19
CALEB
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
My father’s hot breath tickles my ear as I watch a blonde woman in a black silky dress walk directly towards us. I tense at her blue eyes and the way they pin me to my spot. There’s a soft smile on her lips as her heels click against the floor.
“Imagine what your children would look like,” Ryker mutters with a savage grin. “We could take over the world.”
It’s the last thing I want to think of.
I narrow my eyes as she stops directly in front of us.
“Celia,” Ryker says as he drags his eyes over the young woman, lingering on specific body parts for a little too long. “I’d like you to meet my son, Caleb.”
My teeth clamp down on the inside of my cheek as Celia watches me intently. She’s beautiful, I can admit that. But she’s not what I want.
I immediately turn my gaze to my father as he continues to talk.
“Well.” He nudges me. “Give her a kiss. Don’t be rude.”
A growl crawls up my throat, but I push it away.
I lean forward and brush my lips over her cheek softly as she holds onto my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Celia.”
“The pleasure is mine, Caleb.”
“Go, mingle, fuck. I don’t care.” Ryker chuckles, and it turns my stomach sour. “Don’t mess this up, son.”
I place my hand on Celia’s back and guide her away from my father. She flutters her dark lashes and offers a smile. I force one back because I know he’s watching, and I don’t need his wrath later.
But it’s all wrong, all forced, all shameful.
My head tips back automatically as my senses heighten. I’m not surprised when my eyes land on Evan’s face. He’s staring back at me with an expression that screams of envy and sadness, and it makes my skin crawl so aggressively that I want to cut it off.
For a moment, the party around us starts to slow and blur as I lock eyes with him. I swallow the lump in my throat at how ravishing he looks in his black suit and bowtie. His curly hair is glossy as it hangs over his forehead, and the apples of his cheeks are slightly flushed.
After forcing myself to tear my eyes away, everything comes back to life around me. The loudness of the party echoes in my ears, and my body trembles at the touch of another wolf that isn’t my mate.
We stop by the champagne bar, and I grab her a drink before knocking mine back without hesitation. It burns my throat and does absolutely nothing to help.
“So, Caleb,” Celia purrs with seductive eyes. “I think your father likes us together.”
I hum in response. “It seems that way.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to set me up with a woman. But unfortunately for him, I’ve never lain with a woman for pleasure, let alone to get her pregnant, and I don’t intend to.
Ryker always has ulterior motives, and having me parade this woman around is one of them. It’s all mind games with him, and I pray for the day I no longer have to worry about what’s coming next.
Celia presses a hand to my chest as my skin beneath my clothes burns—and not in a good way. “I can give you everything you want,” she whispers as she leans up onto her toes, her breath brushing over my lips. “And I meaneverything.I even think Celia Vella has a ring to it.”
I resist the urge to grimace at her touch and words because she couldn’t be more wrong.
This woman can’t give me anything I want.
She’s not Evan.
I blink back the thought and try my hardest to get him out of my head. If my father sees I’m distracted, it could end terribly. So, I keep my walls as high as possible and pay attention to Celia as she pouts her shiny lips at me.
