Chapter 5

The next day, I took a shower with a joyful heart. My happy voice echoed in the spacious bathroom as I soaped my body in slow motion, imagining whose hands I wanted doing this.

I danced a little under the stream of warm water, imagining Gabriel's face as he drove Selly from this house. My hands fumbled for the shower head, trying to adjust the water flow, but in my overzealousness, I pulled it too hard and broke it.

"AAH!"

The broken shower head gushed water like a small waterfall, drenching my entire body and flooding the bathroom floor. I slipped, grabbing onto the shower curtain to steady myself.

In less than ten seconds, the bathroom door swung open.

"Seraphina!"

Gabriel stood there with a panicked expression. His eyes immediately took in the scene: the water flooding the floor, the broken shower head, and me standing there soaked and completely unclothed.

In a few quick strides, he approached the main tap and turned it off. The gushing water finally stopped.

I snapped back to reality and panicked, then I grabbed the nearest towel and hurriedly wrapped it around myself.

"I'm fine. I'll get ready to go to the psychologist," I said, walking towards the door.

But before I could pass him, his strong hand pushed me roughly towards the cold tiled wall. My back hit the hard surface, making me gasp. The towel I held tightly almost came loose.

He moved closer, his large, warm body almost pinning me down. I could see the water droplets still clinging to the hair on his chest, see the lines of his tense abdominal muscles.

"After playing with the shower, what's the next game, Seraphina?"

"It was an accident," I replied.

His other hand rose, and I thought he would slap me, but instead he planted his palm on the wall beside my head, fully trapping me.

"You think these childish feelings of yours are a joke?" he asked.

"They're not childish! You're the one who refuses to see me! You're the one hiding behind your Alpha and Daddy roles!"

He moved even closer, until I could feel his warm breath on my face. "You want me to stop being your Daddy? How do you want me to treat you? Like a grown woman?"

My chest rose and fell rapidly beneath the towel, my heart pounding wildly. I saw his tense jaw, his sharp gaze, and the wild energy radiating from him. This was a different Gabriel.

He raised his other hand and touched the edge of the towel I was clutching. His warm fingers almost touched my skin.

"You started this game and you don't even know the rules."

He pulled on my towel and the fabric loosened. I didn't know what was louder, the beating of my heart in my ears or the sharp hiss of Gabriel's breath as my lips touched his. I had prepared myself to be rejected, pushed away, even yelled at, but his reaction completely shocked me.

One hand left the wall and grabbed the base of my thigh with a strong grip, then pulled my body closer until there was no gap between us. The towel, which had been my pitiful protection, was trapped between us, wet and messy.

And his mouth... oh, his mouth finally responded.

His lips crushed mine, his teeth nibbled gently before his tongue slipped in, exploring every corner of my mouth. This was a Gabriel I had never known. Gabriel the Alpha, relinquishing all control to me.

My hands now gripped his hard shoulders, my nails digging into his skin through his thin pajama top. I responded with equal wildness, then bit his lower lip, hearing him grunt in pain.

He was the first to draw breath, breaking the kiss with a rough movement, but his forehead still rested against mine, his heavy breaths mingling with mine. His eyes were tightly shut, as if trying to collect himself. His body still pinned me to the wall, trembling slightly with either anger or passion, I couldn't tell.

"What have we done?"

He opened his eyes and looked at me as if searching for an answer.

I didn't answer. I just stared at him and realized the towel was almost open.

He took a step back, then two steps away from me. He leaned his head against the wall opposite, his hands covering his face.

"Get out of here now," he said, as if regretting the heated kiss.

Instead, I stepped closer and let the towel fall to the wet floor.

"You can't deny it anymore, Gabriel. You want me just as I want you."

He lifted his face, and in those blue eyes, I saw him beginning to falter. He saw me, truly saw me, not as the child he saved, but as a grown woman.

"You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me," he murmured.

I couldn't let him go. With my heart pounding, I slammed the bathroom door open and ran after him. He was almost at his room.

"Gabriel, wait!"

I kept running and my arms wrapped tightly around his body from behind, pressing my wet cheek against him. I could feel his entire body stiffen.

"I love you, I truly love you, Gabriel. Not like a child loves her father," I said.

He stood still, his breath heavy. He remained silent for a long time, before finally, with a slow movement, he loosened my embrace and turned to face me.

"Love is never enough in our world. You know that."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you are human! Our Pack's law, rules that are centuries old, are very clear. An Alpha must not, and will never, take a human as his official mate, as his Luna."

"I don't care about the Luna title!" I cried, holding him tighter.

He raised his hand and lifted my chin, forcing me to look directly at him.

"It's about your life. Your life would be in danger as an Alpha's mate." His fingers traced my jawline. "But there is another way."

I stared at him seriously, as if there was still hope of having his love.

"No one can know," he whispered, bringing his face closer, until his breath fanned my lips. "This will be our secret," he said.

"You'll accept me?" I whispered, almost in disbelief.

He didn't answer with words. Instead, he bent his head, and his lips touched mine once more. A few seconds later, he pulled away, his eyes looking deeply into mine as if branding my image into his memory.

"From now on, whenever you call me 'Daddy' in public, only you and I will know the true meaning behind it."