Page 8 of The Breeding Cave

CHAPTER EIGHT

LUCIANO

“Luca,” Ella purred, stepping into the elevator with me the next day.

She worked with the marketing team three floors down, yet somehow, we always seemed to catch the elevator at the same time and she was always on my floor. I nodded to her and hit the Close Door button because I was late for getting my coffee at Pink Ivory.

I wanted to make sure that Yeosin actually quit today or else I’d pay her boss to fire her.

As the elevator descended, floor after floor, Ella moved closer to me. I side-eyed her and clenched my jaw, impatiently waiting to hit the bottom floor. She snatched the bottom of my tie and curled her fingers around it.

The doors opened, and I yanked myself away from her.

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed through my teeth, stepping out of the elevator.

Ella had a bad habit of thinking that I needed her to continue my bloodline, as she was one of a handful of packmates that I had left. But my beast had never once wanted her in any way other than a pack member.

Besides, she knew I hated being touched.

“But, Luca?—”

Before she could finish her sentence, I headed down the street toward Pink Ivory Coffee Bar. The scent of pumpkin drifted through my nose. I rounded the corner and pulled open the door to Pink Ivory.

“It’s my last day today,” Yeosin said to the customer at the counter.

“Well, we’ll miss you around here, Alana,” the older woman said, adjusting her glasses.

I drew my tongue over my canines. Alana. Why couldn’t people learn her real name?

A pink apron was wrapped around Yeosin’s wide hips, and I gritted my teeth to keep myself in control. If I wasn’t careful, I would lose it in the middle of this coffee bar. I had been playing a dangerous game lately whenever she was around.

After that first taste of her, I wanted her whenever I saw her.

When I lifted my gaze to her eyes, she pulled hers away from mine, which meant that she had caught me staring. It was one of the many reasons I always acted so coldly to her and avoided looking at her altogether while I was here.

Last night, I’d led her to believe that I wanted her for her body, even though it wasn’t true.

I didn’t want her to depend on me. I didn’t want her to love me.

Everyone who had done that in the past had gotten killed. I had gotten them killed. I hadn’t done my duties as I should’ve. I had lived with that anguish for twenty years now, and I couldn’t let Yeosin suffer the same fate.

Once the customer headed to the pickup area, I pulled my wallet out of my suit pocket.

“Last day?” I said.

She raised her brows, as if surprised I would ever offer conversation. “Oh, yeah.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, as if I didn’t know that she’d be working for me soon.

“Midnight Security Headquarters,” she said, tapping on the register screen. “Black coffee?”

“What’s your favorite drink with pumpkin?”

“Pumpkin,” she repeated, her cheeks reddening for a moment as her eyes glazed over. Then she shook her head and looked back at the menu hanging on the wall above her head. “My favorite is our pumpkin spice tea. It has a hint of cinnamon in it.”

“Cinnamon,” I hummed. “That’s your favorite, huh?”

Does she like cinnamon?

All this time, I’d thought she enjoyed Brent’s musky scent of cologne. I had a whole fucking bottle of it back at my place, which I definitely hadn’t bought because I thought that was why she was always friendly with him.

But apparently, it was because I intimidated her.

When she smiled, her cheeks rounded. “I love cinnamon.”

“I’ll take one.”

“Switching it up on my last day,” she said, twirling around and grabbing a cup. Her hair drifted over her shoulders, and her pumpkin scent flowed through the air and wrapped around every last bit of my body. “You’ll love it.”

After writing my drink order on the side with a Sharpie, she tapped the register, which seemed to be functional today, and took my payment. I stepped to the side near the older lady and watched her as she poured our drinks.

We should’ve never stayed late at the cave last night. Joseph had been outside the entire time. He never truly left the forest. But I had wanted more time with her, especially after how jealous she was when I mentioned Molly.

I clenched my jaw to suppress a smirk at the thought.

So jealous. So possessive. So feral over me .

“Any new boys I should know about, Alana?” the older woman said.

She giggled. “You love my drama, don’t you, Ms. Wilson?”

Ms. Wilson placed her wrinkly hand over Yeosin’s. “I don’t get enough anymore.”

“I’ve been seeing this guy for the past couple of days,” she said. “But it’s nothing serious.”

“Just a hookup?” Ms. Wilson said. “Is that what you kids call it these days?”

Yeosin’s face turned bright red. “Ms. Wilson, you can’t say that out loud! But, yes, something like that. I don’t think he’s interested in something serious.”

My gaze snapped up to hers, and I clenched my jaw at the words that had left her mouth. Fuck. Of course she would fucking think that because I had told her that I had chosen her for her body and couldn’t tell her the truth.

“Well, that’s his loss.” Ms. Wilson grabbed her hand. “I’m going to miss seeing you.”

“I’ll miss seeing you too,” Yeosin said. “But I’ll be back in the afternoons for tea.”

Once Ms. Wilson gave a final squeeze, she walked to the exit and disappeared in the bustling city streets. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and stared pointedly down at the counter. I didn’t want her to think that I wasn’t interested.

It had barely been two days, but nobody had ever been so possessive toward me before, and I fucking loved it. I wanted to see her like that again, wanted to see how far a sweet girl like her would go for me. The alpha of a pack needed an equally strong mate.

I had stayed away from her for so long because I didn’t think she could fill those shoes.

But last night—I growled underneath my breath, my dick hardening inside my pants—had proven that my sweet girl had something deep and feral inside her. She would lose control to protect me … not that I would ever let it get that far.

“Your pumpkin spice tea,” she squeaked from behind the counter.

When I looked at her, she was chewing on the inside of her cheek and stared at me with huge, fearful eyes. I realized that this was probably why I intimidated her. So, after relaxing my jaw, I grimaced, grabbed the tea, and took my usual spot in the corner of the shop.

I shouldn’t feel anything toward her. It was dangerous for both of us.

But I couldn’t stop now.