Page 23 of The Alpha's Temptation

I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed for a long time until there were no more tears left.

How could this be normal? How could wolves just kill each other without remorse? Mom had raised me to be so kind, to live a quiet life in the trees, to love others even when they didn’t love me. And to be thrust into this life seven months ago with Dad telling me that this was how he lived, that this was howIneeded to learn to live too?

I… I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t want to kill anyone ever again.

“What was that power?” Caelan finally asked.

“It was my wolf,” I said without hesitation.

“No,” he said. “It’s not your wolf.”

“It has to be.”

“Those powers do not come from our pack,” he said. “I’ve never seen them before.”

“Then… what is it?”

He drew his tongue across his teeth and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

My entire body stiffened in his arms. “But I’m a wolf.”

“Are you?” he asked.

While Mom might’ve raised me my entire life, she had always told me about Dad and his pack, always told me that I’d transform into a wolf one day. I had been a wolf since the moment I was born, and we had a mate bond to prove it.

Fury built up inside me, and I shoved my hands into his chest and found myself racing across the room to pick up my clothes to put them back on. I didn’t know why his words hurt so much, but… but maybe it was because…

“You know I’m a wolf,” I said. “You feel the bond too. I know you do.”

He sat up and leaned against the headboard, running a hand through his hair. “Livia, I do, but–”

“But we can never be together. Blah, blah, blah. I know that, you stupid fucking–”

“But we need to figure this out,” he said, suddenly out of the bed and at my side. He grabbed my hands and forced me to look up into those golden brown eyes. “Because if we don’t, then you’re going to get yourself killed.”

CHAPTER 16

LIVIA

“Get up, Livia,”Caelan said from the edge of the bed. “We have to go.”

I slowly blinked my eyes open and held an arm up to block the blaring light. It must’ve been midday at the latest, and while we probably should’ve left hours ago, I didn’t know if I had the energy in me to make the trek today. My entire body was aching, my mind like mush.

“Please, another hour,” I whimpered. “Everything hurts.”

“No,” he said, yanking the blankets off me. “We have to go.”

The heat still lingered deep inside me, but at least it wasn’t as bad as last night. So I slipped out of bed, tugged on some clothes that those witches must’ve left for me on the nightstand, and followed Caelan toward the kitchen.

Esma and Circe sat at the dark wooden table, their kitchen decorated with purple and black books written in languages that I couldn’t read, vials filled with red potions, and herbs scattered across the counters.

“We appreciate you allowing us to stay the night,” Caelan said. “But we must go.”

“So soon?” Esma asked, her hand wrapped around a steaming mug.

“Yes.”

“I hoped that you’d stay a little longer. I think we can help.”

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