On Heat for The Cursed Alpha

Chapter Three

Lola’s POV

I seem to think I have nine lives, because why on earth did I think telling Alpha Kael of the Blackwater Pack, not to get close, is totally fine?

His silver hair glimmers under the sun, despite being wet as pulls himself closer to me. This is the first time I am seeing him this close in all seventeen years of my existence, and it is because Alpha Kael is usually closed off to the public.

To the pack.

The council is the bridge between the pack house and the rest of us, so there is usually no reason for us to see the Alpha directly.

Until apparently, now.

He looks at me like a wounded animal, but for some reason, his eyes make me shiver, making me take another step back. “Sorry,” I whimper, immediately hating the sound of my voice. “I didn’t know anyone else came here.”

Alpha Kael ignores that.

“I heard the rumors.”

Another step closer to me. “Are they true?”

“What rumors?” I whisper, unable to use the true extent of my voice for some reason. Alpha Kael’s presence is imposing. I am aware of nothing else other than him.

My eyes follow every trace of his perfectly sculpted body, from the way the water beads on his skin, rolling until it disappears beneath the band of his shorts, to his eyes, green and piercing, almost like he can read into my soul.

I take a shaky breath in and blink. He is saying something, but I must have zoned out.

“What?”

His lips quiver into a smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes. “The girl rejected because of her instability.”

“What?” The tone is different. It is one of disbelief, so much so that I forget myself and take a step towards him. “Where did you hear that from?”

“I might not be the most involved in pack activities,” he admits, his green eyes directly above me now that I have gotten closer. “But I hear things. And this one bothers me.”

“You have no reason to be bothered,” I hear myself say before I can stop myself. My hands fly to my mouth at once and my eyes widen in surprise. “Alpha Kael…”

“It’s Kael.”

I shake my head. “I cannot call you…”

“It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.” He reaches to my side and I flinch. The smirk appears on his lips again as he retracts his hand. A t-shirt follows. One that he throws over his body, shielding it from view.

A groan escapes my lips and something dark caresses his features. “Lola,” he whispers, my name falling off his lips like a line of fervent prayer. I am surprised that he really knows me, more than the whispers spreading around the pack.

But I hate what it does to me.

Heat pools in the pit of my stomach and my pupils grow dilated. I want to close my eyes and breathe him in. I wish he will come closer. No. He shouldn’t.

Releasing a shaky breath, I try to keep my eyes open, to not allow the heat pull me under. But suddenly, it is insistent, the worst I have ever experienced. My lips part open slightly and I tell myself to turn around and return home.

But my feet refuse to listen to me.

And he knows it.

He sees it.

“Lola,” he whispers again, edging towards me. I have no idea how long the dance happens, until my back hits the trunk of the tree. My sketch pad drops from my hands and the wind picks up the pages, rustling them and stopping at the least polite one.

I know when his eyes go to the floor, and I wait for that familiar response. For his eyes to take me in again and judge me instantly. But nothing changes. Not the look in his eyes or the unreadable expression on his face.

Daring to look at my own sketch, my eyes find it. It was done right at this spot, only three days ago, while I watched the lake in all its beauty.

Only his hands are visible, as if reaching from the end of the leaf. It snakes around her neck, her eyes partially closed and her head pulled back to give him more room.

His other hand is on her waist, as if pulling her close to him. There are waves all around them, signifying the one thing that has plagued me since I came of age. My irregular heating periods.

Alpha Kael’s eyes find mine again. They look darker, more imposing. “Nice sketch,” he whispers, his eyes dropping to my lips. I take in a shaky breath, my pulse racing underneath my skin. I want to end this.

I wish I could.

The heat season sings around us, an unseen thread weaving itself. He places a hand directly above my head. “You should be careful how often you come here,” he drawls, his tone dropping. “The scent of an unmated wolf is…alluring.”

I dare to look into his eyes again, and immediately, I wish I did not make that stupid decision. Because now, I can’t look away.

“I know how to stay away from them,” I whisper, ignoring how hard my heart thuds against my chest, as if trying to claw its way out. “I stick to the trees and use them as camouflage.”

He laughs, but it does nothing to dampen the heat that has entrapped us both. “Either the wolves roaming these woods have malfunctioning senses, or you do one hell of a hiding. Because this scent, Lola, can drive even the most uninterested of wolves out of hiding.”

Alpha Kael leans in and closes his eyes, taking a long whiff. My eyes flutter close too and I angle my head, just like in my sketch, to give him better access.

I should stop this, yet a shiver runs through my spine when I feel his fingers graze my neck. They draw delicate circles into my skin and I feel like I am going to combust into flames.

But then, suddenly, the air from the water hits, causing me to shiver slightly. When I open my eyes, I am the only one standing under the tree with only the memory of what just happened lingering.