The Pull
Gabrielle POV
The pull is there.
Stronger now.
I’ve never felt it like this before. It's almost terrifying in intensity. Like gravity has shifted, and Luca is the centre of my universe. Like I'm made of threads and he has found the end of each one.
It hums through my chest, waking something inside me – low and insistent. My wolf stirs beneath my skin.
Every instinct I have suddenly becomes aware of him. The heat of his body. The slow rise and fall of his chest. Even the air seems to shift when he moves.
Luca stands a few feet away.
Not close enough.
I need him nearer.
My pulse doesn’t race. It slows, heavy and deliberate, like my body has already decided something my mind hasn’t caught up with yet.
His gaze locks on mine immediately. Like he knew exactly where to find me.
I’m almost lost in the intensity, then—
“Tess.”
The name tears out of me and the weight of everything crashes back in.
The forest. The trap. Her scream.
My stomach drops violently. “She’s still out there.”
Luca’s expression shifts instantly. The heat is still there, but something steadier rises over it. Something grounding. His eyes glaze over, and I know without doubt he's reaching out to Rowan.
He steps closer.
“Rowan’s with her,” he says, voice low and certain.
I shake my head, panic clawing up my throat. “But what if—”
“He won’t leave her.” His tone hardens slightly. “Not for anything.”
My breath stutters. I don’t even realise I’m shaking until his hands settle on my arms.
Anchoring me.
“You’re safe,” he murmurs. “And she will be too.”
At his touch the fear softens. It doesn’t disappear – but it dulls at the edges. Just enough.
Before I can think better of it, I step into him.
The contact sends a shock through me.
My body reacts instantly—like it’s been waiting for this.
His breath catches.
"Mine," he growls.
The word spirals through me, heat igniting low in my stomach.
The space between us disappears completely. The air thickens, the vines around me recede, as if the forest itself is stepping back.
Offering me up.
As I rise unsteadily, he reaches out, his hand just hovering near my face. Like he can't fight the instinct to close the distance between us.
My breath catches.
For a moment, I hesitate. This is insane.
I barely know this man – this Alpha. Yet with the slightest movement of his hand I can scarcely breathe.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask quietly, failing miserably to hide the huskiness in my voice.
He doesn’t answer.
Instead, he steps closer. Dangerously close.
Every part of me anticipates what's coming.
He's so near now I can feel the heat radiating from him. For a second time, I think he’s going to touch me.
My skin sparks in anticipation.
But then he pauses.
Something shifts in his expression, and I'm suddenly hyper aware of everything.
Our bodies.
How exposed I am.
Before embarrassment can take hold, Luca cups my face with both hands, tilting my gaze up to his. And then his mouth captures mine.
The kiss is fierce. Consuming.
I kiss him back without thinking, my fingers clinging to his chest as he deepens the kiss.
One of his hands slides to my waist, fingers tightening before dragging me closer.
The hard line of his body presses against mine and heat floods through me.
I gasp softly into his mouth.
His response is immediate.
The hand at my waist drifts lower, then slowly back up. His touch is more deliberate now, like he's mapping my body. Learning me.
My earlier fear dissolves, replaced by a stirring of hope and desire I’ve never known before.
His thigh presses between mine, anchoring me in place as his mouth leaves mine briefly, dragging along my jaw.
“Careful,” he murmurs roughly against my skin. It sounds like a warning – but not for me.
His hand slides to my hip and settles there, grip tightening.
My fingers tangle in his hair without thinking. The reaction it pulls from him is immediate. Dangerous.
His grip tightens and lifts me, stepping forward until my back hits the tree.
I almost combust.
The impact knocks the breath from my lungs, but he doesn’t stop. And then I feel it.
His hardness pressing against me.
I gasp.
“Oh,” he murmurs.
Understanding flickers across his face.
Realisation.
Cold slips through me, cutting straight through the heat.
“What?” I ask.
He studies me a moment longer before exhaling.
"I'm not sure your first time should be here."
"Oh."
Heat rushes to my face.
His eyes glaze briefly and I realise he's linking.
"Rowan is bringing us some clothes."
I step back quickly, wrapping my arms around myself.
Luca chuckles softly. “So that’s it,”
I blink at him. “That’s what?”
His gaze locks with mine, something like clarity settling in his expression.
“You’re not just human after all.”
My heart stutters.
He looks relieved.
More than relieved.
Like something has finally clicked into place for him.
For a moment, I can’t even breathe.
“That makes things easier.”
The words hit harder than they should. Too hard.
The warmth drains out of me so fast it almost hurts.
“Easier?” I echo.
“You’re stronger now,” he says simply. “You can handle more than I thought.”
Something sharp twists in my chest.
Of course.
Of course that’s what this is.
Not the way his hands just felt on me. The way he steadied me when I thought I might break.
Not the way everything inside me reached for him like he was the only solid thing left in the world.
Just relief.
Because I’m useful now.
Because I fit.
Because I'm no longer fragile.
I take a step back.
The space between us widens – and the bond stretches painfully with it.
His expression shifts.“Gabi—”
But it's too late.
Something inside me has already recoiled. And just like that, the thing I wanted most becomes the one thing I can’t trust.