Chapter 31
Luka
I wasn’t sure from day to day if we were doing training or physical therapy. I trusted Caleb in his judgment. So far, even with setbacks and injuries, my health was improving.
Maybe more importantly, my mindset was improving. My outlook. I was hopeful, not because I had faith that the future would get better, because it already had.
I had practiced the words in my head that I wanted to say to him, and I hoped I’d be bold enough to tell him that day.
Caleb, these past few weeks have been the best of my life. I want to be with you, not just as a contract mate. I want to be with you officially. For good. In whatever way you’ll have me.
He already said I was his mate before. Why wouldn’t he say it again?
I dressed in one of my cutest workout outfits and did my hair and makeup. My favorite part of the day was when he came to my door before training.
But it was getting later and later. The clock was already past 8 a.m. Some mornings he was busy and just met me in the training room.
I was floating on my way there, thinking about the closeness of our training, touching his body. Even when it wasn’t sexual, it was incredibly intimate. Actually, scratch that. With him, any touch, no matter how innocent, had a fierce sexuality.
My face dropped when I entered the fitness studio.
“Mia? Is Caleb coming later?”
“Good morning, Luka.” Her face looked tired, like she had been up all night worrying about something.
I was disturbed that she hadn’t actually answered my question.
“Is Caleb all right, Mia? What’s wrong?” I wrung my hands together.
“He’s fine, Luka, there’s no need to worry.”
“Okay…But why isn’t he here?” It sounded greedy to my ears, that he has nothing going on in his life except me, but at the same time, he hadn’t mentioned anything.
“He left this morning for pack inspections, going to different districts around the kingdom, meeting with the alphas.”
“Oh.” I looked down, trying to hold back tears. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. It’s just…”
“Yeah, that’s my brother for you,” Mia said with an exasperated sigh. “While he’s gone, I’m going to train you, and I’ll watch over you.”
I wanted to disappear. The last thing I wanted was to have to train.
“But why wouldn’t he say something?”
“He’s just like that, always has been. He doesn’t share much, keeps duty close to his chest. It was infuriating growing up. Fortunately, for pack inspections, if Caleb went, Dad would tell us, but never Caleb. Even when he went to inspect your pack…your old pack I mean…almost no one knew about it.”
It also gave me pause that Mia hadn’t told me. I thought we were friends. “Have you known about it for a long time?”
Mia clenched her teeth, clearly frustrated with her brother, too. “I’ve known about it since yesterday. Which is only a tiny bit after Caleb himself decided it. I’d hoped he’d grow up a little, and once he met you, I’d hoped he’d start being more forthcoming with his girlfriends…”
My eyes widened. “Girlfriends? I thought I was the first…”
Mia shook her head with a look of confusion. “No, you’re the first to live here. But not the first.”
“Oh.”
“Puppy love sort of stuff. I wouldn’t let it bother you. Nothing serious.”
“Olivia?”
Mia burst out laughing. “No, no. She wishes. She’s always had a crush on him. She was mostly harmless. But now…”
“Now she’s mostly a horrible bitch.” I threw my hand over my mouth, and Mia laughed even harder.
“You’re funny, Luka. So, what do you want to do today? Physical therapy, yoga, capoeira, martial arts? Or you want to take it easy today…”
“Easy. Please.”
Mia nodded like she understood.
“Caleb would play hide-and-seek when we were kids. Except the thing is, he wouldn’t tell anyone else he was playing it, to us it was just hiding. He really hasn’t changed.”
“Please, no hide and seek. I’ve had enough surprises for one day.”
Mia put her hand on my shoulder. “Want to do some calisthenics in the infinity pool?”
“It’s okay that I can’t swim?”
“It’s perfect that you can’t swim. You can borrow one of my swimsuits.”
We went to Mia’s mansion, not far from Caleb’s. It was slightly smaller, but the architecture was custom-made for her, both homey and modern at the same time, like an art museum.
She had pictures around of her and her family, including paintings of herself and Caleb, as children, as teenagers, and when they came of age. There were family photos of them with their parents, who despite their regal bearing, looked like they had a playful streak. That must have been where Mia and Caleb got it from.
“I wish they could have met you,” Mia said offhandedly. “They would have loved you.”
That softened the blow of Caleb’s abrupt departure a little bit.
Mia took me to her closets, which took up an area about the size of three bedrooms. “Swimsuits are over in this annex.”
She rummaged through, taking out a few at a time.
“One piece or two?” Mia held up a black one-piece and a barely-there fuchsia bikini, with a plunging neckline.
“Um, one.” We laughed at each other.
“Darn, I knew it. One day we’ll get you in a bikini. Plus, what better revenge for Caleb being gone, knowing he’d have to miss it?”
I smiled sweetly, shaking my head. “Another day. I already feel a little bit too vulnerable right now.”
“In that case…” Mia peeled off her dress with no self-consciousness and put on the fuchsia number.
I went into a changing room in one of the closets and put on the black one. “How did you know it would fit?” I asked when I came out.
“It’s a talent. It looks stunning. Even sexier than the two-piece…”
“Sexy? Me? No, no way.”
“You’ll figure it out someday. I’ll keep reminding you.”
The entire day, I thought of Caleb, sad that I couldn’t share these new experiences with him, wanting to tell him all about it. I loved the infinity pool and the water exercises, and a part of me wanted to know what Caleb’s reaction would be if he saw me in my bathing suit.
Caleb Caleb Caleb. The house felt so empty without him when we went back to the mansion. I thought about him so much, that for him to leave me, he must not have thought of me at all. Otherwise, he would have said goodbye.
“Mia, could I maybe stay in your house today?” I asked during dinner.
Mia clapped gleefully. “Yeah! Like a slumber party. We’ll feel like we’re kids again.”
“Actually, it’ll be my first sleepover. I…really didn’t have much of a childhood.”
“Then I’ll have to pull out all the stops. Makeovers, manicures, fashion shows, truth or dare.”
It was a nice consolation for a difficult day, but I wished I could have enjoyed it as much as Mia deserved, since the absence of Caleb hung over everything.
We stayed in a palatial guestroom with two giant beds, one for me and one for Mia. She gave me the coziest, softest pajamas, and I fell asleep quickly, thinking of Caleb.
“You’re back?” I asked him, stunned.
“I couldn’t keep away from you, Luka.” He carried me to his bed in his arms, kissing me while holding me steady, making me feel safe.
His lips were warm and inviting, sending energy through me with every motion of his tongue. I wanted to offer all of myself, draw him in, devour his kisses hungrily, allow him to devour mine.
He tossed me onto the bed and immediately hovered above me. I could feel his thick cock grinding into me through his trousers, and a flood of wetness flowed from me.
He put his hand down there, feeling the wetness that had seeped through my pajamas. “Mmm. That’s all for me?” He licked his lips, then put his fingers underneath my waistband.
He had a look of ecstasy on his face as he dipped his fingers inside me, probing, discovering, savoring.
He took his hand out, which felt like losing him again. He licked and kissed his fingers, sipping all of it up.
He slid down my pajama bottoms and underwear and licked me with such ferocity, I thought I would explode. He took off his own pants, and his dick, wet with precum, sprung up. He grabbed it, positioned it inside of me, and thrust.
He looked like he was under the spell of a divine presence, not in this world, and I was sure I had the same look on my face.
“Yes, Luka, you feel amazing. You’re my mate. You’re my universe.”
“Yes, my alpha king, my ruler, my God.”
Waves of pleasure crashed from my spasming vagina through my blood and into my heart. I felt my wolf coming alive.
And then I woke up. I was alone and empty. I had to remind myself, painfully, that I was alone because he made the decision to leave.
