The Luna’s Second Chance Mate

Kaden’s POV

“I strongly suggest that they be withdrawn from our partnership for breach of contract.” Jackson spoke up, rising to his feet and earning loud murmurs that echoed across the board room.

The room itself was wide enough to be a conference room, fully air conditioned as if that would ease the thick tension in the room. The U-shaped table housed my board of directors, men of all ages restricted to being werewolves who were now staring at Jackson who stood by my right hand. His hands rested on a thick black file on the table, and his expression lacked the warmth or silliness that it occasionally held.

“But how? We were not notified of their involvement in shady business.” One of the men countered, clearing his throat.

He brought a hand to loosen his necktie, nodding furiously in anticipation that the other gullible idiots in the room will agree with him.

“They sold our information for money. They even staged an attack on the CEO.” Hunter continued with his composed demeanor, practically staring down at the man who had spoken earlier. The man scoffed in return.

“Just because you are the vice president doesn’t mean you can have a say in anything. You’re barely two years into the business and yet you’re kissing the CEO’s ass.”

“Your argument isn’t valid, Mr. Miguel. South Sea corporations took our partnership for granted despite the fact that they’re a very small company. They brought this on themselves, so I’m with Jackson on this one.”

“Nonsense!” The older man hissed in irritation, flailing his hands in the air. “You haven’t said what they have done wrong.”

“What part of ‘they breached the contract’ don’t you understand?” Jackson snapped, flailing his hands as well. “Do you want more damage on our company? Do you have any respect for our name?!”

“Why are you yelling at me?!”

“Enough!” My voice echoed through the whole room, forcing it into eerie silence.

I clenched my fist in irritation, rising to my feet and turning to the man who had plunged himself into heated arguments with my men. The bastard would pay for his disrespect. No one insulted my authority and went free.

“And who said that you had a say in this decision?” I continued with a taunting smirk that grew even larger when he looked away awkwardly. “It is a decision I have taken, and the last time I checked, not a single one of you has more than two percent stakes in the company. You can toss your opinion in the mud, especially you, Mr. Miguel. Do you have something else to say?”

The silence had completely consumed the room at this point, except for a few tongue clicks and sighs of the men who looked at everything but me.

“Good. That’s what I thought.”

*

Jackson drove the jet-black Mercedes sedan back to the mansion. The ride was silent, only the rev of the car’s engine could be heard. I alighted the car as soon as he’d parked it in garage and made my way to the entrance.

Then I heard the gate rattle and saw another one of my smaller cars drive into the compound. That must be Declan and Larissa, I thought. And for some reason, my heart leaped at the thought. More like Peter’s did. His excitement was sickening more often than not.

I stood at the entrance, patiently waiting for them to alight the car. I watched her step down from the car with Declan in her arms, giggling at themselves. She seemed to whisper something in his ears and he burst out laughing before she tickled the skin behind his ears.

How did she know that he was ticklish there? Even his mother didn’t know that at all, and the sight of them having the time of their lives made me smile.

She was greeting and smiling at every guard she saw, going as far as asking how their day went for the ones that were within my range of hearing. They smiled back at her, she seemed to be able to lighten even the gloomiest warmth with her warmth. There were a few exchanges between the guards and her, even Jackson stalled long enough to say something to her. I found myself wondering what was, seeing as his occasionally goofy smile was its brightest.

I felt Peter grimace. He felt violated, and it made me smile even wider. You deserve that for putting me through hell. Be protective all you want, it would never work.

But I felt unfamiliar nonetheless. I didn’t like that she smiled at Jackson like that. She didn’t smile at me like that. Random thoughts were running in a loop in my head, only before Declan crashing into me brought me back to reality.

“Declan, no no –” She screeched in horror, running up the small stairs before realizing that he had run into me. She eyes instantly shifted from fear to surprise, and even embarrassment. “I apologize for that.”

“It’s okay. He’s my son after all. And if you keep looking like that, I’ll bite off your neck” I replied calmly, picking up the boy who was full of giggles and a wooden knife in his hand.

