Rejected by the Alpha of Fire

Heat

Cindra’s POV

My forehead throbbed from the sudden collision, but I held back the groan of pain. Something warm, almost burning, grabbed my elbow, sending an unexpected jolt of heat through me. I looked up to see Helio standing over me and my heart lurched.

His expression was just as dark as the last time I’d seen him. His strong grip on my arm kept me from stumbling back. Even when I was righted, his grip still clamped onto my elbow. The scent of the forest and sweat enveloped him. He was dressed in just a pair of shorts and no shoes. He must have just come back from a run.

Our eyes locked but neither of us said anything. We stood too close for comfort, yet I wouldn’t have been bothered if he narrowed the gap even more. The air felt charged. My heart thundered in my chest, and my mind was in disarray as I tried to think of something to say. The heat of his body, the scent of him, and his overwhelming presence left my mouth agape, not a word to be found.

“What are you doing?” Helio’s voice was calm and steady, and his eyes narrowed a bit, but there was no malice in his expression like usual.

I swallowed. “I was… well, I was hungry, and the kitchen—”

“Is located in the completely opposite direction.”

I swallowed. “I got a bit turned around.”

“You’re an i***t and a terrible liar.” He scoffed. “You’re not allowed to leave your room at night.”

It was a dumb rule that no one had ever given me a reason to obey. Most of the time, I tried to follow the rules so as not to get myself into trouble. But night was the only time I could really freely walk around. He stared at me, silent, as if this conversation was the furthest thing from his mind. Tension simmered between us, an inexplicable heat that seemed to intensify with every passing second.

Maybe it was just my imagination or some sort of magical interaction since our pack had an affinity for fire, but something felt different this time. Helio had seemed off, concerned, or otherwise bothered since the Moon Goddess Ball. The conversation we’d had in the parlor, if it could even be called a conversation, flashed through my mind. Looking back, he seemed even more upset now than he had at that moment for some reason.

“Look, I just wasn’t feeling well, being cooped up in my room all day,” I lied. “I just wanted to take a walk, and I can’t really do that in the middle of the day.”

My mouth kept moving, words spilling out I could no longer keep track of. My gaze drifted over his face, darting between his eyes and his lips. Nothing I was saying made any sense, but I couldn’t ward off the thoughts that were quickly taking over my mind.

His lips were perfect. I bet they were warm and soft. He was too vain to ever have chapped lips. I could almost feel the heat of his breath on my face. I wanted to know what it would be like to feel his lips on mine, to know what his mouth tasted like.

I glanced up, trying to focus, only to find that Helio was closer. I wasn’t imagining the warmth of his breath. The air between us crackled with how much I wanted him and how much I didn’t seem to care that it would be so very, very wrong.

Perfect.

His breath ghosted across my lips, teasing me with the prospect of more. Everything in the universe seemed to be drawing us together. His eyes smoldered and his lids lowered and our faces were mere inches apart. It wouldn’t take much to finally get an answer to a question that had never entered my mind until that moment.

I almost closed my eyes, lifting up to meet him. Then, the heat of his body was gone. The cold air of the night washed between us and Helio shoved me back and away from him. The longing remained, but there was a certain comfort in his cruelty. The sneer I’d known for years, the malice and hatred that had always been on his face, returned so quickly I almost felt like I had been imagining anything else.

“Get it through your thick skull,” Helio hissed. “Follow the f*****g rules, or you’re going to be in more trouble than usual. Lying is even worse.”

He glared at me, but the flush on his cheeks wasn’t from his run. I felt the smallest glimmer of hope that he’d felt it too, even as the reality of our situation, the reality of our relationship up until now, settled hard and fast around me.

This glaring, angry man was the Helio I had known all my life, the one who had never treated me with kindness. Whatever that was, the intensity, the longing, was just me being confused and stupid.

For once, I agreed with him. I had to be thick skulled to think of Helio that way. Embarrassment washed over me as I remembered wanting him closer, wanting to know what he tasted like. Not waiting for him to say anything else, I fled around the corner and avoided brushing against him as I took the fastest path back to my room.

Like usual, no one, not even a guard, was in my area of the castle. It made it easier to get to my room and begin to feel at ease. The look in Helio’s eyes flashed through my mind. I still felt the tension that had been building between us in that hallway.

I sank down onto the edge of my bed and took a moment to calm myself. Breathing deeply, I tried to push the memories and thoughts out of my head. It would do me no good to dwell on them. I knew this, but as I got ready for bed, climbed in, and closed my eyes, I knew without a doubt that I would dream of him.

Part of me was glad for it.