All Chapters of The Beta's Temptation : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Esme's POV My legs felt unstable. Every step made them shake, but I kept moving because Marek was beside me, his hand on my lower back, guiding me down the hallway. His touch was supportive, steady and careful. It had never bothered me before. He had touched me like that for years. But now, for some reason, I didn’t like the feel of his palm there. It made something inside me twist in a way I didn’t understand.I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t explain.Marek walked slowly, matching my pace. “Easy,” he said gently. “You’re still recovering.”I tried to breathe through the shaking in my thighs. I felt so weak. I hated feeling weak. Not when everything inside me was on high alert, beating against my ribs like it wanted to escape.We had barely made it to the next corner when a thought slammed into my mind.“Where’s Lior?” I asked.Marek didn’t hesitate. “He’s with Raven,” he answered. “Your brother’s wife.”I stopped instantly. My feet froze. My breath

Cole's POV I stood between them, watching Nolan struggle to hold himself together. He wasn’t usually the type to show fear, but I knew him better than most people ever would. Even when he stayed silent, I could see everything in his eyes. Something about Landon’s words had gotten to him. He kept clenching and unclenching his jaw, and his fingers tapped against the desk like he was trying to distract himself from something deeper.“Do you want to know why?” Landon repeated at me again. He looked relaxed with his arms folded across his chest, watching Nolan like he was observing something interesting. I could feel Nolan’s tension rising with every passing second, and Landon wasn’t helping.Nolan took in a sharp breath. “What do you think you want to tell my Beta Sir Landon, you've not been in this pack for long, you don’t know anything, Sir Landon. Don’t speak about things you don’t understand.”“Oh, I understand more than you think,” Landon replied. His voice was calm, smooth, almo

Esme's POV Cole calling Nolan’s name changed everything in the room. The tone was calm, but it held a weight that made even the walls feel tight. I felt Nolan’s rage drop for a second, like he had been hit with something he never expected. “Nolan,**” Cole said again, clearer this time. “Let her go.” The words were simple but they held the kind of strength Nolan never liked to hear from anyone, especially from Cole. People looked at Nolan to see what he would do. His jaw locked. He looked at me, then at Cole, then back at me again. Nolan was an Alpha. He wasn’t used to people giving him orders. He wasn’t used to anyone telling him what to do, especially not his own Beta. Cole rarely gave commands anyway. He was the type who acted without speaking. But when he did speak, his words hit with a force people couldn’t ignore. If Cole had begged, Nolan might have swallowed the humiliation and let it pass. He might have stepped back with some pride still intact. But Cole did not beg. Col

Marek’s POVI sat on the edge of the small guest-room bed, Lior’s head heavy on my thigh, his little chest rising and falling in that slow, trusting rhythm only kids can manage as he slept.The room smelled faintly of lavender soap and the cedar walls Esme loved. Hours had passed since Cole had shoved me in here with a single clipped order: “Stay with the boy. Don’t move an inch. I don’t care who calls for you even if it's Nolan” His voice had been low, almost gentle, but the look in his eyes had made my knees weak. Cole didn’t need to raise his voice to scare the shit out of people; he just looked at you like he already knew exactly how many bones he could break before you begged.So I stayed. I counted the cracks in the ceiling. I counted Lior’s breaths. I counted the minutes until my legs went numb.Then came the knock on the door.I opened the door just enough to see one of the senior guards—Rylan, I think—standing there with his arms crossed. “Alpha Nolan wants you in his offic

Esme’s POV Marek moved closer again, eyes dark and desperate, and before I could step back his mouth crashed on mine again. Harder and hungrier. His tongue pushed past my lips like he was trying to claim every corner of me, like if he kissed me deep enough he could erase three years of my pain and longing for someone else. His hands were everywhere: sliding down my hips, tracing the bare skin of my stomach, slipping lower to my thighs. I flinched. My whole body flinched. My skin crawled at the touch, not because it hurt, but because it felt wrong. My wolf, who had been quiet for so long, curled tighter into the corner of my mind and refused to stir. I didn’t push him away. I let him. Because he had stayed. Because he had held me when I cried in the middle of the night. Because he had never asked for anything in return. Because three years of using him as a shield against the truth felt like the least I could give him was this one moment. So I stood there, arms limp at my sides,