23. Zia's POV - Gina's Voice

23. Zia's POV - Gina's Voice
Zia's POV

Why would this man who I’d feared all my stay here because of his reputation give me comfort?

Terri had told me about all the wicked things he’d done at home, how ruthless he had been to establish himself as the crown prince and First Alpha, how he would go as far as to shed blood to prove a point.

So why?

I looked up at him and my eyes traced his facials, the same way his did mine.

I noticed his face contort in pain. Pain for me, as he took in my tear-stricken face.

And at that point, my eyes remained on his lips.

It didn’t make sense to me in any way, that I—after letting go of all my burden through tears—would find him attractive.

I should be thinking, figuring out why he softened up for me all of a sudden, why he looks like he would hurt the person who put me in so much pain, yet here I was, rising to a tiptoe.

Gina wasn’t holding back either. Under his gaze, her presence seemed even more obvious, like she would change right at this moment to allow him mark her.

This distracted me, and I planted my heels back to the ground.

But before I could look away, suddenly self-conscious about my braveness, his lips captured mine.

No—he started with planting his two full lips on mine. My tiny ones, pouted in shock first before relaxing, giving him permission as I gasped and let him take my lower lips in his.

As the kiss got more intense, I felt my whole body leaning into his.

I wanted more. The whole of me wanted to take all that he would give me at this moment and some more. I brought my hand up to his chest to pull him close as I started to lose myself into the kiss, the sound of our lips smacking serving as a stimulant to continue—until my palms froze on his chest and I pushed him away.

Surprised, I could see it in the way he curved his eyebrows at me. “Why did you do that?” he asked, but for a moment all I could focus on was his lips, the way they glistened under the sun from my saliva—our saliva.

Then the question rang in my head again.

“Why did you do that? Why push him away when all we wanted to do was pull him in. After all, it’s why we were here,” Gina’s voice was stronger than ever as she questioned.

“Because of my cold. I have barely recovered and I don’t want to pass it to you, I…”

“I understand,” he said with a nod, but his eyes weren’t on me even though he was looking at me. It felt like his gaze went through me and he could see through me.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Talking about your fever, you should get more rest,” he took a step closer and lowered himself before holding me up in bridal style without as much as huffing a breath.

“Wait, wait, where are you taking me? I weigh a ton.” I felt shy and suddenly self-conscious all over again.

“You keep saying this, but your weight is nothing to me, Zia. I’m taking you to the clinic so you can rest and get some proper treatment,” he said as he leaned in. He took a sniff of my scent then placed a quick kiss on the side of my face.

This stunned me, and when I raised my eyes to meet his, he did his best to look anywhere but me as red colored his cheeks.

First Alpha Tyler was blushing, because of me? I wish I could tell this to the world. So I just cradled myself in his arms and let myself relax like he would want.

Because of this, I started to feel like I was indeed weightless. He was the first person who didn’t make me feel like my weight was a burden—after all, he had praised my body that night too.

“You stay here. I’ll go find the nurse,” he said as he placed me gently on the bed. We didn’t run into anyone, thanks to the fact that it was lunch break, but before he goes, I can’t help but want to ask him the question that’s been bothering me since.

“What about the reason why we met there?” I asked, and he straightened his back with a straight face so I couldn’t read any emotions off him.

“Zia, you are mine,” he pauses and pockets his hands—fists—then returns his gaze on me. I can’t help the happy somersault that my heart does as he says those words.

“So if I fuck you when you’re sick, doesn’t that make me a psychopath?” he asked, his head slightly cocked to the side. I closed my eyes as I remembered the car with Cain.

He might have done that, but that doesn’t make him a psychopath, right?

He was probably just really needy. Didn’t he wait for me to wake up? I was also in a hurry to leave—wasn’t that wrong of me?

The questions kept piling up with no answer whatsoever, but when I opened my eyes, Tyler was no longer there.

I looked around and the only sign that he was here once is his scent that lingers in the air.

I turn around and my mind is immediately flooded with more thoughts.

He left so suddenly after saying all that? Why did it look like he was in a hurry?

Was he going to find someone else now that I was sick?

I curled more into myself as I considered that question. After all, he had many women who would kill to be ‘his’, who wouldn’t mind him fucking them even as a one-time thing, so…

The thought of him picking anyone else, going to anyone else, made my heart hurt.

“He wouldn’t,” Gina sounded convinced in my head, but what could be believed now that reality was crueler than mere hopes?

I closed my eyes as the exhaustion from crying wore me out.