Chapter 10 Chapter 10
Anya’s POV
I was trapped beneath him. I didn't know where to look, my gaze darting frantically from his terrifying, glowing eyes to the animalistic curve of his fangs, to the hard, naked expanse of his chest just inches from my face.
My arm was on fire where his claws had been. "Please," I sobbed, the word tearing from my throat. "Please... don't kill me."
"Sshhh..." The sound was a low, animalistic hiss. He lowered his face until it was just above mine, his hot breath ghosting across my cheek.
His glowing crimson-gold eyes stared directly into mine, pinning me, holding me captive in a way his strength couldn't.
"You mesmerize me, Anya."
"M-Mesmerize you?!" I shrieked, the terror suddenly twisting into a hot, useless anger. "You just tore my arm open!"
I thrashed under him, trembling with a volatile mix of fear and fury, trying to scramble away on the rug. His weight was crushing, his presence suffocating.
But his grip was instant and unbreakable. His claws had retracted, but his hand clamped around my good wrist, his strength still overwhelming.
"Do you think I would let you go so easily?" he growled, his voice a low vibration that I felt in my bones. His glowing, inhuman eyes bored into mine. "Your only mistake was finding your way to me, little human... And now," his voice dropped with a chilling curiosity, "I intend to study you."
Before I could even process the threat, he stood in one fluid motion, hauling me up with him as if I weighed nothing. He didn't let go; he simply repositioned his grip and threw me.
I flew through the air and landed hard on the massive bed, sinking deep into the plush furs. The breath was knocked from my lungs. I scrambled backward, my heart seizing in my chest as my eyes widened in panic.
He was standing between me and the door. I was trapped! So trapped!
"I thought you were scared of me," he chuckled, the sound low and completely unconcerned. "Why are you screaming at me now?"
I scrambled backward on the bed, propping myself up on my elbows, my voice shaking. "You clawed me, Alpha—"
I stopped. My gaze dropped to my wrist, and my words died in my throat. I stared, dumbfounded. The claw marks... the blood... it was all gone. There wasn't even a scratch. The skin was perfectly smooth.
How? How is that possible?
"I licked the wound," he stated simply, as if he were discussing the weather.
He flashed that dangerous, predatory smile again. "You won't be leaving my chamber tonight, little human. You'll stay here until I say otherwise."
A new, horrifying implication began to sink in, making my stomach turn to ice. "B-But..." I whispered. "What... what will everyone think?"
He laughed, a short, cold sound that held no humor. "That I bedded you? That I spent all night rutting on your fragile, human body?" He shook his head, his gaze darkening with something like contempt. "Impossible."
Before I could react to his cruel words, he moved. His hand shot out and clamped around my bare ankle. My heart stopped. He gave a single, firm pull, dragging me back toward the center of the bed as his other hand landed on my shin, his fingers slowly, possessively, tracing a path up my leg.
A blind, violent panic erupted in me. No!
"Get off!" I shrieked, and I kicked out hard with my free leg, trying to break his hold. No man had ever touched me like that!
His grip on my ankle was like a manacle, but he didn't yank it. My kick had connected with his hand, leaving a faint smear of my own blood—from my healed wrist—on his skin.
He didn't get angry. He didn't even flinch.
He simply lifted his hand, his gaze locking with mine, and licked the trace of my blood from his knuckles. He did it deliberately, his eyes half-lidded in a way that was utterly, terrifyingly seductive.
"I am just... admiring," he mused, his voice a low, captivated rumble. "Your blood... your flesh... How does it calm me? How does it stop the change?" He glanced at the window, where the full moon was still bright. "Look at me. The rage is gone. I'm in my human form... and there was no pain."
His eyes, now fully human but blazing with intensity, snapped back to me. "How did you do that, little human? Are you a gift from the Moon Goddess?"
"Moon Goddess?!" I shrieked, the question so absurd it broke through my fear and tapped into a raw, hysterical anger. "You're out of your mind!"
I was sobbing, my body trembling. "If you're going to kill me, just do it! Kill me now! I know you will! After I screamed at you, after I kicked you... I know you'll just give me back to Alpha Borin tomorrow! That's the end of my life anyway! So just... just kill me now!"
My tirade sputtered out, my chest heaving. He hadn't moved. He was just... watching me. His head was tilted as if he were listening to a mouse deliver a battle cry.
"Why," he finally spoke, his voice dangerously soft, "would I give you back to Alpha Borin... when I could just keep you with me... forever?"