Chapter 32 UNEXPECTED ATTACK
Varkos
The door closed behind Ginnie the moment she walked out. With a sharp, final sound, and the next that followed was silence—thick and dangerous.
I did not turn immediately. My gaze stayed fixed on the door long after she was gone, my blood still boiling with the annoyance she left in her wake.
“What do you want?” I turned to face Kenna fully now, the faint scent of tea lingered in the air, clinging to my ruined shirt like an accusation.
She blinked, pretending to act surprised, but as quickly as it was covered up by a faint smirk at the corner of her lips. “Must I always have an important reason to check on my fiancé?”
Her eyes flicked to my stained suit, then she moved closer, “Look at what that little bitch has done,” she murmured. Her fingers lifted as if to touch the fabric, shaking her head in protest, “It’s…it’s such a shame. That suit costs more than she’ll ever earn in her lifetime.”
“Can you just stop your fucking pretense Kenna,” I replied coldly, stepping back, out of her reach. “I know who you truly are.”
Her smile faded—just slightly, but before she could part her lips to speak I cut her off. “You think I’ve forgotten what you did at the marking dinner?” I continued, “When you forced Ginnie to dance like some human slut.” My voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper now, “Don’t insult me by acting surprised that I noticed.”
For a moment, something sharp flashed in her eyes. Then she exhaled and softened again, feigning her face into something pitiful. “I only wanted the night to be perfect,” she said, “For the guests that night.” She clasped her hands together, “I admit, perhaps I went too far…but it won’t happen again.”
“You crossed a fucking line, Kenna!” I snapped, studying the expression on her face, “And you enjoyed every bit of it.”
“But that didn’t give you the right to stop the Marking dinner,” her lips parted, then closed. “You humiliated me in front of everyone.”
“No…you embarrassed yourself,” I replied flatly.
Kenna stepped closer again, taking her time in slow, deliberate steps. “Tell me, Varkos, when are you going to mark me because I'm growing impatient as the day goes by.”
The question sliced through the room like a blade, Kenna not giving me an ounce of chance to reply before she continued. “I am your chosen mate for crying out loud,” she continued, “Yet you hesitate…do you know how that makes me look?”
“I don’t care how it makes you look,” I shot back coldly, stepping closer until there was no space between us.
“You should!” She barked, “Because everyone in Bleeding Rose has started talking. They question your position as the Alpha, hell they’ve started questioning our bond.”
I turned away, moving toward the desk. “This conversation is over, Kenna…I’m not doing this with you.”
Her footsteps followed behind me hurriedly, giving me no space to breathe as she approached. “You've made that stupid human your personal slave,” she hissed, “Yet you won’t even touch me.”
I felt something snap inside me—sharp, hot.
“You’re testing me, Kenna,” I said.
“Am I?”
Her hand brushed my chest, a light touch that sent irritation coursing through me. “Remove. Your. Hand.”
She didn’t.
Instead, she stepped closer, the scent of her perfume filling my nose instantly, “I’ve been waiting for you to make love to me since I stepped foot in this house, Varkos,” Her fingers trailed the button of my shirt. “You are mine,” she said, “and I’m tired of waiting for you to fuck me.”
“I am not something you can own,” my voice thundered across the study, “And I will not be blackmailed into having sex with you.”
Her fingers slid inside my shirt, followed by a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “I’m not trying to blackmail you. I just…want you to claim me as your mate.”
Before she could slide in further, I caught her wrist instantly. My fingers locked around her pulse, feeling it jump beneath my grip as she gasped.
The sound curled through me, unwelcome and dangerous, lighting something I didn’t want to admit yet, “Careful,” I warned quietly.
“Why?” She asked, her eyes lifted to mine, dark and intent, gleaming with the kind of confidence that dared me to break. “Are you afraid you won’t be able to resist me?”
I released her hand instantly as if burned, stepping back to force a distance between us. “Leave right this instant, Kenna.”
She circled me instead, the slow sounds of her heels against the floor as she leaned closer, “You don’t reject me because you don’t want me,” her voice dropped to a low, sultry tone. “You’re just so afraid that I’ll make you fall too deep.”
A bitter laughter tears out of me, short and sharp, without humor. “When did you start thinking too highly of yourself? Huh?”
She leaned close, too close enough that I could feel the scent of her sliding under my skin, sending a jolt of sexual desire running through my veins. “You didn’t mark me,” she said almost too certainly, “But you will.”
“Do not mistake my patience with you for weakness, Kenna.” I turned my head slowly, meeting her gaze head-on. I leaned down until my face hovered inches from hers.
The room seemed to tighten around us, the air thickening as if something terrible was about to unfold. Then her gaze dropped to my mouth—a silent invitation wrapped in desire, her lips almost touching mine now.
And then—
BANG!
The sound ripped through the villa like a cannon. I spun toward the window instantly, my instincts roaring to life as another sound followed.
“Oh my god!” Kenna barked, her voice shattering through my thoughts as I faced the window. My wolf surged forward, snarling.
The air exploded with the sound of gunfire.
What the fuck?
The villa was being attacked.