Chapter 50 Chapter 50
Tiana
As soon as I returned, I stripped off the clothes I was wearing and, without showering, changed into the first nightgown I stumbled on.
It was a thin cotton fabric, barely reaching me mid-thigh, with delicate straps that kept slipping off my shoulders.
I collapsed face-first onto the bed, too exhausted to even pull back the covers.
My body sank into the mattress, and I let out a breath that felt like it had been trapped in my chest for hours. My face pressed into the pillow and my legs sprawled apart, one knee bent slightly because that’s just how I landed.
I should move. Should at least cover myself properly.
But I was so tired.
Tired from moving those steps. Tired of pretending and trying to fit into a role no one actually wanted me to fill. Tired of being looked at like I was an imposter.
The room was quiet. Blessedly quiet and I closed my eyes.
Maybe if I just stayed here, my mind would find peace from all the chaos that filled it.
But heyyy, talk about the moon goddess consciously reminding me that she could ignore my requests.
A knock sounded at the door and I groaned into the pillow.
“Come in,” I mumbled, not bothering to lift my head.
Probably a servant bringing evening tea I hadn’t asked for. Or another passive-aggressive reminder that I had duties I was neglecting.
I did not want to turn, I was too tired for it.
The door opened and footsteps entered, heavier than I expected. Then slower.
Was it a…
“Tiana.”
Definitely not a servant.
My eyes flew open, and I started to push myself up, but his voice stopped me cold.
“Why are you dressed like this?”
At this time, I already knew it was Zane.
My heart slammed into my ribs.
I twisted my head to look over my shoulder, my hands scrambling to push myself upright. But the nightgown had ridden up even higher when I moved, and I felt the cool air against the backs of my thighs.
Heat flooded my face.
“Alpha… I didn’t…” My voice came out breathless and panicked. “I didn’t know it was you.”
His expression didn’t change. He stood just inside my room, rigid, his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.
“You told me to come in,” he said quietly. “Without even asking who it was.”
“I thought you were a servant that wanted to…”
“So you would have let a servant see you like this?”
I finally managed to sit up, tugging the hem of the nightgown down even though it barely helped. My hands shook.
“I was just lying down. I didn’t think much of it.”
“You didn’t think,” he repeated, his voice dropping even lower. He stepped further into the room, and I watched his jaw tighten. “Or you didn’t care?”
“I was exhausted,” I said, my voice small. “I just… I wasn’t thinking about—” It was hard struggling for a defense so I left my voice trail off.
He moved closer, and I found myself leaning back slightly. “You did not think about how it would look? About who might walk in and see you spread out on your bed like—”
He cut himself off, his hands flexing at his sides.
The air between us felt charged. Dangerous even.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to stay exposed and I really did not think it would be you.”
Zane’s eyes bored into mine. “Are you saying you would have preferred to let just anyone walk in and find you like this? Or what do you mean when you say you didn’t mean for it to be me?”
My breath caught. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“It sounds like what you are saying,” he continued, his voice taking on an edge I’d never heard before, “like you would have preferred it to be someone else.”
“No!” The word burst out of me in a hurry. “I wasn’t thinking about anyone. I was just umm…”
“Exhausted,” he finished. “Yes. You said that already.”
He stood at the foot of the bed now, looking down at me with an expression I couldn’t read. Anger, yes. But something else, darker and more volatile beneath it.
“I came to inform you,” he said, his tone shifting into one more controlled, “that we’re leaving for the eastern border at dawn. There’s been increased activity from Silvercrest, and I need to oversee the patrol camp personally.”
My mind struggled to catch up. “The border?”
“Yes.” His eyes never left mine. “And you’re coming with me.”
“I—what? Why?”
“Because I’m telling you to.” His voice hardened. “Is there a problem with that?”
“No, it’s just, you talked of the borders not being safe and all.”
He moved his head slightly from up to down. “That’s exactly why you are coming with me. It’s easier to attack the pack in my absence and kidnap the Luna, than to do that in my presence.
Also, you could head supplies for the days we will be out there.”
“How many days are we talking about?”
“We will be there for a week, possibly longer or shorter.”
A week. At a camp. With Zane.
I instantly came up with an excuse.
“I don’t think I’m—” before I could finish, Zane stopped me.
“It’s not a request, Tiana. We leave at dawn,” he continued. “Pack accordingly. And—”
His gaze dropped.
Down my neck. Across my collarbones. Lower, to where the thin cotton clung to my body, leaving very little to the imagination.
His jaw clenched so hard that I even heard his teeth grind.
“Fix your dress,” he said, his voice rough. “It’s—”
He didn’t finish his statement.
Instead, he moved.
Not toward the door like I expected.
He moved towards me.
My breath stopped entirely as he circled to the side of the bed, his movements deliberate and controlled in a way that made my pulse race.
“Alpha… I…” I stuttered.
“Turn around,” he said quietly.
“What?”
“Turn around.” His voice dropped even lower. “Face down. The way you were when I walked in.”
My heart hammered so loudly I was certain he could hear it. “I don’t understand.”
“Do it.”
The command in his voice left no room for argument.
My hands shook as I slowly turned, lowering myself back down onto the mattress. My face pressed into the pillow again. My legs, goddess help me, fell back into that same sprawled position.
Vulnerable. Exposed, yes, I was only just realizing how exposed I was now.
I felt the bed dip slightly as he sat on the edge.
Then his hand touched my ankle.
I gasped, my entire body going rigid.
“Don’t move,” he instructed.