She nodded in agreement and looked away. I found her expression weirdly appealing, seeing as she seemed to be avoiding my eyes. Instead she was playing with the ends of her locks. Then I noticed. That evening where I had called her into my room, I had asked her to wear her hair down instead of a miserable ponytail. She seemed to have gotten the message, because they were now parted in the middle and hung down in luscious waves that ran past her shoulders all the way to where I assumed her mid back would be despite her petite frame.

She finally chuckled at my snarky comment, bringing her doe eyes back to look at me. My eyes traveled to the nape of her neck that was exposed in the navy blue dress she wore. I caught myself before I would break a smile at the sudden whiff of rose scents that found their way to my nostrils. Did she know what she was doing? She was making it difficult for me to resist the urge to slam her into my bed and fuck her to insanity.

She caught the subtle shift in expression, quickly changing the topic. “How was work today?”

I nodded, gently thrusting the boy back into her arms when I heard a high pitched cackle coming from several feet away. Whipping my head up in surprise, I hissed at the sight.

The Gemini were here, with Jacob wearing his familiar mischievous smile and his twin trailing coolly behind him. He had his hands spread out in exaggerated movements, bobbing his head to inaudible music.

Way to ruin the moment.

“My Lord, we are here at your service.” He babbled, earning a small snicker from his twin.

I could feel a scowl forming on my face. The intensity of her scent had worsened, as was the big boy in my pants that was beginning to come alive.

Realizing that the most embarrassing thing was going to happen, I cleared my throat instead and turned to Larissa. Fuck, why did she have to look so innocent? “Take him back inside.”

She nodded and adjusted his position before going inside. The Gemini finally caught up to where I stood, with Jacob maintaining his exaggeration that was beginning to grow irritating.

We walked into the living room and I took my seat on my favorite arm chair. They were seated in no time as well.

“So, my Lord. Just us two? I heard you cut off partnership with them at the company and cut them off from all the major suppliers.” He started, propping himself to sit up with his legs spread.

Only the corners of my lips raised and faltered to suit my response.

I couldn’t concentrate. Their very distinct voices morphed into themselves and frankly reminded of an opera singer with an understandable failed career. The image of her only a moment ago remained in my head, her smile and the way she had left her down. I shouldn’t have asked her to do that if I had known it would become my undoing.

The waves layered one against the other in near perfect sync, but what I loved most about it was how it exposed the enticing skin that covered her scent gland. Everything about her appearance was alluring today, so much that only the thought drew blood down south.

“My Lord? My Lord? Kaden!”

It was Joshua’s turn to yell in frustration. I whipped my head up to look at him mimicking the look of horror that his brother had on his face as well.

“What?” I snapped, and Jacob pinched his nostrils.

“We were asking when the siege will happen. Sooner is always better than later.” He explained, gesturing expressively with his fingers. His twin nodded and I shook my head, bringing one hand to wave its fingers in negation.

“Let’s talk about this later. I’m not in the mood.” I mumbled out and I saw something flip, but not go off. I sent him a glare, watching him run his jeweled hands over his face.

“Okay.” He continued, still pinching his nostrils. “Okay, so tomorrow?”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” I countered slightly harsher than I expected, mentally facepalming. Jacob, taken aback, exchanged glances with his brother before rising to his feet.

“Whoa, did someone shit your pants at the office? You’re unusually agitated today.”

“Mind your fucking business.” I growled again, rising to my feet as well. And with that, I left them in the living room and dragged my feet upstairs only to meet Larissa staring at me wide eyed again in surprise. I stood by my door with my hands latched on the door knob while she winced like she’d just encountered some ghost.

Straightening, she awkwardly tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ears and cleared her throat.

“Are you okay? Did something happen to you?” She was closing the distance between us, even though I would rather she didn’t. Seeing her so up close was going to be the death of me. She noticed my discomfort, now halting her steps. “Should I go back?”

“No. In fact, come here.” Doesn’t sound like you actually want her to go now, does it?

