Chapter 10
1103 Words
Arlenna's POV
Was that jealousy in Orion's tone?
I blinked, I was feeling suffocated. My eyes moved to him, uncertain.
There was something in the way he stood, something in the way his voice sounded.
"Is that so?" Alpha Erik said. "I don't remember you being the one to decide that."
Orion stepped closer to Alpha Erik.
“Maybe not," he said. "But I'm not going to let you pressure her into something she doesn't want."
"And who told you I don't want it?" I asked him.
Orion looked at me then, long and deep. I could definitely read his eyes.
Alpha Erik let out a low laugh. "She has a life outside being your sister, Orion."
"You don't know her better than I do," Orion shot back.
I could see where this was going and I had to stop it before he said something he'd regret.
"Orion, stop!" I snapped.
Just then, like she’d been waiting for the perfect moment, Nimara walked up to us.
"My love," she cooed, walking straight to Orion. She kissed him gently, her lips brushing his like she’d done it a thousand times.
But his eyes never left mine.
Even as she kissed him, even as her hand settled on his chest, he was still looking at me.
Nimara turned toward Alpha Erik, her smile still intact. "I'm Nimara," she said brightly. "Orion’s fiancée."
"Oh," Alpha Erik said, a small smile playing on his lips. "What a pleasure meeting you."
Then he turned back to Orion. "Why not focus on you and your beautiful fiancée and leave Arlenna to make her decisions?"
"One would think you are being overly protective of your sister," Alpha Erik added.
"It's my duty to protect her," Orion said, straight and firm.
"I didn’t ask for your protection!" I said sharply.
Nimara blinked, clearly taken aback. She looked from Orion to me, then tried to smooth things over with a nervous little chuckle.
"Okayy..." she said softly, trying to ease the crackling air around us. "I think we should go inside and give them some privacy."
She turned to Orion and whispered something I couldn’t hear.
But Orion wasn’t moving.
His eyes were still on me, questioning, waiting. He didn’t have to say anything. I already knew what he wanted to ask.
"Yes," I said, lifting my chin. "I want to be alone with him."
He stood there a moment longer, torn, staring at me and Alpha Erik like he was burning the image into his memory.
"My love..." Nimara called him again, her hand sliding down his arm.
He finally turned away and walked into the house with her, leaving us alone.
"Is that how overprotective your stepbrother is over you? Or am I just overthinking things?" Alpha Erik asked.
I didn’t answer right away. I stood with my back to him, breathing slowly, willing my heart to calm down.
Then I cleared my throat and turned to face him.
"He’s just... worried about me," I said softly.
Alpha Erik raised a brow. "One would say he was almost getting jealous."
I choked on my own breath.
"N-no..." I coughed, trying to find my voice.
"Are you okay?" he asked. He placed a warm hand on my back and gently patted.
"Yes... yes... I'm fine," I said, gulping hard. "Thank you."
Our eyes met. For a moment, neither of us said anything.
"You've got beautiful eyes, Arlenna.”
His hand reached up slowly, as his fingers brushed a stray strand of hair off my face.
I gulped again.
Then he stepped closer.
I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe.
His face was so close I could feel the warmth of his breath.
His lips came gently to mine. Not rushed. Not demanding. Just... soft.
He kissed me.
Slow and gentle. Like a whisper. Like something he’d waited to do.
And I... I let him.
I closed my eyes and felt everything: the brush of his fingers on my cheek, the firmness of his lips, the tremble in my chest.
For a second, the world fell away. No Orion. No Nimara. No confusion.
Just his lips on mine and the sound of my own heartbeat.
But only for a second.
Because when he pulled back and looked into my eyes, I didn’t feel the same flutter.
I felt... lost.
And I didn’t know why.
I... I have to go.”
"I want you at my place for dinner tomorrow," Alpha Erik said.
Just like that. Like he was stating the weather. No emotion, no room for questions. A command, not a request.
It was the way he said things. Like the world had to bow.
I managed a weak smile and gave a small nod before turning and walking back inside.
My legs moved, but my head felt full—full of thoughts, of feelings I wasn’t ready to name. My lips still tingled from the kiss.
“What a day!” I muttered to myself as I climbed the stairs.
I didn't want to see Mother. Not tonight. She would only remind me again that the clock was ticking.
That the secret I carried needed to be masked by a marriage before the whispers grew loud enough to echo across the pack.
Pregnant and unmated? A disgrace.
A scandal.
A young girl like me? They'd call me all sorts of things.
A slut, mostly.
That's what they called us—those who got caught before the mating ceremony sealed our fate in gold.
And Mother... Mother would do anything to make sure I was married off properly.
Pack a smile with my dress, knot a bow around me, and trade me to the wealthiest Alpha willing to marry me.
I pushed my door open and—
"Oh my goddess!" I gasped, grabbing my chest. My heart nearly leapt out of my body.
“Orion!"
He was standing in the middle of my room, arms folded, eyes burning into me like he had every right.
"So you just go around kissing every guy that comes your way?"
“What the hell are you doing in my room?"
He stepped closer. "I asked you a question."
"And I asked you one too," I snapped back.
"Don't answer me with another question, Arlenna."
"Why does what I do bother you so much?" I asked him, raising my chin. "Aren’t you happy with Nimara? Isn’t she everything you want?"
"Do you really want to know why it bothers me so much?!" he snapped, stepping forward with the kind of fire in his eyes that made my knees want to give in.
“Do you?!!”
- Writer
