But I do.
Because Landon is watching. At least that is what I tell myself as I fall into the feel of his mouth on mine. Before my body refuses to let my head tell me lies.
The kiss is not soft. It isn’t careful. It’s a fucking statement. And it makes me breathless and ready for more as I tremble in his arms. When he finally pulls away, his breath is ragged, his grip still firm, as if he’s fighting himself.
I blink up at him, my mind struggling to catch up, my lips still tingling. “What the hell was that?”
His jaw is tight, his pupils blown wide. I know I won’t be happy about what he’s about to say, just by the way he avoids looking directly at me.
“Protecting you.”
CHAPTER 13
Landon
I knewit was going to be hard.
I knew coming here wouldn’t be simple. Hell, it took me two weeks to get the fucking courage after what my stupid insecurities put her through. If I could take it back now, I would. But there’s no use crying over spilt milk. It’s time to face the music.
But nothing could have prepared me for this.
I see her before she sees me. And for a split second—just one—I let myself believe there’s still a chance. That I haven't destroyed everything by kissing Mason’s sister. Who still wants to murder me, by the way.
Then she looks at me.
And the second our eyes lock, I feel it all over again. That pull. That ache. That undeniable connection that should have never broken in the first place.
Her scent crashes over me, and I can breathe again after two months of suffocating. But she freezes when she sees me. Not in relief. Not in hope.
In shock. In horror.
And then—before I can say a word, before I can move, another alpha gets to her first.
He moves without hesitation, stepping in as if he’s always belonged there. He kisses her. Not a chaste kiss. Not a tentative, uncertain brush of lips.
A claim.
Possessive. Deep. A statement.
Something inside me shatters.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t move.
Willow who was mine—that should have always been mine—is kissing someone else.
And the worst part is she kisses him back, absolutely melting into him. It guts me.
It takes everything inside me not to grab her. Not to pull her away and demand to know what the hell happened. Because this isn’t right. This isn’t supposed to be happening.
Even if it was my doing.
God, I'm so stupid.
I came all the way here to fix this. To grovel as much as I need. Do whatever the hell it takes to make her forgive me.
And I’m too late. Who am I kidding, I was too late the second I grabbed Dee and kissed her. I deserve this. If she felt even a fraction of what I’m feeling now when I kissed someone else in front of her, I understand why she hates me.
