Chapter 72 Untouched

SERAPHINA

“Because I was saving myself for you.”

His words echoed inside me like a thunderp.

What did he mean?

No, bwhat /bcould he mean?

My hand stayed pressed against his chest, feeling the fierce rhythm of his bheartbeat /bbeneath my palm. It wasn’t steady. Neither was mine, I could feel the frantic pulse hammering bin /bmy throat, wild and disorienting, like my body was no longer mine tomand.

The air between us thickened–suffocating, charged. I couldn’t breathe properly. I couldn’t look away either. Those violet eyes..Goddess, they weren’t just looking at me; they were unraveling me.

Confusion twisted with something I didn’t dare name. My knees wobbled, my thoughts scattered like ash in the wind. I bshould’ve /bscoffed, I should’ve said something cold, sharp; anything to keep him from stepping closer.

But the words never came.

Instead, I stood there–stunned, burning, shaken–like he’d just confessed something far more dangerous than virginity.

Because he had…hadn’t he?

He hadn’t said. “I’ve never been with someone.”

He bsaid/b, “I was saving myself for you.”

Me

“Are you are you saying bthis /blike a..” I hesitated. Like ba /bconfession of love? I couldn’t even bring myself to finish the sentence aloud.

He didn’t flinchb. /bDidn’t blook /baway. He just bwatched /bme as if every breath I btook/b, every blink of myshes, mattered.

My heartbeat raced like a wild horse, and my wolf…she was frozeh, breathless, staring at him like he was the Moon itself.

my skin. Not that ache in my chest. Not that fluttering

No, no, no. I bwasn’t /bsupposed to feel anything. Not that heat beneath bvant /bdeep in my core.

Then it hit me, how truly bdangerous /bthis bmoment /bwas.

My hear and my bwolf /breacted like this, to bhim/bb. /b

Not just banyone/b.

He bwas /bAlpha Ronan Volkstone. Mysterious. Lethal. Devastatingly, sinfully bhandsome/b. The man who bsaw /bthrough bmy /bdisguise if it were made of anist and tore it baway /bwith such case, I couldn’t help but bwonder /bif bhe’d /bbalways /bbknown /bI wasn’t a man, but

bAnd /bnow he stood here, saying he had bsaved /bhimself for me?

A virgin?

An Alpha of all people, at twenty–four, still untouched?

With that face, that body, and all those Alpha hormones raging through han! He saved himself for me? Impossible

He had to be lying ying with me. Testing my defenses.

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Chapter 72 Untouched

+8 Pearls

I slowly withdrew my hand from his chest. “I’ll pretend I never bheard /bthat, Alpha Ronan,” I said, forcing my gaze to break from his.

His breath ghosted over my face; hot, bheady/b, tempting. “Pretending, or scared of your own feelings for me?”

My eyes snapped back to his. My heart thudded bin /bbpanic /bas I blurted out, “Why would I feel anything for you? You’re just saying that because–because we’re stuck bin /bthis stupid cave, the rain hasn’t stopped, and you think this is some kind of

moment.

I stepped back. trying to put space between bus/b, but he didn’t bmove/b.

Instead, he leaned in closer, bhis /bvoice velvet–soft. “Some kind of moment? What kind is that, Seraphinab?/bb” /b

Heat flooded my

cheeks. Was he serious? Did he really want me to say it out loud?

“I don’t know,” I muttered, cing both hands on his chest to bpush /bhim away. But he refused to budge, his body a wall against

mine.

“Why are you shying away?” he teased, voice low and dangerous, making my heart pound harder.

“I am not.

“You are. You bthink /bI’m saying all this just to get under your skirt? You believe I’m using this heat, this moment, to seduce you? To get you in my bed?”

He said it. What I’d been thinking. I swallowed hard and met bhis /bgaze.

“Isn’t that the truth?” I asked coldly. “Or do you actually expect me bto /bbelieve bthat /ban Alpha like you is a bvirgin/bb?/b”

He tilted his head slightly. “Is an Alpha being a virgin so hard to believe?”

“I’ve spent my youth training among males,” I replied tightly. “I know them better bthan /bthey know themselves. bAlpha /bor not, they can’t wait toe of age just to find something to fuck and me it on their hunger, their bwolf/b. The highlight of their lives? Their rut. Their sacred excuse to lure bin /bshe–wolves and devour themb. /bYou’re no different.”

I bmanaged /bto edge away from him, barely an inch of space, but it felt like victory.

Then it hit me.

Why was I even arguing about bthis/b?

Why did I care?

His virginity had nothing to do with me.

And yet….

He listened in silence, calm and unblinking. Then, softly, “The males byou /bbtrained /bwith were bpart /bof the bcrowd/b. But the man standing before byou/b…is Ronan Volkstone.” His voice dropped, brich /band bsensual/b. b“/bbAnd /bwe Volkstones are born with a btendency/b. A sacred instinct.”

I held my bbreath/b.

“bWe /bare born to bhave /beyes only for our fated mate. We remain untouched, pure. If we never bfind /bthem, we bstay /bbcelibate/b. But we do not betray our other half by crawling into another’s bed”

This words stole the air from my lungs. My bgaze /bstayed locked with his, our breaths bmingling/b, hearts pounding. His wolf stirred, inching closer to mine, curling baround /bine like bsmoke/b.

Iparted my hips, whispering. “Then you’re giving up on that tendency now?” I paused. “Standing this close to meb, /bgetting bhard /bover me, touchung ine, saying all this—aren’t you bbetraying /byour bmate/b?”

“Betray?” he repeated a bcrooked /bsmile tugging at his lips. “What’s betrayal to you, Seraphina?” He leaned down, lips a bbreath /b

“This “Heathed, our mouths nearly brushing. “bThis /bis a bbetrayal/b”

H

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Chapter 72 Untouched

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Ronan bit his lower lip, the look in his eyes wicked and tender all at bonce/b. He stepped in, erasing bthat /bst inch between us.

“There’s something else no one knows, Seraphina,” he murmured.

My heart skipped. bMy /bfingers curled into my pants.

“bWhat /bis it?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“In our bloodline,” he said, locking his gaze with mine, “we don’t get our scent buntil /bour twenty–fifth birthday…”

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