His chosen outcast Luna

Chapter 4

As tradition dictates, I must honor him with the first dance, but not before seeking my father's permission. It's a matter of respect.

"May I?" I ask, turning to my father. For the first time today, he smiles warmly.

He gently takes my right hand and places it atop Peter's, whose hand feels strong and calloused beneath mine.

"May our Goddess bless you," my father says as Peter leads me to the dance floor.

Thankfully, Peter doesn't rush. In my heels, a quicker pace would surely have me stumbling.

As we reach the middle of the dance floor, he places his left hand on my waist, bringing me dangerously close to him and I am immediately out of breath.

All the hair on my spine rises and my n*****s harden as I get aroused. This is what aroused must feel like, right? If yes, I am loving it.

All the lights go out and while it is still dark, I feel his hands wander a little lower than I would expect a man to go on the first ‘date’.

“You are goddamn gorgeous,” he whispers in my ear and bites my earlobe in the process and my n*****s get even harder.

“I can’t wait to have you all to myself tonight,” he says and kisses my cheek, oh-so-gently.

With my right hand, which rests on his shoulder, I grab him very tightly as if trying to hang on for dear life.

As the lights are turned on again, he appears to be a true gentleman. Smiling sweetly, his hand on an acceptable part of my body and our bodies a little distanced.

I must say, I liked it better when he was closer and our bodies were touching. I felt things, I have never felt before, which made the things I felt even more intense.

The string quartet finally begins to play and shortly after, Peter starts leading the dance.

He is quite the dancer, which surprises me a little.

As we keep dancing, red rose petals start falling from the ceiling, some landing on us, some on the floor.

Peter starts sliding his left hand from my waist to my shoulder, and finally to my face. What is he planning to do?

He smiles as he gently runs his fingers through my hair, removing a few rose petals which lay on top of my head.

As my eyes meet his, I bite my lip and I swear his eyes get darker. He grips my waist again, this time even tighter.

I notice a small smirk on the side of his lip, which makes me wonder what is going on through his head.

Bringing my left hand up high, he turns me around twice, before taking me in his arms, both his hands on my waist and brings me closer to his body.

His face comes closer to mine, which leads me to think he is going to kiss me, but he turns his head a little to the right and whispers in my ear once again.

“Do not tempt me, because I don’t hold back,” he says.

Soon the music comes to an end, so we come to a halt, but do not let go of each other. Thank God for that, because I am not ready to walk away. Not after what he said.

He makes me feel weak but strong at the same time. I do not know how this is possible, but that is how I feel.

Also, I am very confused by his behavior. He is being gentle yet rough. His touch is very confusing.

Yes.

Confusing and hot.

He is confusing and hot.

Goddamn hot.

I bite my lip once again at the thought of him naked and on top of me.

“Now,” the auctioneer interrupts my reverie, which I am thankful for.

“Let’s take a few minutes to enjoy the delicacies of our beloved Eldora, before the ceremony takes place. Quartet, if you’d please!”

Peter leads me back to my table, holding my hand the whole time.

“I hope you kids had fun,” my father says as we arrive at the table.

“Your daughter is a gem, Alpha Jameson,” Peter helps me sit down, touching my neck as he does so.

“That she is, that she is,” my father says, looking proud.

“If I may return to my table, Alpha Jameson.”

“Lead the way, son. I would like to have a talk to your uncle.”

“Valerie,” he bows his head at me and before he walks away, he winks at me.

“He really seems to like you,” Joanna slides her hand up and down my arm.

“It does, doesn’t it?” I say as I watch him walk away.

“Valerie, would you care to take a walk?” Joey asks me, David and Billy watching over his shoulder.

Something is up with all of them. Am I getting a talking to?

“Of course, brother.”

I stand up, and take his extended arm.

“Is everything okay?” I ask him, but he shakes his head, meaning he doesn’t want to talk in here.

I nod and just walk with him.

I turn my head slightly to the right and my eye catches my future husband talking to my father and some other older gentleman, which leads me to believe that it may be his uncle.

