บททั้งหมดของ whispers beneath the moon: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

It’s been four days.Ninety-six hours.Five thousand, seven hundred and sixty minutes.Three hundred and forty-five thousand, six hundred fucking seconds.And I still can’t get her out of my head.I’ve tried. Goddess knows I’ve tried. Buried myself in work, drowned in council meetings, trained until my fists split open. But nothing silences her voice in my head. Nothing dulls the feel of her, the scent of her, the way she looked at me like I was something cruel and unworthy.And maybe I am.The worst part?She hasn’t even looked at me since.Not really. Not the way I need her to. Like she sees me. Like she wants me. I think it’s probably on my part—I never apologized for kissing her and probably making her feelings seem worthless—but I doubt that’s why my angel keeps looking at me like I stabbed a dagger through her heart without feeling remorse. I can’t stand the look in her eyes. It hurts me more than it does her. And you know what? I’m a fucking bastard if it took four days before

I stood in front of her door like a fucking idiot.No guards. No witnesses. Just me and the soft scent of vanilla and cocoa butter that leaked from the crack beneath the wood. Her scent. Penelope. Sweet and sinful, soft and haunting—the only scent that ever made my wolf purr and snarl at the same time.I’d been here for forty goddamn minutes.Forty minutes of standing here like some deranged fool... waiting... hoping... aching.Ten minutes of staring at this door, waiting like a dog for a scrap of attention. Like some useless pup too afraid to knock. Too afraid she wouldn’t open it at all. I wasn’t even sure if she was back from her duties. I hadn’t dared to check. Coward.Pathetic.I raked a hand through my hair, forcing myself to breathe as Damon snarled low and bitter in the back of my mind.You’re Alpha, he spat. Not some spineless mutt sniffing at her door. Knock. Look for her. Claim her. Make her yours or get the fuck away from here.But I couldn’t.Because for the first time in

His thumb traced my bottom lip. Slow. Burning. Like he owned the right to touch me like this. Like I was already his, and he knew it.I jerked my face away. My chest rose, quick and panicked.“Stop it,” I whispered.But he didn’t. Of course he didn’t.His other hand braced the wall beside my head, caging me there. His body heat rolled over me, tightening the knot in my stomach until it felt like I couldn’t breathe.“Say it,” Alex murmured, voice low, rough, coaxing. “Who the hell do you think I’m in love with?”I bit my lip, hard. My throat burned. My heart cracked, splintering right there in my chest.“Don’t play stupid,” I whispered. “You know who. You call her name in your sleep.”His brow furrowed—sharp. Confused. Angry.He bit my ear, nuzzling into my neck. “Unless you speak up, angel, I doubt I’ll understand. I say your name a lot in my sleep,” he said, his hand still in my shirt—except they were no longer on my spine. More of my bra strap. God, how does he want me to concentrat

Morning bleeds into my office like a weak, useless thing. The light spills across my desk, across the piles of untouched paperwork. None of it matters. None of it has since last night.I haven’t moved in an hour.My hands are clenched into fists, knuckles white, the veins in my arms taut and throbbing as I stare blankly at the wall. But all I see is her.Penelope.I can still feel her. Her taste is on my tongue, her scent curling in my lungs, thick and sweet and maddening. The way she arched into my hand, the broken little sounds she made when she came apart on my fingers... Fuck. My cock stirs at the memory, hard and aching, as if her body still clings to me, still soaks my skin. She’s imprinted in my bones now—marked without a bite, claimed without a word.I thought it would ease the hunger.It hasn’t. It’s worse. So much worse.I close my eyes, dragging air into my lungs, but it’s useless. All I can breathe is her. Her heat. Her soft gasps. The desperate way she clawed at me when s

Moonlight painted the room in silver shadows, soft and cruel. The door shut behind me with a click that felt final, binding. My throat worked as I swallowed hard, heart thundering in my chest."So brave," Alex murmured behind me, his breath stirring the sensitive hairs at the nape of my neck. "Coming here dressed like this... teasing me all day. Smiling at other males. Do you like that, angel? Do you like seeing me furious, bothered... barely holding myself back? Do you want me to bend you over in front of everyone and show them who you really belong to?"His hand slid down my bare arm, slow and dangerous. Cherry purred in the back of my mind, wicked and amused. Let him. Let him teach you who you belong to."Or maybe," his voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper, lips at my ear, "you want them all to watch. Watch as I make you beg. Make you cry. Make you mine."Heat coiled deep in my belly, wicked and sharp. My body trembled, breath hitching. I wanted to deny him. I couldn't.He ste