Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 195: Messed Up Feelings

Tiana’s POV

The second the door clicked shut behind him, I exhaled, releasing a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. My fingers curled into the fabric of my dress, gripping it tightly as if that would somehow stop the way my body still tingled from his touch.

What on earth have I gotten myself into? I asked myself. When I hugged him, I had not expected to feel any form of connection between us. I had already forgotten about the tingling sensation that happened the first time we touched— when he came to deliver the pastries to me.

I wasn't supposed to feel guilty, yet here I was in every sense of the word. My heart was aching in a way that I could not explain. A strange kind of fear curled up inside me in ways I could not even bring to words. This fear settling into the pit of my chest was as though I was scared of getting caught but not getting caught. Like I was scared of judgement, but the question was: judgement from whom?

None of this was anyone's business. Even if someone were to find out, did it matter? He didn't have a mate. Or would they judge him because it had not been long enough since Amara died? I also felt guilty about Theo. I had to admit that there was still some slight pounding intertwined with bitterness and jealousy whenever I saw him. He had moved on without questioning, the pack seemed so in support of Corvin's only daughter becoming the Luna even when Tiana had not been gone for even a year. But Theo wasn't supposed to feel guilty?

He wasn't a traitor, my wolf whispered inside of me. I cursed silently, pacing my room and placing my hand on my head. I had started this for one reason only. To get close to Peter for the sake of information.

This is dangerous.

Not just because he was the Beta, not just because I shouldn’t be tangled up in whatever this is—this thing that neither of us could name. But because something about Peter pulled me in, something I couldn’t explain.

The way his hands had cupped my face…

The way his voice had dropped when he said I was dangerous as if I was the one shaking the foundation beneath us instead of whatever was happening between us.

He looked at me like I was something he wasn’t allowed to have.

And for a moment, I wanted to tell him he wasn’t allowed to have me. Because I wasn’t some fragile thing to be handled with careful hands and regretful eyes. But at the same time…

I wanted him to hold me the way he had just now. Desperately. Like he needed to.

But why? Why were all these messed up feelings and emotions living within me? I had always seen Peter as some sort of older brother while I was here as Tiana. We trained together when I lived as Tiana and sure as hell had a lot of body contact while training, but I had felt nothing for him and neither had he for me.

I clenched my jaw and pushed away from the door, pacing the room. I had been playing with fire all my life, but Peter wasn’t fire—he was something else entirely. Something unpredictable. The kind of danger that doesn’t kill you instantly but rather drags you under, slowly, painfully.

I was supposed to be playing him. That was the plan for coming here— that was my only purpose. Play him to get the pack's information and then to find out what really happened that made me die.

So why did it feel like I was the one getting burned? Why did it feel like the forces of nature were the ones playing me with these emotions I felt?

I should let this go. I should pull back before I let him get too close before I let myself feel something that couldn’t be undone.

And yet, I knew deep down—I wouldn’t.

*+*+*+*+*+*

Peter’s POV

I didn’t stop walking until I reached my room, but even then, I didn’t feel any further away from her than I had back in that goddamn room.

The air still smelled like her. Or maybe it was in my head. Maybe she was just there, imprinted in my senses like a curse.

I shut the door behind me, pressing my back against it and letting out a slow, shaky breath. My fingers curled into fists at my sides.

What the hell was wrong with me?

This wasn’t normal.

I wasn’t some inexperienced boy, stumbling over himself at the slightest touch of a woman. I had been in love before. I had known passion, loss, heartbreak. I had buried someone.

Yet, one touch from her, one moment of her hands on my skin, her scent in my lungs—and suddenly, I was coming undone at the seams.

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a bitter chuckle. You’re dangerous.

I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it was the only thing that made sense.

She was dangerous. Not because of what she was, but because of what she made me feel.

And worse, she knew it.

I saw it in her eyes when I pulled away. That flicker of understanding. That look that said she could see through me, could see what I was trying to bury.

I hated that.

I hated that I was losing control around her.

That had never happened before. Not even with Amara. With Amara, it had been easy, natural. We had grown into each other like two vines intertwining over time. But with Talia, it was like she had already taken root inside me before I even realized it.

She had done that in only a few days...

And that scared me.

I needed to stay away. I needed to remind myself of the reasons why this couldn’t happen.

But even as I told myself that, I knew I was lying.