I feel my cheeks blush at the sight of him, so I look away quickly, not wanting to draw attention.

The doormen hold open the entrance for us and we walk out of the tent, greeted by a very welcome cool breeze.

“Fresh air is much needed,” I smile and notice that all three of them seem very serious, which concerns me a little bit.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, looking at each of them, but do not get an answer immediately.

Joey clears his throat a couple of times, gives attentive looks at both of my brothers before he straightens up as if he were about to hold a speech.

“We started asking around about Peter Kain, because we knew his name sounded familiar somehow and we got curious,” he explains and rubs his beard with his thumb and forefinger.

“Okay,” I say, waiting for him to come to the point.

“We found out a couple of things that may be of interest to you.”

“Like what?” I ask, raising my eyebrows, demanding for more information.

“Like him being the son of Joseph Kain.”

“Why is that of interest to me?”

“Are you telling me you don’t know Joseph Kain?” David sounds very surprised, which makes me even more curious.

“No. Why should I know?”

“He murdered five werewolves, because he despises his own kind. He was turned into human by The Council.”

This seems to be a pretty huge deal to my brothers.

“So, he paid for his crimes. Isn’t that good? He is no longer a danger.”

“Valerie. What if his son inherited the same hatred for our kind?” Billy says as he grabs both my arms.

“Billy, you are being paranoid. Father would not have invited him if that were the case. I trust father’s judgment. So should you.”

“Valerie, you have to break this engagement before it is too late,” he grabs me even tighter and, since I haven’t even wolved out yet, it means I have no powers whatsoever, which makes me human and vulnerable.

“Billy, you are hurting me!” I plead, but his grab on my arms gets even tighter, and I lose all the feeling on both arms.

“Billy, let her go!” Joey orders him, but Billy won’t budge.

“BILLY!” I yell in pain and I finally feel my arms again as he is pulled away from me.

Tears blur my vision, but I recognize the cologne, so I know who just saved me from my own brother.

“Let me go. I need to take her away!” Billy keeps shouting and trying to break free from Joey and David’s grip.

Peter turns to me and checks both my arms for bruises, which are already showing slightly.

He gives me a weird look before he turns around again and stays in front of me, as if protecting me from Billy.

“As you are her brother, I understand the need to protect her. What I don’t understand, is why you would want to hurt her. Since brother-sister secrecy is sacred to me, I will not ask for details, but what I will ask of you, is that you never lay a finger on my future wife ever again. I may be the son of a murderer, as you pointed out, but I do not tolerate violence. Any kind of violence. But everyone has their limits.”

He looks behind, finds my hand and takes it, leading me away from my brothers.

“Gentlemen,” he nods and we leave.

I am still crying from the pain and I find it very embarrassing that he gets to see me cry on the very first day.

He leads me somewhere outside behind the tent and once he is sure that we are out of earshot, looks at me angrily.

“You haven’t wolved out yet.”

It is not a question. It’s a statement. He knows my deep, dark secret.

I stay still, not knowing what to say to him.

“Is that why it took you so long to get married?” He asks, crossing his arms.

I just nod.

“Did you know that a woman who hasn’t wolved out yet, is not allowed to get married to another werewolf?” He says, sounding amused for some reason.

I swallow hard and wrap my arms around myself.

“I will not hurt you and I will not call off the engagement. What’s done, is done.”

“You still want to marry me?” I ask him, as if he just decided to do the stupidest thing known to man.

He comes closer to me, puts both his hands in his pockets and leans his head toward me.

“I welcome a challenge,” he murmurs in my ear and my body tingles all over.

“Are you calling me a challenge?” I ask, not a bit offended by his (as I see it) compliment.

He takes a step forward, now touching my breasts with his chest and grabs my waist with both his hands, making me moan.

“Yes,” he kisses my neck and backs away.

Oh, for crying out loud, I will faint from exhaustion if he keeps making me feel like this.

“Let’s head back inside. The ceremony will start any minute now.”

He extends his hand, and I was about to take it, but decide against it.

“Too much touching for two people who just met, don’t you think?” I smirk and walk away, letting him watch me walk away.