There was clear hesitation in her eyes before she willed herself to take careful steps further, standing about a foot away. Only now did I realize the more than distant height difference between us. She was several inches shorter, which only added to her appeal. Her features stood out today more than ever; her usually pale skin looked sun kissed, adding warmth to her dark eyes that were staring at me in uncertainty.

My eyes travelled to her bottom lip that was caught between her lips. She may not have known it, but that single action was rapidly fueling my desire till it reached a thousand notches. Her lips parted as in in words, but there were no words that escaped them. Instead I looked back at her curious eyes.

Those eyes were pulling me in like a child would be attracted to chocolate. The scent of her pheromones was beginning to allude me, until I could take it no more and leaned in swiftly to press my lips to hers. I didn’t want to think about it, for once I listened to Peter. She tasted like cherries and peaches, and although her lips were frozen, I could care less.

Slowing pushing her against the wall just beside my door, my hands circled her torso, gently raking over her turquoise dress before settling to rest on her hips. She gasped into the kiss at that, lips partly ever so slightly but just enough for me to bite her bottom lip.

I could sense the hesitation in her slower reaction, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, her hands travelled to my hair as well, running through it in harsh circular movements. For some reason, I enjoyed the feel of her small hands in my hair a little too much. There was something particularly sensual about the way she was tugging at my hair that was bound to send me to the good parts of hell.

Still remaining in the kiss, I picked her up with her wrapping her hands around my neck and legs around my torso like a kid, and felt my way around the door for the door knob. Once I reached for the knob, I pulled it but it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated at the new growth down south, I pulled away from her just enough to see her face and jam the door open. She appeared dazed, staring blankly and adjusting the hand that was wrapped tightly around my neck.

My eyes met with her lips again but she was the one to kiss me back this time, returning one hand to my hair and tugging again; that did it for me. I pushed past the door, ramming her entire form on the bed as swiftly as I could before tearing away from her for just long enough. If anything, she still looked entranced. Her legs dangled from the bed, but the rest of her weight was being supported by her propped elbows. Her breathing was slow and heavy, her eyes transfixed on mine.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Hovering over her body now, it took one second to linger on how swollen her lips appeared, one to notice the redness of her cheeks and the dreaminess in her eyes, one to finally be up close with her scent before latching back at the skin that covered her scent gland. There was only one word drumming at the back of my head; Hurry up, Kaden.

Kissing my way back to her lips, I liked the way her head was swooped backwards at first and the soft mumbles that escaped her. Perhaps she was eager. Too eager and it was working its way up to erupting my desires into a ball of unquenchable thirst.

I reached for the sleeves of her dress, pulling them back enough to expose her shoulders. Their softness reminded me of a cub’s skin; milky and begging to be defiled.

I pulled back on the sleeves even further then she suddenly winced, pulling away from me only to meet my eyes with question and…fear? The daze had disappeared from her eyes as if in a flash, and she had her hands up against my chest in defense.

“What are we doing?” She whispered lowly but loud enough for me to hear. I cocked by head, partly taken aback by her question.

She asked me this once before. Before our marriage, she’d asked me this question before. The same familiar hesitation and fear after going past a few kisses, it was all too similar.

“We shouldn’t be doing this…you said you didn’t want to have anything to do with me.” She continued, her voice now coming out in broken whispers. “You say one thing and you’re doing another. It’s scaring me.”

There was pain in her eyes even as she pushed me further. I pulled away completely at that, returning to sit upright on the bed beside her; far enough for comfort. She was right, I was being an idiot right now. She was still no different from Amaya right now. What was I even thinking?

I let out a tired sigh, pulling the necktie that was more strangulating than trendy loose. I ran one hand through my hair, mentally facepalming.

I wasn’t even upset at this point, I was mad at myself for making one mistake twice. I felt the bed move around for a bit while she struggled to pull her clothes back to where they should have been.

“Are you okay?” She asked again, clearing her throat. I turned to look at her wearing concern on her sleeves. It irritated me even more, causing me to let out a harsh sigh.

“Just leave. Leave if you want to.”