181- Under the Alpha’s Gaze
POV Elowen Grimwald:
Son of a bitch! Bastard!
It was his fault I was there—entirely his. And he still had the audacity to come to me, holding what looked like my clothes. Unable to control myself, a rough growl echoed from my throat. My caged wolf hated him too, apparently.
“Sel…” he whispered my nickname with a certain devotion.
“What are you doing here?”
“I… brought your clothes. I wanted to see you…” He seemed a little embarrassed, and his eyes still shimmered two shades lighter.
Wait a second… Is he enchanted by me? Since when?
“You hand me over to your lunatic alpha and then show up missing me? Is that it?”
He looked away from mine for a moment, uncertain.
“Sel. Capturing you was an act of loyalty to my alpha, even though I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Then why are you here?” I softened my tone so I could play him.
An infatuated smile filled his lips as he stepped closer to the bars, almost fitting part of his face into an opening. The clothes he wore looked like a copy of what his alpha used. They suited him well, even though he was a bit shorter and less strong.
“Were you sent by someone to spy on us?” I shook my head.
“Tell the truth.”
“I’m not a spy!” I replied louder than I intended. “It hurts me so much that everyone thinks I’m a traitor…” I dissembled, in part.
“Calm down, Elowen, I believe you. Look, listen to me…” He slid a hand between the bars and tried to touch my face. A slight vertigo took hold of me. My wolf shook, annoyed, but I pretended to accept his touch. It was the first time I could feel her rejecting a wolf so insistently. “Tell everything you know, don’t lie about anything, okay? My alpha is one of the wisest I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, and he’ll be able to absolve you if he understands that you’re innocent because you didn’t know our laws.”
“Kehin, I only tried to see what was inside that place. Why is that so serious?” I forged a crying voice.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart.” With his brows softening in pity, he caressed my cheek with his thumb, falling right into my trap. “The laboratory is a restricted area, that’s why. But you didn’t know… right?” He seemed afraid that I did know, because he understood the consequences.
“No, of course not.”
“Cooperate with him and I guarantee you’ll leave here alive. My role will be to convince him to admit you into our pack. This place is incredible, Elowen, and I’ll be the next alpha. You’d never have to go back to being a waitress for humans.”
“Help me get out of here, please…” I whispered, lightly touching his hand resting on my face, making him close his eyes, apparently intoxicated by the simple contact.
Completely surrendered. What the hell?!
Kehin would taste his own poison very soon. May he not notice my body, once warm, cooling under his touch. May my creature not growl and ruin everything.
“Don’t tell him I was here, for now…”
“How did you get in?”
“I come and go from this house whenever I want; my pass is free.”
Hearing that filled me with hope.
“That’s good. Don’t leave me alone, it’s so awful not seeing anyone…”
“KEHIN!”
The unmistakable roar made him jump back, moving away from me.
I turned my neck to look toward the alpha and instantly regretted it. His fangs were elongated, and his green eyes had shifted to a golden hue. His fury vibrated in my entrails, triggering a shiver that spread through every corner of my being.
My heart raced in a wild gallop, and a symphony of panic roared in my ears. The air fled my lungs, leaving me breathless and powerless. The hair on my body stood on end, and the oppressive sensation of fear enveloped me like a suffocating bubble. It was as if an invisible force pinned me in place, a ghost gripping my throat.
“If I remember correctly, I told you not to set foot in here, didn’t I?” His rage turned toward Kehin, who stepped backward until his back hit the wall and my clothes fell to the floor.
Kehin’s face twisted in pain and shock—Aldren was hitting him with fear-laced pheromone.
“Yes, sir…” he replied, moaning.
My eyes widened, and through the fog of fear, Aldren’s figure became, to me, an omen of disaster—a promise of pain as real as the iron bars imprisoning me.
“Get out of here, now!” he ordered the wolf, who didn’t hesitate to leave, even weak and staggering. Damn the moment my gaze followed Kehin’s escape, because when I turned back to Aldren, he was staring at me, narrowing those dangerous eyes. “Is this how you thank me, prisoner?” he asked, approaching the cage like the predator he was, pouring pheromone over me that made me drop to my knees inside the bars.
“I… AH!” I screamed, struck by a bone-breaking chill. “I don’t know how he got in here, I… I hate him! Ah! Damn the day I got curious and stepped onto your lands! I didn’t know the laws, I didn’t know where I was! I regret it!” My justifications were a cry for mercy.
His answer was silence—and the cessation of the pheromone. I recovered from the pain, but something stronger and unfamiliar took hold of me. I lifted my chin, sweat streaming down my forehead, and found him breathing like a beast, very close to the bars.
The intense pain gave way to a scorching heat, almost unbearable.
“Stand up!” he growled the order, extending his claws as well.
I forced myself to rise, bracing against the metal bars. My legs trembled despite all my efforts to control them. The prison, once cold, turned into a sauna.
We were so close that the bursts of his angry breath stirred my hair, mingling with the air heavy with tension. I was intoxicated by his scent, an intriguing mix of eucalyptus leaves and dry wood.
“Forgi—” my voice failed, “—forgive me, please…”
Suddenly, my creature purred at Aldren. He blinked several times and, for a few seconds, seemed confused. His massive hands gripped the bars, making the entire structure tremble, and his eyes shone like a solar explosion. Before me, it felt as though there was a duel between man and beast.
“What did you do?” he asked accusingly. My mind screamed, but nothing came out of my mouth.
“Speak!”