The Alpha and The Enforcer [TATE]

Chapter 10

Ellie's P.O.V

The kiss was soft, softer than I ever expected from someone like Jacob.
It was warm, grounding, and dangerously... familiar.

I never thought I'd kiss someone again, let alone the soon-to-be Alpha of the pack.

I had braced for the expected aftermath. That twist of revulsion. The heat of shame. The nausea that always slithered in when someone touched me like this. I was ready to shove him away, to pretend it never happened, to protect whatever scraps of control I still had.

But none of that came.

Instead, my chest went still. A rare, terrifying stillness.

I wasn't disgusted. I wasn't sick to my stomach. I wasn't even angry.
Instead, I felt something I hadn't felt in years, something dangerously close to peace.

And it didn't scare me that much.

His hand slid down slowly, deliberately, to my waist. His touch wasn't timid, but it wasn't claiming either. It was steady. Like he was telling me without words that this was really happening.

I felt the press of his fingers tighten slightly, just enough to pull me in that inch closer, enough for our bodies to brush. His claws grazed my skin. It didn't hurt, nor was it threatening. It was more like remaining in control.

My breath hitched. I didn't mean for it to.

Then, almost as if he was testing fate, his other hand lifted. It hesitated near my shoulder before sliding up the back of my neck, into my hair. A soft, slow tangle of fingers through strands I didn't even know were slightly trembling.

The moment his palm rested against the back of my head, everything shifted.

I curled my fingers into the collar of his shirt, then higher. One hand found its way around his neck, anchoring me to him without meaning to. Not pulling him in. Not yet. Just... holding.

His lips moved against mine with more pressure now. Urgency. Intent. His breath tasted like wind and heat and something sharp I couldn't name. Then his tongue traced the edge of my bottom lip, gentle but deliberate.

Asking. Not demanding.

I didn't let him in. But goddess, I thought about it.
I held my breath, and he felt it.

He made a sound then. Low. Deep. A soft growl from somewhere in his chest that vibrated through mine. My knees almost buckled even though we were already sitting down. His other hand pulled me closer until our bodies were now flush against each other.

And when I tried to swallow the moan that slipped out, it betrayed me, trembling from my throat like a prayer I didn't mean to speak.

He smiled.
The bastard smiled against my mouth. The smug twist of lips that said, I knew it. I wanted to shove him. I wanted to kiss him harder. I wanted to run.

That's when the alarms started going off in my head.

"What are you doing, Ellie?

Jacob is power. Influence. Expectations. And you? You're the girl everyone whispered about after the rejection. The broken one. The weak link.

This is a mistake.

"You think this ends with a happily ever after? With a second chance? Don't be stupid. Don't be naive."

"He's an Alpha. He has a pack to lead and a Luna to someday claim. And that is not you. No matter how safe he makes you feel right now, it's only temporary. Just a passing moment in a storm you barely survived the first time."