Chapter 34

"I'll ruin you," he breathes, leaning ever so closer. I stay stock still, waiting for him to make the move. I assume that this statement is meant to scare me, but it doesn't. Not because I'm almost entranced by his golden gaze and incredible scent, but because I know the risk of being with him...

After this, I'll be going home, without him. Yet the idea of kissing him right now and pinning him back against my bed is awfully tempting. Even with his secrets. The secrets he might never want to tell me.

"Do it," I murmur in reply.

He brings his hands up as his lips almost touch mine, as if he wants to grab my face and make this more passionate then I could ever imagine. Instead, he pauses, his hands only inches away from my cheeks. Then he cringes. He cringes so deeply, it looks like it hurts him, as he exhales in frustration, before turning away.

I'm left sitting there, while he stands, feeling stupid. Why would he want to kiss me? He's the Alpha of Desire, with all his daunting secrets and unspoken lies.

"I'm sorry," he says one more time, before he throws my door open, and leaves.

***

~Asher

He sits in front of me, ankle on his knee. He watches me from behind his crystal glass. I never took him to be much of a drinker.

"How have you been?" he asks. It's been awhile since I talked.

I consider how to answer. "Busy."

Bring up Alaya. I should, but her name feels like thick cotton wool in my mouth. Sinful may consider us friends, but he would definitely put it across me to be involved with her. In his eyes, she's a single mortal from my Pack. Easy pray for the both of us.

He doesn't know she's my greatest treasure right now. Like a single golden key that opens the safe to the remedy of all my problems.

"How is she?" he asks, taking a swift sip from his glass. "I saw you go into her room."

No part of me reacts. He brought the subject up for me.

"She's all yours, Sinful," I assure him, my jaw only slightly clenching at those words. "You know that."

I know his pattern, and he's fully aware of that. Lately, he hasn't been interested in random girls, considering his mate. She's away, safe, he assures me. Alaya is here to be messed with, manipulated. He will use her, and so far, she hasn't realised it.

"Something on your mind, Alpha?" he suddenly asks. I decide to change the subject up.

"Cyprian, who is he?" I question.

A flicker of a frown. "Cyprian?"

"Alaya bumped into a man in your home, claiming he was friends with you. His name was Cyprian," I insist.

That got his attention. Someone in his own home, speaking to Alaya. In his eyes, she's his property now, no matter how wrong he is.

"I don't know a Cyprian," he says slowly. I frown. Then she was talking to...

"We need to get to her room," I tell him. He's on his feet in less than a second.

Sinful disappears before my eyes. I'm not about to flex any kind of power in front of Alaya, even in this dire situation. Sinful has this. At least I hope so.

When I make it to her room, Sinful is there, throwing her bed sheets over his shoulder, looking around desperately. I have never seen anything like this, ever. He doesn't act this way for a random girl. When he turns to look at me, hair wild, eyes wide.

"She's been taken."

I woke as if I had been sleeping for twelve hours sleep. Refreshed and content.

My body has silken sheets draped over it, as I lay comfortably in bed. As my eyes flutter open, I notice absolutely nothing familiar about the room. Then everything comes back to me like a slap in the face.

My last memories lay in the eyes of Cyprian, the stranger. He had convinced me he knew Sinful, which may still be true, since apparently they are both as sinister as each other. He kidnapped me. He wrapped his hands around my neck. He had given me a look that should be reserved for some of most wicked people on this earth.

Now I'm here, in a fully furnished room that is nicer than my one back home. It's even nicer than my one back in Sinful's territory. And that's saying something...

When I look down, I'm wearing the same clothes as I was when I was taken. The sight of its more of a relief than I could believe. Now that that has been established, I need to find out where I am. The window to my right has curtains drawn over it. On the other side of those pieces of fabric are the answer to where I have been taken. I rush over, throwing them open.

The Desire Pack. I'm home.

This place is on a hill, casting a glance out over everything. It's so familiar; the lights, the city, everything. I've missed this so much, that I press my hands against the glass, willing the locked window to smash and let me out. I take a moment to think about where in the Desire Pack I am. Somewhere achingly familiar. Asher's estate. Or his old estate rather.

This means one thing. I'm with Shanae, the crazy lady who shoved me over the side of the railing. Or at least, she's here somewhere, along with that Cyprian man.

As my gaze flickers back across the room, I notice something on the side table of the bed that I must have missed earlier. A note.

It read:

Dearest Alaya, join me for dinner?

There was no name at the bottom to signify who had written the note, although a dark feeling in the pit of my stomach already gives me an idea of who will be at that dinner. It seems though, no matter how desperately I want to refuse, I have no other choice.

I twist the note over, out of sheer habit to see more has been written.

If you wish to freshen up a little, there's a dress in the bathroom.

Glancing up, I notice a door slightly ajar. I assume that's the bathroom. So I lay the note on the bed, and walk toward it. I don't know how comfortable I feel wearing something they have given me, but yet again, an unknown consequence seems a lot more daunting than a single dress.

It's not ugly, at least. It's light and devoid from any extra trimming or sparkle. It's simple, which I have a feeling is in complete contrast to what is going to happen next.

Once the dress is on, it takes me a few good moments to convince myself to leave the room.

I have no weapon. I don't even have an idea of what to expect. Instead, I'm walking into a lion's den without an idea of what I will see. What if they kill me? Shanae surely thought she did, which leaves me wondering how they figured out I was brought back by Death. They might not even know. Perhaps there's something else going on here.

With a deep sigh, I conjure up enough nerve to go to this dinner. There is no doubt they have blocked every way for me to escape. This is only confirmed when I find a lone Guard outside my door, ready to escort me.

I follow behind him. Enough to make him nervous that I would escape. Keep him on his toes.

The dining room is empty when I'm ushered in. This is a part of Asher's home that I never got to see. It makes me realise why Asher is so desperate to get back here...

The ceiling is high, with an extravagant chandelier that glimmers with all its excess, proud to be completely unnecessary. The dining table is long and well structured, made out of some kind of expensive material for a great amount of people to eat on. It's dressed in a long white tablecloth with various plates and utensils atop it. It's even adorned with flowers in diamond vases and placemats coloured a brilliant golden.

This made to impress many people. Not me though. I would compare this feeling to one of intimidation.