Page 93 of Alpha Gray

I heave a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger and pressing my eyes closed. “I don’t know, Fallon. Probably because she wants to be Luna like every other unmated female in the pack.”

I take a breath, then force my eyes open, staring down at Fallon again. “She’s Holly’s cousin, and Holly tried to push us together when Hannah turned eighteen. But I swear to you I’ve never been interested in her, and the moon’s confirmed we aren’t mates.”

“Hannah is Holly’s cousin?” Fallon asks, scrunching her nose.

Is that really all she picked up from my explanation?

I blow out a breath. “Yeah. The green eyes, the curly hair… you didn’t know that?”

She shakes her head.

My mind is absolutely spinning. How did this go off the rails so fast? How can I make this better?I have to make this better.

“Fallon, Baby,” I say, grabbing her face in my hands again and staring down into her wide blue eyes. “Whatever she told you, it’s a lie. Fuck, after everything, don’t you trust me?”

Trust is a fickle thing, but from the way her expression softens, the way she drags one of her hands up to rest on the back of mine, it seems like she does.

I swallow hard, my throat gravelly. “I’m fucking crazy about you, Fallon. Can’t you see that?”

Perhaps for the first time, it’s Fallon who throws her arms around my neck, rising up on her toes and pressing her lips to mine. I’m so surprised that I almost tip backwards, but I catch myself and wrap an arm around her waist instead, pulling her body into mine roughly as I twine my tongue with hers.

I slide my other hand back from Fallon’s face to tangle in her hair, devouring her kiss like a starving man. As always when I’m around her, my dick’s already standing at attention, pressing into her thigh as I continue my relentless assault on her mouth.

Fallon moans a little, pulling back, sliding her palms down to my chest and steadying herself as she blinks up at me.

“But what about the moon?” Her voice comes out quiet, barely a whisper.

I shake my head. “I don’t care about that,” I growl. “I mean, I hope you’ll stay, but I don’t need the moon, or fate, or anyone else to tell me what I want.”

Fallon bites her lip, nodding. “Okay.”

“So you’ll stay?”

“Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know.”

The corner of my mouth tips up into an amused smile. “So you’ll think about it?”

“Yeah,” she breathes, and as soon as the word leaves her lips mine are on them again, bruising them with my kiss, savoring her mouth as my tongue dances with hers and her body melts into mine.

I want to have her right here, right now, but with everything that’s happened I know we should probably take a beat. Reluctantly, I pull back from the kiss, cupping her face in a hand and running the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip.

“So are we good?” I ask tentatively.

Her cheeks flush. “Yeah.”

Fallon takes my hand, lifting it off of her face and holding it in hers for a moment, pressing a kiss to my palm. “I’ve gotta get back,” she sighs. “The longer I’m missing, the more questions my friends will have.”

I wrap my arms around her body again, pulling her in tightly. I’m so fucking relieved that we’ve cleared the air. I manned up and told her how I feel, and it seems like we’re on the same page again. And she’s considering staying for the full moon, so mission accomplished, I think?

I drop a kiss on the top of Fallon’s head. It doesn’t feel weird or unnatural this time, it just feels right.

After a moment, she pushes at my chest, wriggling away from me again. She has a wicked little smirk on her lips, a devilish twinkle in her eye as she takes a step backwards. Looks like her fire’s back.

“Get back to the complex, recruit,” I grumble, grinning.

She brings two fingers to her forehead in a cheeky little salute, spinning around and hopping out of the way before I can slap her ass. She starts jogging back to the gate, leaving me standing there to eat my heart out as I watch her go.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

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