Cliche gif but you know you like it
Chapter Thirty Two
C A R O L I N E
As Dominic shaved his face, his usual stubble having grown out into a slightly unruly beard, I was curling my hair at his side. I never was the type to go all out for an event, but it seemed like it was proper in this situation.
Except I burnt myself three times because Dom's naked chest was too much of a distraction. "Can't you put some clothes on?" I asked sharply. To say the upcoming night's event had me on edge was an understatement.
He laughed, running his razor under the sink to clean it off. "Am I distracting you?"
"Yes, in fact, you are. Look!" I held out my hand to him, sporting three throbbing red patches where my curling iron had scorched my skin.
Dominic snickered, wagging his head at me. "Let me finish shaving and then I will get ready. Why don't you wait until I'm finished before you lose a finger?"
I set the curling iron down with a dramatic huff, pushing myself to sit up on the counter to apply some makeup while I waited. "Hey, you never did tell me about that Jeff and Nina thing. The one you promised to tell me about later? After you crushed my dreams of castrating that boy," Dominic reminded me, his tone even. But his face was anything but calm.
I put my makeup aside and looked down at my hands. "Maybe it should wait until after tonight... It wouldn't be good for you to freak out right now."
"I will not freak out, Caroline. You referred to it as drama. As the Alpha of this pack, and the King, I need to know about drama. Especially in regards to my second in command and his mate," Dominic explained, wiping the remnants of his shaving cream off with a damp towelette.
I gazed at him intensely, somewhat afraid of telling him myself. Once again, Nina's voice rang through my head tauntingly. No male in his right mind would see her as a fit companion. The human is making the Alpha weak. It hurt just as much as it did the first time, hearing it. Only the first time I was able to mask the pain as anger. Now the stabbing pain of sadness begged to be felt.
A warm hand pressed onto my thigh securely, bringing me back to reality. Dominic stared down at me with a concerned gaze. "Caroline. You need to talk to me."
"Jeff is going to challenge you as Alpha."
Dominic's brows furrowed for a split second before he grinned in amusement, then began to chuckle. "Oh, god. You've officially lost it," I claimed. "I knew I should have waited."
His lips attached to mine briefly before pulling away to hold my face securely between his hands. "Sweet, sweet sugar. They have no idea who they're dealing with," he murmured, kissing my forehead.
"Aren't you the least bit worried?"
"Not at all. Do you think this is the first time a man has attempted to steal the throne from me?" Dominic quizzed, one brow arched as he pushed my hair away from my face. "The answer is no. A dozen men have tried and failed."
I blew out a sigh of relief, hanging my head backwards as I was able to relax. Unfortunately, Dominic took this as an open invitation to latch his mouth onto my mark. The sharp electricity that surged through my body had me clutching at his chest. With a soft hum, he moved my hands up to his hair. "B-but won't.... Won't they..." Damn these kisses. "Try to sabotage you beforehand, make people think you're unfit fo-for the th-throne?"
He shook his head as one of his hands curled tightly into my long locks and tugged. "No. They are not so stupid. That would only be their downfall, as well as the packs. Up until the challenge is completed, when I destroy Jeff, our roles will not be divided nor disrupted, that I can promise you."
