Chapter 77: Reward Worth Waiting
Eiden:
The moment my fingers settled beneath Rosalie’s chin and gently tilted her face upward, I knew I had made a mistake.
Not because she looked uncomfortable. Quite the opposite. She trusted me enough not to pull away. And somehow, that made the situation infinitely more dangerous.
For weeks I had watched her slowly rebuild herself from the broken woman I first met. Every morning she grew a little stronger. Every day she smiled a little more. She no longer lowered her head every time someone praised her. She had begun believing in her own wolf. She had found a job she genuinely cared about. She was living again. Piece by piece, Rosalie Hale was becoming herself again.
The last thing I wanted was to rush that process.
Yet standing this close to her tested every ounce of restraint I possessed.
My eyes remained fixed on hers... until they didn’t. Before I could stop myself, my gaze drifted lower. To her lips.
The reaction was immediate.
I noticed everything - the slight hitch in her breathing, the tiny flutter in her pulse beneath the skin of her neck, the way her shoulders stiffened ever so slightly before relaxing again, the warmth blooming across her cheeks.
And then... her lips parted. Barely. Just enough to make my own breathing falter.
My wolf surged forward so violently that it took genuine effort to remain perfectly still.
Mate.
The single thought echoed through my mind with almost painful clarity.
Kiss her.
Every instinct I possessed agreed.
It would have been so unbelievably easy. All I had to do was lean down. Barely an inch. Perhaps two. That was all the distance separating us. One movement. One heartbeat. And I would finally know what it felt like to kiss the woman fate had chosen for me.
The realization almost destroyed my self-control.
Immediately, I forced my gaze upward again. Anything to regain some sense. Anything except continuing to stare at those lips. But the moment I looked up, my restraint was tested in an entirely different way.
Because Rosalie wasn’t looking at my eyes anymore. She was looking at my mouth.
For a brief, dangerous second, neither of us moved. The silence inside the kitchen became almost tangible. I didn’t need the mate bond to know what she was thinking. The expression on her face told me enough.
The faint uncertainty. The anticipation she clearly hadn’t intended to reveal. The way she seemed almost startled by her own thoughts.
She was thinking about exactly the same thing I was.
My heartbeat became noticeably heavier. And so did hers. The bond between us hummed warmly, responding to emotions neither of us had voiced aloud.
My wolf practically roared inside me.
Now.
Kiss her.
Claim our mate.
Every instinct urged me forward. Every emotion demanded I close that tiny distance between us. It would have been effortless. Natural. Wanted.
But... not right.
Not yet.
Because every time I looked into Rosalie’s eyes, I still caught glimpses of the wounds left behind by three men who had broken her trust.
She was healing.
Not healed.
There was a difference, a very important one.
She deserved time. She deserved certainty. She deserved to fall for us because she truly wanted to, not because a mate bond made her question where her own feelings ended and instinct began.
Zaiden and I had promised each other exactly that.
We would wait, no matter how difficult waiting became.
So I ignored every instinct screaming inside me. Instead of lowering my head toward her lips, I leaned closer only enough that my face passed beside hers.
I felt her body tense in surprise. Then, my lips brushed lightly against her cheek. The contact was so fleeting it was almost like a warm breath carried by the air rather than a deliberate touch.
Yet I felt her freeze completely.
Whether she had expected a kiss, or whether this unexpected closeness somehow startled her even more, I couldn’t tell.
I stopped beside her ear. Close enough that only she could hear me.
"If you’ll come grocery shopping with me tomorrow evening..." My voice remained quiet. "...I’ll help you with the bookstore."
For one long heartbeat, neither of us moved. Then I immediately stepped away. One step. Then another. Deliberately creating the distance my self-control desperately needed.
Only after several feet separated us did I finally manage to breathe properly again.
I silently cursed myself.
That had been far closer than I should have allowed.
Rosalie remained standing exactly where I had left her. Completely still. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks noticeably flushed. She blinked once, then again as though her mind was struggling to catch up with everything that had just happened.
Part of me wanted to laugh softly. Another part wanted to walk straight back to her. Fortunately, the rational side of me won.
Eventually, she seemed to collect herself.
"Oh..." She cleared her throat. "I... I think that’s fair." She nodded quickly. "A shopping trip in exchange for your help." Another small nod. "I can do that."
Despite her calm words, she still looked adorably shaken.
My wolf disliked that description entirely.
Mine.
The possessive growl echoed inside me.
Hold her.
Comfort her.
Kiss-
No.
I firmly silenced the thought.
Not now.
Maybe not for a long while. Because I remembered the promise Zaiden and I had made without ever needing to speak it aloud.
Rosalie would never be rushed. Never cornered. Never made to wonder whether her choices belonged to her or to the bond.
When the day finally came that I held her in my arms without hesitation, when I finally kissed her, and when I finally called her mine without reservation... it would be because she had crossed that distance herself. Because she wanted it. Because she was ready.
Not a moment sooner.
Taking one final steadying breath, I walked around the kitchen island toward the cup of herbal tea waiting patiently where I had left it. Behind me, I could still hear Rosalie standing quietly in the middle of the kitchen. And despite every instinct insisting I look back, I didn’t.
Some rewards were worth waiting for.
Rosalie was one of them.
Comments