Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sofia
Luca follows me out of the pack house towards the training arena, his steps steady and far too sure of himself for someone who’s just fucked with my head so much.
I’ve been avoiding training for days now—since I moved in with Luca—and I can’t exactly tell everyone how competent and badass I am if I’m not training. Not proving myself.
“Isn’t Jackson leading training today?” I ask, glancing back at Luca over my shoulder.
“I said I’d cover for him. Let him take a day to come to terms with finding out Katie is alive.”
I blink as I process those words. So much more like the old Luca. He used to do stuff like that all the time. For Ryan, Jackson, his parents… for me. He used to notice things. Anticipated what others needed without them having to ask.
“That was… nice of you.”
“I can be nice when I want to be.”
I stop dead, forcing him to pull up short so he doesn’t barrel into me. “Just not to me, huh?” My eyebrow arches, daring him to deny it.
“Oh, I could be very nice to you. You only have to let me.” His mouth curves in that infuriating smirk of his. The one that promises sordid fantasies and filthy satisfaction come to life.
Ugh, unbelievable.
“Why is everything about sex with you? Do you think that is all I have to offer a mate?” I snap, pushing his chest with my hands and forcing him to back up.
My voice cracks sharper than I mean it to.
The question tastes like ash in my mouth, and I hate that it betrays how much his behavior has actually hurt me.
I don’t want him to know. I’ve spent years not letting him know how much he was hurting me. But I can’t keep it in anymore.
His smile vanishes, and the blue of his eyes darkens into something fierce.
“Is that what you think?” His voice is dangerous, a low growl undercutting his words as his wolf pushes forward.
“Sofia, you’re infuriating. You’re stubborn, hotheaded, a brat who tests every last nerve I have.
And you’re so damn quick to throw yourself into danger I could—”
“I get it,” I snap, cutting him off and turning away from him before he sees how his words have landed.
Before he can see my hurt, my tears. He keeps showing me why I can’t want him.
Why my wolf is wrong about him. This is exactly why he’s completely unsuitable.
His wolf wants me, but his human doesn’t even like me.
“No, you don’t get it,” he snarls, crowding me against a large oak tree.
Before I can step away, he pushes me against the rough bark of the oak.
His hands capture mine, pinning them above my head.
I kick my leg back and connect with his shin up but then he plasters his body against mine with his chest to my back, cutting off my leverage.
My wolf preens under his dominance even as my human self wants to bite his head off.
“I love how fiery you are,” he growls, his breath hot against my ear as the tingles of our mate bond run from my wrists down through my arms. “I’m pushing the sexual side of things because you are so damn stubborn.
You won’t let your mind consider me. But your body wants me.
Craves me. Knows that no one else could ever make you feel as good as I could.
I pushed you away before Sofia. You were too damn young for me.
I couldn’t bear how much I wanted you. If you had been older, if you weren’t Ryan’s little sister, I never could have waited.
But even while pushing you away, arguing with you was still the highlight of every damn day.
Being in your presence. Getting to be in your orbit.
You’re so damn smart, you care harder than anyone I’ve ever met.
You drive me fucking insane, but don’t think for a minute that I don’t love every ounce of that insanity.
You’re so damn perfect, Sofia Rivera. And I will never stop fighting you—or fighting for you. Because you. Are. Mine.”
His body heat presses into me, his scent wrapping me up until it’s all I can breathe. The bark of the tree cuts into my palms, and it’s the only thing that keeps me grounded. Stopping me from letting him take me right here and now.
Goddess, I want to give in. Just once. My wolf all but howls her agreement.
“I can’t do this,” I mutter, shaking my head but not fighting to push him away.
“I’m not giving up,” he says fiercely, dropping his forehead against my shoulder. His hands trail slowly down my arms, brushing my sides, lingering on my hips. “I’m not leaving you. Not ever again. Even if you tell me you want nothing to do with me.”
My breath hitches. That’s what I wanted to hear. What I thought I needed. But it’s not enough to feel real. To feel safe. I can’t let myself believe it. No matter how much I want to.
“We need to get to training,” I mutter.
He turns me around and cups my jaw, and I don’t want to look at his eyes, afraid of what I might see when I do. But he won’t move until I do. Why am I so afraid to look him in the eye? I’m an alpha wolf, and it’s only Luca. I’ve known him my whole life. What’s the danger in looking him in the eye?
