Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 75

Chapter 75: 0075

Kaelen POV

"Alpha..."

Damn it.

Her voice rang out from behind me, and I immediately picked up my pace. All I wanted was to avoid her. Not forever, but at least until this guilt stopped clawing at me every time I looked at her. So why the hell was she chasing after me?

"Alpha Kaelen," she called again, quickening her steps.

By the time she caught up, we had reached a quieter part of the grounds where only a handful of people lingered nearby.

"You’re avoiding me."

I kept walking.

When I still didn’t respond, she rushed in front of me, cutting off my path and forcing me to stop. Unable to stand the weight of her gaze, I kept my eyes lowered, but she let out an irritated scoff at my silence.

Before I could even process what she was doing, she reached up, grabbed my face, and forced my head toward her.

The moment her hands touched my skin, my entire body locked up.

Her palms were soft and warm, and for one brief second, every coherent thought in my head disappeared. Even my wolf went strangely still, completely thrown off balance by something as simple as her touch.

"What is it?" she demanded, her green eyes flashing with frustration. "Why are you doing this?"

That did it.

Whatever restraint I had been desperately holding onto finally snapped.

My hands shot up and wrapped around both of her wrists in a firm grip. In one swift movement, I backed her against the stone wall and pinned her hands securely above her head.

Her eyes widened.

I could see the nervousness she was trying so hard to hide. The slight tremble of her lower lip. The way her chest rose and fell with quicker breaths. The faint uncertainty flickering behind those stubborn green eyes.

And yet she still kept pushing me.

"You’re making this really hard for me," I whispered.

My voice came out rougher than intended, dropping into a low, dangerous register that barely sounded like my own.

Keeping one hand around her wrists, I lifted my free hand and gripped her jaw, forcing her chin upward until her face was only inches from mine.

The sweet, intoxicating scent of her surrounded me instantly. It was impossible to ignore.

Every breath I took only made it worse.

The narrow corridor suddenly felt too small, the space between us too tight, and the control I had been fighting to maintain felt like it was hanging by a thread.

I wanted her. That thought made my jaw tighten.

I wanted to close the distance between us.

I wanted to crush my mouth against hers and finally remind myself what her soft lips tasted like.

But that was exactly why I had been avoiding her.

Because the longer I stayed near her, the harder it became to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t.

"You’re making this really hard for me too," she shot back, even though her voice came out shaky.

I raised a brow and stared down at her. "Am I?"

For all I knew, I was doing her a massive favor by keeping my distance.

I’d seen how happy and relaxed she was with Darius out on the field and how her gaze always seemed to fall into an anxious stillness whenever I was around.

The difference in how she treated the two of us was too obvious to ignore.

Besides, rumors were already spreading among the orphanage staff that the two of them were together, something Darius had smugly rubbed in my face earlier.

"Yeah," she said, gulping nervously as her eyes flickered down to my lips before snapping back up. "All I wanted was to properly thank you for the tutor. It really meant a lot to me, and I figured it was only fair that I told you to your face, but..."

So that was it.

She wasn’t seeing me any differently. She was just grateful.

Why did that sting so damn badly?

Why was I suddenly getting greedy and expecting something more from her when I hadn’t put in nearly enough effort to earn it?

I was being pathetic.

"Okay," I said finally, loosening my grip on her wrists slightly, though I still didn’t let her go.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify