Warning

Warning
Reyna’s POV

Draven didn’t move. He stood there at the door, his tall figure half in shadow, half lit by the soft candlelight in my room. His white shirt was loose at the neck, a few buttons undone, like he had dressed in a rush. The dark strands of his hair looked slightly messy, and his eyes… those sharp, piercing eyes, stared straight at me.

But they didn’t look cold. They looked worried.

“Reyna,” he said again, softly this time, like the name was fragile on his tongue. “Who gave you these?”

“I-I don’t know,” I whispered, my voice sounding so small. I hated how small it sounded.

He took a step closer. My breath hitched. His scent, warm and dark like woods and smoke, drifted toward me. I didn’t back away.

He looked down at the pictures still lying on the bed between us. His jaw tensed, and his hands curled slightly at his sides. Then he looked at me again, like he was searching my face for something. For fear, maybe. For disgust.

And then he asked the question I didn’t expect.

“Are you scared of me?”

My heart stopped. Then it started again, faster. My lips parted, but no words came out. I didn’t know how to answer. I should be scared. Those pictures—him with blood on his mouth, red staining his shirt, his eyes wild—he looked like a monster in them. A beautiful monster. One I couldn’t stop staring at. One I couldn't stop thinking about.

“I don’t know,” I said finally.

Something changed in his eyes. A flicker of something that looked like pain.

Draven turned away, walking to the window, the moonlight catching his sharp profile. “Those photos… they’re from a time I don’t go back to. I wasn’t careful then. I didn’t care who got hurt. But it wasn’t all by choice.” His voice dropped. “Sometimes... when you’ve been starved long enough, you stop caring who you bleed.”

I watched him closely. He wasn’t trying to scare me now. He was trying to show me something. A piece of himself.

“Why didn’t you want me to see them?” I asked quietly.

He turned back to me, slow, his eyes burning into mine. “Because I didn’t want you to see me like that. Not you.”

I swallowed hard. “And what are you now? Monster or man?”

He walked closer again, slow, as if every step was dangerous. I didn’t move. “Does it matter to you?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

My breath caught. His face was inches from mine now. I could see the small scar at the edge of his jaw, the softness in his lips, the hunger in his eyes. A strange heat curled low in my stomach. I didn’t understand it. I was afraid. And yet... I wanted more.

He leaned in. His hand lifted, fingers brushing my cheek.

Then—

BANG.

A loud knock on the door shattered the moment.

Draven pulled back fast, eyes sharp now. “What?” he snapped.

The door opened, and Lucian stepped in, his face tight with worry. “We have a problem,” he said.

I blinked, heart still racing.

Lucian held up a torn piece of cloth—white, stained with blood. I gasped.

“There’s a message on the gates. Written in blood,” Lucian said. “It’s about her.”

My knees felt weak.

Draven walked over, snatched the cloth, his eyes scanning the red letters. His jaw locked. He looked at Lucian, then me.

“You’re not safe anymore.”

He turned to me, something dark and fierce rising in his eyes.

“You’re coming with me,” he said. “And from now on, you don’t leave my side.”--

Draven didn’t say another word as he stepped toward me, his arm brushing against mine as he gently but firmly guided me out of the room. His hand felt like a brand against my skin, sending jolts of warmth through my entire body despite the cold, unsettling feeling lingering in the air. The atmosphere between us had shifted, the weight of it thick and unspoken. His face was set in an expression of tight control, but his jaw was clenched so hard I could see the muscle in his neck tensing, his eyes never leaving mine as we walked down the grand hallway.

When we reached his room, the door slammed shut behind us with a force that made me jump. He wasted no time, barking orders at his guards stationed outside. "Find out who’s responsible for this," he snapped, his voice sharp and commanding. "No one enters my quarters unless I allow it. Understand?"

His guards nodded stiffly, retreating into the shadows without another word. Inside the room, Draven paced, his movements like a predator stalking its prey. His eyes were dark, a storm of emotions swirling within them, but beneath the anger, there was something else—something that felt almost like... worry. Worry for me. He was trying to keep it buried, but it was there, lingering just beneath the surface, making everything feel more dangerous and intimate.

I stood there, unsure what to do with myself, my heart still racing from the overwhelming emotions that had surged through me. The pictures, the blood, and the strange, magnetic pull between us had made everything blur together. I wanted to scream, to ask him what all of it meant, but I was frozen. I didn’t know how to begin. Didn’t know how to speak without my voice shaking.

Draven turned to face me, his eyes hardening as they met mine. "I’m not letting anyone near you until I know who did this." He closed the distance between us, his presence swallowing me whole. "You’re mine, Reyna. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

His words were like a fire in my chest, both terrifying and intoxicating. I should’ve been angry. I should’ve been scared. But instead, I was drawn to him. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him, the power in his words echoing in my heart. There was no room for doubt anymore. No room for escape.

The tension thickened between us, a magnetic pull I could no longer ignore. His gaze softened for just a second before it hardened again. "Are you afraid of me?" His voice was low, dangerous in its intimacy.

I wanted to lie, to say no, but the truth was tangled in my throat. Instead, I shook my head slightly, my voice barely a whisper. "I... I don’t know."

His lips twitched, just a hint of a smile, before he turned away. "Don’t worry. Soon, you will."

And just like that, the room felt smaller. His proximity was suffocating, but it was also... electrifying. I couldn’t escape the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. Fear, desire, confusion... everything clashing together, keeping me locked in this dangerous, uncertain world that he was pulling me deeper into.

The door opened suddenly, and one of the guards stepped in, his face pale and urgent. "My lord, we’ve found something."

Draven’s expression darkened. "What is it?" His tone was dangerously low, like a hunter poised to strike.

The guard handed him a small vial, filled with a dark liquid that looked too much like blood. "We found this near the garden. It’s... it’s not normal blood."

Draven’s eyes flickered between the vial and me, his nostrils flaring as he studied it. "Keep looking," he ordered curtly, not taking his eyes off me. "Whoever did this will regret it."

The guard nodded and left, leaving Draven and I alone again, the silence between us now even more charged than before. He turned to face me fully, his gaze intense, as if trying to read my every thought. "You don’t belong in this world," he murmured softly, but the words didn’t sound like an insult. They felt... like a warning. "But I’ll make sure you never have to leave."

\---