My gaze slowly tracks upwards from his chest, where the barest hint of his tattoos peeks out of his top. Up, over his angular stubble-coated jaw, and finally landing on his eyes. The bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Damn it. I was wrong. There’s so much danger in looking into his gaze. Because there is nothing but sincerity there. Not even his wolf interrupts the man’s gaze on me.
A few moments later, we walk into training, where several of the warriors are already gathered. My cheeks heat when a few noses twitch, and I know they are taking in how mingled our scents are.
Fuck. I agreed to this, but now that eyes are on me and noses are putting two and two together, I can’t help the bite of shame that’s building in my chest. The warriors saw how Luca acted towards me in the past. They saw how little respect he had for me.
And now his scent mingles with mine.
I smell like poor decisions and no self-respect.
I stalk away from Luca towards my friends, Simon and Mike. Poor Simon is still a little scared to look at me right now after what happened with Luca a few days ago. That needs to end.
“Hey guys,” I chirp, forcing a cheery tone I don’t remotely feel into my voice. “We haven’t hung out in way too long. You fancy coming with me and Emily for drinks tomorrow night?”
They exchange glances with one another before looking past me. “Are you… uh… sure your mate is okay with us hanging out?” Mike asks. I look over my shoulder to see Luca glowering at our exchange.
“Well, I really don’t give a fuck what he thinks,” I grit out. “We’re spending time together, but even if I accept him—and it’s a big if—Luca will never have a say in who I hang out with. You guys are my friends.”
They still look sheepish when I add, “I promise I won’t let him disembowel anyone. And the first round is on me.”
My wolf purrs a moment before Luca’s scent surrounds me. Simon’s face goes ashen, and he instantly bares his neck in submission.
“Seriously, Simon?” I groan. He’s a strong warrior, so why is he acting like an omega facing off an alpha?
“He’s just being respectful,” Luca murmurs from behind me, wrapping an arm around my stomach and pulling me flush against him. “And we’ll have no problems as long as everyone stays that way. Simon knows we’re together now. He won’t overstep your friendship anymore. Right?”
Both warriors nod quickly. “Yes, Beta,” they stammer before retreating.
I glare up at Luca, who looks smug as hell. “Back off, Beta,” I snap.
Luca’s eyebrows scrunch up in confusion before he announces to the group to start warming up. “Come with me, mate,” he says before grabbing my hand and leading me to the small office at the back of the training hall.
“Are you trying to humiliate me? Trying to make me look like I have no self-respect?” I whisper-yell at him as soon as he closes the door behind us. I lean back against the desk and cross my arms in front of me. Emotion already clogging my throat and stinging my eyes.
Damn it. He gets under my skin in a way literally no one else ever has, and he has never noticed how upset he makes me. Because you never let him, my wolf interjects, but I push it away. It doesn’t matter if I didn’t tell him. Or show how it affected me. He should have known.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asks, as if none of this makes any sense.
Like I’m overreacting. Like it’s totally normal for him to act as though he has any say in who I hang out with.
He’s unbelievable. “I thought we were supposed to be acting like we’re together?
That was me clearing the air with your friend.
As best I can when you don’t have my damn mark on your neck. ”
He wants to play dumb? He can hear exactly what I think.
“You put me down for years,” I snap, pushing him back when he attempts to crowd me against the desk.
“You made me out to be this pampered pack princess who didn’t want to work or train.
You made everyone see me that way. First because you babied me, and then because you acted like you hated the sight of me. ”
My voice rises with every word, a tight thread pulled too far. “And now you’re going to pull that possessive bullshit? You have nothing to lose here, Luca. Everyone respects you! It’s different for me. I’ve had to fight for everything, and I’m not prepared to lose that now.”
My words hang between us, heavy and sharp.
His jaw flexes as my rant builds, and he drops his eye contact, looking at the floor instead.
He doesn’t argue. Doesn’t spit back a retort the way he always does.
His breathing comes in heavy pants, and his shoulders sag.
The scent of him takes on a damp, earthy scent…
almost like remorse? But no, he’s never got it before. Why would it be any different now?