Page 94 of The Forbidden Alpha

“We’re fine, Leila. Please watch over the pack. I need to stay here with Celine,” I heard him say. Lucas gave her some instructions before I listened to the door close. A few seconds later, I heard his approaching footsteps again.

He sat beside me and started treating my wounds. His eyebrows are furrowed while dabbing the cotton on my wound. I jolted and scrunched my nose.

“Shh…hey, it’s fine, I’ll be gentle…” he said in a consoling voice while softly blowing my ear.

I looked at him intensely. My tears have finally started to flow. He must have felt that I was staring, so he looked up as well and met my gaze. Once again, I saw those gentle looks in his eyes. It was the same look that made my heart go wild. It was the reason I fell for him, that even though he was ruthless on the outside, he was capable of loving and gentle on the inside.

But now, I’m not sure anymore. He’s confusing the hell out of me. I wanted to lash at him again, but I also felt tired. I am so tired of pouring all my feelings out, yet everything was still confusing.

“Aren’t you tired?” I finally asked.

“What?” he asked and stopped for a bit.

I looked at him blankly. “Pretending to care for me,” I spat and tasted the bitterness in my mouth.

His mouth slightly parted. “What are you talking about?”

I hissed. “Stop pretending as you care for me when you really don’t. You’re just hurting me more,” I said, my eyes starting to sting again.

“Celine!” he exclaimed in disbelief. I harshly wiped my tears.

“What?! Haven’t you heard enough? Lucas, I am so done ranting about why I feel like this! I am so done telling you my problem, and you don’t even listen! You’re an asshole! I hate you!” I started hitting him on the chest as the new batch of tears fell from my eyes again.

“Celine! Hey!” he tried to contain my hands, but I still hit him. Damn this, Alpha! I hate him! I hate how he managed to hurt me beyond repair! I thought I was done being broken, but fuck! “Celine! Come on, listen to me!”

“I don’t want to! I have been waiting for you to talk, but you didn’t!”

“Celine! Hey, stop!” I still kept on hitting him as I continued to cry. “Damn it, listen!”

“I don’t want to. I hate -”

“Celine! Fuck. I love you! I love you, okay?! I fucking love you!”

He immediately held both of my hands and looked me in the eyes. I stopped hitting him. His jaw was clenched as he carefully cupped my face. My mouth parted in shock, and I couldn’t move as I stared at him. He was also staring at me intently. There was a hint of pain in his eyes.

I was too stunned to speak. What did he say?

“Fuck. You don’t know how much I have been holding back my feelings this whole time. You don’t know how fucking hard it was for me, Celine. We both feel frustrated…my love.”

Chapter Fifty-Six

I didn’t know how long we were just staring at each other. Lucas leaned his forehead on mine. My heart won’t stop beating violently as I listened to his breathing. Damn it. All the frustrations, anger, disappointments, and pain I felt earlier dissipated into thin air when he confessed his feelings for me.

Shit, is this really happening?

With just those three words, I felt renewed. Like all the sleepless nights I spent in the last days did not matter. The only thing that I could think of was the fact that both of us felt the same way about each other.

My tears started to trickle down my cheeks again. But this time, it wasn’t because of pain or frustrations anymore. Now, these tears reflect the relief and tranquility I felt for finally being loved back for the first time in my life.

My mind was devoid of any thoughts other than him and this moment that we have right now. Suddenly, I felt like the concepts of war and chaos did not exist; staring at his deep blue eyes made me think solely about how happy I was to be loved by him and how I also deeply loved him.

He briefly closed his eyes before sighing. Then he withdrew his face from me to fix the medicine kit. Once he neatly put it on a nearby table, he went to sit beside me again.

“Damn it, please don’t ever do that again. I’m afraid to lose you,” he gently said and caressed my face.

The drums within my chest beat louder than ever before. I used to only feel fear when I was with him. Before, I would often distance myself from him because I couldn’t handle his intimidating presence. But now, my heart is screaming about how much I love him and want to always be near him.

“Lucas…” I said breathily.