Revenge to the Alpha Mate novel Chapter 219

Chapter 219: Chapter 219

Celena’s Perspective

Damn, the atmosphere in this car was thick enough to choke on.

I slumped in the passenger seat, pretending to watch the landscape blur past the window, but every one of my senses was traitorously zeroed in on the man behind the wheel. Had I been too impulsive, coming along like this? That reckless wolf spirit in my head had completely taken over, shoving me onto this path.

Now, this enclosed space felt like a concentrated jar of Jacob’s essence. His familiar scent—a mix of sun-warmed fur, forest earth, and that uniquely appealing male musk—swirled around me, inescapable. It was infuriatingly comforting, making my fingers itch to reach over, to bury my face against the solid strength of his shoulder, just like we used to.

The coffee cup I clutched still held the residual warmth from his hands, a heat that seeped into my palm and sent a restless flutter straight to my chest. It felt like a tiny, persistent creature was skittering around inside my ribs. I could even hear my own betraying heartbeat, thumping a frantic rhythm in the quiet cabin.

I took a sharp, too-big gulp of the coffee. The shock of the cold liquid burning down my throat brought a welcome sting, jolting my hazy mind back to reality. Wake up, Celena! I snarled at myself internally. You can’t just let him bewitch you all over again!

I dug my nails hard into my own thigh. The sharp bite of pain finally severed the spell, pulling me fully from that dangerous, hazy warmth. I forced my expression back into its cool, detached mask, even as a hollow ache pulsed in some hidden part of me.

Jacob seemed utterly oblivious to the entire war raging inside me. His hands were steady on the wheel, his gaze locked on the road ahead, only occasionally flicking to the GPS. His jaw was set in a tight line, the picture of a man completely focused on the journey.

A part of me sighed in relief that my internal chaos had gone unnoticed. But then, a tiny, treacherous thread of disappointment unspooled in my gut—had he really not sensed anything at all?

Jacob’s Perspective

Hell. I was losing my damn mind.

Driving was my only anchor to sanity. Gripping this steering wheel, staring at this asphalt, it let me pretend I was just a focused driver, not a man being shredded apart by the idiot wolf inside me that was practically doing backflips.

Celena was right there. Less than an arm’s length away. In this confined space, her scent—clean and sharp like lilacs after a rain—drifted over, a sweet torture that set every one of my nerves on fire. My wolf was howling, rolling, clawing at the walls of my control: Closer! Breathe her in! Taste her! For God’s sake, kiss her! Now!

It took every ounce of my will to keep the primal urge in check, my knuckles bone-white from their death grip on the wheel. No, Jacob. Cool it. Not the time. We had a mission. And... she hadn’t forgiven me. I knew that.

But I’d win her back. Eventually. We had a long road ahead, anyway.

To break the unbearable silence and distract my racing thoughts, I cleared my throat, forcing a level tone as I laid out the intel from the bar—the suspicious truck, the lead pointing to the next state.

"At this pace, it’s probably a ten-hour drive," I estimated.

Her voice, when it came, was still edged with frost. "We’ll switch. Half and half."

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