3. A Painful Kiss.

DANE

I am in pain. And utterly helpless.

To me, this girl standing before my eyes is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life. I see her every fucking day, but I always get knocked over every time I lay my eyes on her.

Another tear drops from one of her eyes. My eyes follow the transparent liquid as it trails down to the dotted birthmark right at the top of her upper lip.

My eyes linger on her mouth, and the desperate urge to kiss away the anguish she is going through begins to twist deep inside me.

"Dane… " I watch her enticing lips whisper my name quietly, like a plea for me to fucking say or do something.

Not able to deny the urge any longer, I lean down, pressing my mouth to hers in a passionate kiss that instantly erupts pleasurable sparks inside me.

Goddess…. the taste and softness of her lips against mine is fucking more than exquisite. Always more than exquisite.

The instant she fully parts her lips and begins to kiss me back, I lose all control.

This is everything I have ever wanted, but everything I know I should not fucking want.

But I do not want to give a fuck about what I should want and should not want right now. At least, not in this moment that I so desperately need to last forever.

A soft moan escapes her as I continue to tug and taste and savor every inch of her mouth, one of my hands wrapping around her waist and drawing her so close to my body.

This…. this feels so good. So fucking good. Why does the forbidden always have to taste the sweetest and so irresistible?

Her teeth nip at my bottom lip, the tip of her tongue slipping out next and seeking entrance into my mouth. She wants this. She wants me.

My heart soars. And I let her in….

I allow her to search and taste the whiskey in my mouth. On my tongue. It is a certain kind of madness to crave someone you know you can never have. Someone you know you should not have.

But I do not want to let go. Not in a million years. Or in a billion. Never.

I know that whenever we are together, it is like tempting fate. Like treading precariously around a wicked flame that I know will definitely burn us both beyond repair at the end if we do not stop.

But what if I do not want to stop? She said she has feelings for me, and—

'Dane,' Storm warns. 'If she finds her mate, and it happens not to be you, it is going to be either game over, or a dangerous heartbreak both of you might never recover from, or a fucking painful, vicious love triangle. I want Sky too, but I will be broken if I ever share her with anyone else.'

Storm's pain seeps through the fluid in my veins, and I feel every bit of it as it mixes intricately with mine.

Every cell in my body is fighting the truth in his words. The truth all three of us already know.

I have to end this. For both our sakes.

Especially for hers.

Not doing the right thing to be done killed my dad in the first place.

Maybe I do not deserve to be protected or loved by anyone, especially not by Cara. I just spread pain and death like a fucking disease everywhere I go.

I gently push Cara away from me, ending our kiss in a heartbeat and taking a few steps back.

Now is the moment I am supposed to look her straight in the eyes and lie to her that I do not feel anything for her, but I can't bring myself to do that.

I can never, ever bring myself to do that.

She is the only air I fucking need to breathe to stay alive. To really, really, stay alive.

However, I can't confess my feelings for her either. I can't agree to what she is asking for, no matter how desperately I want to.

She moves a step towards me. I jerk back, raising my hand.

"Stay away from me Cara. What you feel for me is fleeting. It is just a phase that will not last. Alex is my best friend and future alpha, and you know that we may never be together. You deserve—"

"You don't know that," her voice cracks as she takes another single step towards me. "Nobody knows that."

I gasp silently in shock. Why do I feel like she just used something I said before against me?

I back further away from her. "Cara, this is for your own good. Damn I should have never let you kiss me that night."

I bite down on my tongue immediately those words leave my mouth, regret instantly burning all over me like acid rain.

Cara stumbles backwards away from me, as if stung by a horde of vicious bees, her lips trembling slightly as more tears wet down her face.

That first night she kissed me, that first time, I fucking felt alive. Resurrected. Like something dead in me sprung back to life.

Now, I can't help but feel that I have just ruined that happy memory.

I keep ruining everything.

Coward. You are a fucking coward Dane.

Our pack is at least a twenty-minute run from White Moon, our neighboring pack. I know I will regret the next decision I am about to make for the rest of my miserable, fucking life.

'Storm, let's go.'

He does not say anything, but I begin to feel the slight burning of my irises as the forest green color of my eyes start to change into a bright gold.

'It is going to be a long run Dane.'

'I fucking know that.'

I turn my back on Cara, allowing myself to shift as Storm takes over.

"Fuck you Dane!"

I clench my teeth hard, my bones crackling as I shift. This is the first time Cara has ever cursed me.

I finally shift into my wolf form fully—a golden eyed dark chocolate brown wolf on the verge of leaving everything and everyone he loves behind.

I move a step forward. Then, pause. And turn around.

I absorb a long, last look at my Caramel. At the girl who has stolen every bit of my wretched heart. Her sobbing face will forever haunt me in my dreams.

But that is a price I am willing to pay to save us both.

I turn back around.

With a loud howl of indescribable pain tearing out from me and straight into the night sky, I break into a run….