Chapter 18
Genting the with off of his chest to Alec had been a relief in some ways, but then his best friend and Beta had spent the next hour trying to convince him that he shouldn’t reject Sienna as his mate. “It’ll be bad for all of us if you reject her, Kaden, Alec had said. “Our entire pack will be
kaden didn’t believe a word of that, but he didn’t feel good about having to tell a woman he clearly had some sort of a connection to that he couldn’t choose her. Beid walked house from his office in a trance, only sisipping out of it when Grandma Hannah had sent him a message to remind him he was having dinner with the other Alphas in about an hour. He wasn’t sure how he’d let that slip his mind. He’d been dreading that almost as much as he was the ball self. At least it would all be over soon. He’d still have to figure out what to do about Sienna, but no rule said he had to make an announcement right away. The only other person who knew what was going on between them, besides himself and Alec, was senna, and be doubted she was going to say anything to anyone
If she even know. He had seen the way she’d been looking at him when he’d walked away from her in the woods, but that was nothing new. Most women looked at him that way. She was a neck, quiet, shy girl who hardly spoke. As he opened his bedroom door, he thought, “The last thing she’s going to do is throw herself at me.
And then.. He walked in on that very meek, quiet, shy girl standing raked in his bedroom with only a towel wrapped around her petite body.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, trying to avert his eyes. It was difficult though. The towel covered everything he wasn’t meant to see, but her muscular legs were showing. They were not as thin as he’d expected Hather, she was quite chiseled for such a small woman. Even her arms showed that she had deted biceps. Now that she was clean, and her wet hair was slick back from her face, he saw just how beautiful she truly was.
I still didn’t excuse the fact that she was in his room–naked.
“Sorry, Alpha,” Sienna said, dropping her eyes
He took a few steps closer to her but still kept his distance, trying to sort it all out “Is this some sort of a joke? Do you think you can just come into my room now because you think you felt something between us?”
like sh
She looked frightened like she was about to start shaking, and he realized he needed to tone it down. Why this girl had been mistreated her entire life. he didn’t know, but he didn’t need to be like those other people, not even if it seemed justified in his mind
When she spoke again, she was staring at the floor in front of her toes. He couldn’t help but notice how small her feet were, and how nice they looked, even though her nails certainly weren’t done like Sylvia’s or the other girls he’d dated. “Jenna asked me to take a shower. Your kind grandmother said I could use this one. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it was yours. Please, forgive me.” Her eyes lifted slightly, and she focused on some clothes on the bed before she dropped her eyes again.
Clearly, she was telling the truth. The pink sweater and black slacks on the bed were his grandmother’s for sure. Even the pink slip–on shoes on floor near the bed he recognized as belonging to Grandma Hannah
the
Kaden suddenly felt like a jerk for the way he’d handled this, assuming she was sneaking around when she probably y didn’t want to be naked in his room any more than he’d wanted her to. Not that he didn’t want her to. He stopped that train of thought right then. This was not the time, place. circumstances, or girl “Okay,” he said, the words “I’m sorry” freezing in his throat. “Why don’t you leave your dirty clothes and shoes here. I’ll send them out to be cleaned, and you can get dressed in my bathroom, alright?”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir,” she said, dropping her filthy belongings on the floor and scooping up the clothes off of the bed. She rushed into the other room. Before he could even finish deciding what he was going to wear to dinner, she was back
He glanced in her direction, looked away, and then looked back. Her eyes were on his face for a brief second, and he couldn’t believe how different she looked now. It was not just because she was clean and wearing flattering nice clothes. Because her hair was still away from her face, he could see how truly beautiful star was, but not in the way most girls he knew made themselves up to br. Beauty out of a bottle wasn’t necessary here. Her porcelain skin and rosy cheeks were soft and smooth. Her long eyelashes framed those blue eyes perfectly, and her lips were just the right shade of pink. What it might be like to brush his mouth against those luscious lips came to mind in an instant, and he had to fight the idea and push it away.
“Thank you again. Sir”
“Sure thing. Sierma. See you at dinner”
She pudded and headed out the door.
The second she was gone from his sight, Kaden’s blood rushed through his body, flooding him with a feeling he’d never experienced before. He’d almost call it dread, or perhaps loneliness or despair. How in the world was he supposed to go on without her by his side!
“This is new,” he muttered to himself, closing his eyes and trying his best to reclaim his thoughts. He hadn’t had any trouble being out of her presence the last few times she’d left, but this was overwhelming, and he hated it
this was not real. He was perfectly fine. He’d lived this long
without Sienna directly by
Kaden took several deep breaths and reminded himself that th his side, so he could handle being without her now.
Slowly, the feeling began to fade, though it never completely went away. Knowing this could be a huge problem, especially since he was planning
on rejecting her, Kaden went into the bathroom to take a shower and immediately noticed that the entire room smelled like all of the things he loved–vanilla, lilacs, a nice warm day at the beach. Sienna brought those sensations to him. When she was gone, he felt like he was all alone in the world.
Dinner was going to start soon, so he needed to focus. He was being ridiculous. Since when did he believe in all of this fated mate business anyway?
No, he was fine.
He used his body wash to clean himself, thinking about how she’d just been here–naked. His mind began to roam the curves of her body he had seen with his own eyes, making their way across the areas that were hidden. His imagination filled in the rest. Kaden shook his head and turned the water to cold. There was no time for any of that right now. There was no place for it later.
Drying off, he went back out and hastily put on a white button–down shirt with navy blue stripes and matching navy blue slacks, deciding he didn’t need a tie in his own home. He put on some loafers and made sure his hair looked good. As he brushed his teeth, he reminded himself it was all going to be line. “Besides, I bet if I formally reject her, all of these feelings will go away,” he thought
But could he do that? Formally reject her? It was one thing to ignore his feelings and something else to announce to the world that he refused to honor his fated match. Doing so, as Alec had pointed out, could be interpreted as a slap in the face to the Moon Goddess, something he didn’t want to subject his entire pack to.
There wasn’t a lot of time to think about it at the moment. He had several Alphas and their families ready to meet him downstairs for a dinner his grandmother had been planning for quite some time. Even though Kaden didn’t want to go, he knew it was important. He would need these alliances in the future, particularly if Alpha Zane decided to start up his combative ways again
With one more glance in the mirror, Kaden rushed down the stairs, hoping that this dinner went well. He was surprised that Alpha Kent was letting Sienna come, but then, maybe Grandma Hannah’s kindness had rubbed off on the man some.
Taking the stairs quickly, he headed for the dining room and entered to find quite a few people milling about. Kaden glanced around and saw that the Burks were not there yet, which was good because that meant Sienna wasn’t there yet either. He saw Alpha Douglas of Rare Moon, his wife Luna Elizabeth, and their thirteen–year–old daughter jessica, who smiled and waved at him. Kaden smiled back and headed over to greet them. He was only a few sentences into the conversation when the scent of vanilla and lilacs crept up on him. He didn’t even have to turn his head. He just kept looking at Alpha Douglas, pretending to care about the older gentleman’s golf game and whether or not it might rain the next day. Inside of him, a fiery ember was burning, one he wouldn’t be able to ignore for long without letting it consume him. One way or another, he was going to have to deal with it. He either had to find a way to put it out or let it burn away the old Alpha Kaden. Like a phoenix, he’d see what rose from the ashes.
