into fists at my sides, found his broad chest. My fingers dug into the fabric of his jacket, anchoring myself to him as if I were afraid I might be swept away by the spark between us. I felt him tremble against me, his every breath a ragged.
My knees buckled, but he caught me, his arms wrapping around me like a second skin.
We stumbled against the wall. His hands roamed my back, pulling me ruddy against him. I clung to him like he was oxygen.
Father – how do I breathe after this? How could I live on my own without this man after this?
What sort of forbidden affection was this?
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
But just as quickly as it started, the kiss was broken. Rhett pulled away, his face contorted with a struggle I knew too well.
He felt it too. He had been feeling it all along. Should I be glad that I wasn’t alone on this?
He pressed his forehead against mine, his breath hot against my skin. Even he doesn’t know how to stay away.
My wolf didn’t want him to stay away. She wanted him to stay with us. I wanted him to....
"No," he rasped. "We can’t..."
Suddenly, a voice chirped from behind us. "Yes, you shouldn’t."
