Alpha's Regret: The Luna He Betrayed

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The King Who Waited

KIERAN

I'd wanted to tell her that I understood better than she knew, that my wolf's claim on her had been as overwhelming for me as it had been for her. But I couldn't force out the words from my mouth, the only thing that I was able to do and surprised that she even let me was wipe the tears off her face.

The contact alone sent shivers down my spine and I could see her body shiver as well, a soft moan escaping her lips as she leaned closer towards me.

Against my better judgement, knowing fully well that this was going to be intense for her to stay away from me since she just got her wolf and I had been controlling mine for two years.

I let desperation, and desire take over me as I pulled her into a kiss.

The kiss had been inevitable at this point. Two years of fighting, of denying the pull between us, of pretending that the mate bond wasn't real had piled up in that moment.

She tasted like champagne and defiance and when she pulled me flush against her body, instead of pushing me away, I had lost the battle.

I had no idea how we didn't get seen at all because from one second we were standing, kissing and the next I was pushing her onto my bed on the fourth floor and I don't remember moving. Or taking a break from kissing her to sneak her inside.

But I knew one thing. Making love to her had been everything I'd dreamed of and nothing I'd expected. She'd been innocent, uncertain of what she was doing, and burying myself in her tight cavern made us both scream in pleasure. I felt her hymen tearing as the sweet scent of blood filled the air but the suction was too great, as I hit her g-spot immediately making her o****m.

Her claws dug into my back as I claimed her mouth again, swallowing her screams. Tears were rolling down her eyes but it wasn't from pain, only deep pleasure.

She managed to pin me below her, still buried in her hot carnal, as I held her succulent boobs as she held my shoulder and started gyrating, letting out these moans and shudder that took me intensely as well as I could not pull away.

I went harder, slamming into her from under, her screams being caught off with me winding the breath out of her and I felt my knot growing already.

I pressed it in deep and held her as she screamed, with her wolf showing up briefly in her eyes as I resisted the urge to finally mark her.

And for those few precious hours I'd thought we'd finally found our way to each other.

But morning had brought reality crashing back.

"Get out," she'd screamed, pulling the sheet around herself as if I were a stranger instead of her mate.

"Get out and don't ever touch me again!"

"Seraphina, last night—"

"Last night was a mistake," she'd spat, her silver hair wild and her eyes blazing with fury.

"A drunken mistake that will never happen again."*

I'd tried to explain, tried to make her understand that what we'd shared had been perfect, that it proved we could be happy together if we only took a chance and let our hearts lead instead of our brains. Just because we were forced to marry each other doesn't mean that we couldn't genuinely be in love. But she'd been beyond listening, beyond reasoning, trapped in her own anger and fear.

Two weeks later, she'd run.

The memory of that day still had the power to bring me to my knees.

Standing at the altar in front of hundreds of witnesses, watching my mate shift and leap through a stained glass window rather than speak her vows. The humiliation had been crushing, but it was nothing compared to the pain of losing her.

For five years, I'd carried that pain. I'd refused every attempt at matchmaking, and ignored every suggestion that I choose a new mate.

My advisors had grown increasingly frustrated as eligible females threw themselves at me, only to be politely but firmly rejected.

The worst part had been learning about her marriage to Marcus Sullivan six months after she'd disappeared.

The news had nearly broken me, the knowledge that she'd chosen some minor Alpha over the mate bond we shared. My wolf had howled for days, and I'd seriously considered declaring war on the Milbrook Pack just to have an excuse to see her again.

But I'd restrained myself. If Seraphina wanted to pretend to be human, to live a small life with a small man, then I would let her. I would wait, and hope, and try to build a kingdom worthy of her eventual return.

Because despite everything, I'd never stop believing she would come back to me.

Tonight, I'd finally decided to give up that hope. I'd brought Jessica—Jennifer?—home with the intention of moving on, of accepting that my mate was lost to me forever. It had been a disaster, of course. My wolf had rejected her completely, and I felt like I was betraying something sacred.

Then her message had arrived.

Three words that changed everything: "I need to talk."

I'd stared at that text for nearly an hour, my heart racing as I tried to decode the meaning. Was she in trouble? Had something happened to her marriage? Did she finally understand what she'd walked away from?

There was only one way to find out.

I hit the call button, my hands shaking as I waited for her to answer. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and with each ring my anxiety grew. What if she'd changed her mind? What if—

"Who the hell is 'Jerk of the Century'?" a male voice demanded, and I recognized Marcus Sullivan's voice immediately.

So she still had me saved under that name. Even after all these years, even after marrying another man, she'd kept my number with the petty insult she'd assigned me when she was eighteen and angry. The knowledge should have hurt, but instead it filled me with something like hope.

She'd kept my number. She'd unblocked it. She'd reached out.

That had to mean something.

"Put her on the phone," I said, my voice carrying the authority of someone who'd been born to rule. "Now."

There was a pause, the sound of whispered conversation, and then her voice came through the speaker—soft, careful, and more beautiful than I'd remembered.

"Hello, Kieran," she said, and my wolf practically purred at the sound of his name on her lips. "I think it's time we talked."

"Seraphina," I breathed, five years of longing and pain and desperate hope packed into those four syllables. "Thank the Moon Goddess you finally called. I've been waiting for you to come home."

"Where are you?" I asked, already reaching for my clothes. "I'll come to you."

"I'm in Millbrook," she said, and I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. "But Kieran, things are... complicated."

"I don't care how complicated," I said, pulling on my shirt with one hand while holding the phone with the other. "I'm coming to get you."

"You can't just—"

"Watch me," I interrupted, my wolf surging with protective instincts. "Whatever's happening, whatever you need, I'm here. I've always been here.".

"I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry it took me so long to remember that."

As I grabbed my keys and headed for the door, I felt something I hadn't experienced in five years: hope. My mate had finally called me home, and nothing—not her husband, not her human life, not five years of separation—was going to keep me from answering that call.

The Lycan King was going to reclaim his Luna, and heaven help anyone who tried to stand in my way.