Chapter 177 My Angel | 070
The voice is not mine. It echoes inside my head, layered, possessive and furious. I gasp softly, stunned. My fingers twitch in Cooper's grip. My heart is racing now, pounding too hard.
What was that?
I pull my hand back instinctively. Cooper blinks. And all of a sudden, colour returns to his face. The tension in his shoulders eases, his breathing steadying.
I stare at him, confused. Something happened just now, but I can't for the life of me figure it out.
He leans closer, close enough that his breath brushes my ear.
"Thank you," he whispers. "You're the best."
I go completely still.
"...What?" I breathe.
Behind us, Blair gasps.
"Cooper?!"
He leans back in his seat, stretching slightly like he just woke up from a nap instead of... whatever that was.
"I feel great," he says, smiling.
Then he gestures lazily towards me. "Noelle fixed it."
My brain glitches, struggling to process what just happened. I have a feeling something went wrong just now. But I can't prove it, and it's freaking me out.
"I—what? I didn't—"
Blair is already out of her seat. She rushes over and pulls me into a tight hug.
"Oh my God, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"I didn't do anything—"
"You did!" she insists, pulling back, her eyes shining. "You saved him!"
Saved him?
I look at Cooper. He just smiles as if he knows something I don't. Blue leans in slightly on my left, her voice low.
"...Did you feel that?"
I swallow hard.
"...Yeah."
Her eyes narrow. Mine probably do too. Because something is very, very wrong.
Blair grabs my hands again, bouncing slightly.
"We're having a pool party this weekend," she blurts out. "You have to come! This is my way of saying thank you!"
"A pool—?"
"You have to," she insists, beaming. "No excuses."
What are the odds she's talking about the same pool party Azalea invited me to? Nonetheless, I find myself nodding slowly, still not fully present.
Still trying to process what just happened.
I can't stop thinking about that strange voice and the way my body reacted.
I glance down at my hand. Then back at Cooper's, uneasy slipping in.
"Are you alright?" he asks gently, clearly acting like he's clueless.
Before I can respond, his fingers rise again, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.
This time, it's so much worse.
My skin prickles violently. It feels like something that had been buried under my skin is trying to claw its way out. My chest tightens until I can barely breathe. Inside my head, that voice returns.
'Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.'
I jerk away from him.
"I'm fine," I snap quickly.
Cooper's brows knit together in confusion. "You don't look—"
The air in the room changes suddenly, growing heavy and oppressive, as if something powerful has just stepped in and sucked all the oxygen away.
My breath catches in my throat, and I turn slowly. Sure enough, there he is.
Azren stands at the entrance, looking like he's on the verge of causing a world catastrophic event. His black coat hangs perfectly over his broad shoulders, tailored and expensive. His hair is slicked back with ruthless precision.
He looks every bit like an untouchable CEO. But his eyes...oh no...
They're glowing.
What is he doing?!
Gold bleeds fiercely through the blue in his eyes, locked not on my face but on the spot where Cooper had touched me.
My heart drops.
"Azren—"
I'm already moving towards him, my chair scraping loudly against the floor as I rush across the room.
"Az, listen… it's not what it looks like—"
His hand catches my wrist in mid-air, firm and unyielding.
"You turned your phone off," he says, his voice rumbling with the quiet kind of menace.
He's not yelling, but I can feel his rage swelling.
"I—yes, but I was—"
"I texted you."
"I know—"
"I called you."
My throat tightens painfully.
"I was in class—"
His grip tightens just a little.
"I know exactly where you were."
Oh shit.
"I didn't—Cooper just—he wasn't—"
"I can smell him on you."
I freeze.
"That's not—it was only my hair, I swear I didn't let him—"
Azren's jaw ticks, and something dark and dangerous snaps behind his glowing eyes.
Behind me, Cooper speaks up.
"Relax, man," he says, trying to sound casual. "You're acting like I stole your wife or something."
A heavy silence falls over the place, thick and suffocating.
My husband goes completely still. And that stillness is far more terrifying than any outburst that could have happened.
Slowly, he releases my wrist.
Then he turns and walks straight out of the lecture hall without another word.
My stomach plummets.
"Azren—!"
Panic rolls through me as I hurry after him, my heart hammering wildly.
"Azren, wait!"
I push through the doors into the corridor, the sound echoing behind me.
He's already there, pacing like a caged animal, one hand dragging through his slicked-back hair as he breathes hard, clearly fighting to hold something violent back. It's either that...or he's trying very hard not to throw up. And neither of them sounds good.
"Az—listen to me, nothing happened—"
"Why do I smell him on you?" His voice cracks, raw with pain.
It hits me harder than ever. Those dreadful words. Because I can still remember the way he'd reacted the first time he smelled Cooper on me.
"I didn't let him—he just brushed my hair, that's all—"
The doors open behind me. I don't need to turn to know it's Cooper.
"Man, you need to calm down," Cooper says, stepping out with forced nonchalance. "You're making a scene over nothing."
Wrong move.
Azren lets out a low, dangerous laugh.
"Nothing?" he repeats softly, the word laced with pure fury.
Then he moves so fast, he's practically a blur.
One moment he's standing there, the next his hand is wrapped around Cooper's throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground and slamming him against the wall.
"AZREN!"
I gasp, stumbling forward to grab his arm.
Cooper chokes, his hands clawing desperately at Azren's wrist as his feet kick uselessly in the air.
Azren's eyes are glowing fully now, pure molten gold.
"You touch her again," he growls, his voice vibrating with something savage and barely contained, "and I will rip your flesh from your bones and personally feed the vultures."
"Azren, stop!" I plead, pulling at his arm with all my strength. "You're hurting him!"
"He's lucky he's not dead yet," he snarls.
His grip tightens and Cooper makes a strangled, desperate sound.
Students around us have frozen, staring in wide-eyed terror.
"Azren, let him go!" I shout. "You're overreacting!"
The word seems to strike him like a blow.
His head snaps towards me, hurt flashing raw across his face before anger swallows it completely.
"Overreacting?" he echoes, his voice cracking slightly.
My chest aches.
"You just attacked him!"
"He touched you."
"It was nothing!"
"It wasn't nothing to me," he says, his voice dropping lower.
For a split second, I hesitate, the pain in his tone cutting through my anger.
But the hurt and frustration are still burning too hot.
"You don't get to decide who I can be around!" I snap. "You don't get to control me like this!"
"Control you?" he repeats softly.
At this point, I'm desperate to make him stop causing a scene. Worse, I'm certain there are humans around.
"Yes!" My voice shakes. "You knocked me out and left me like I was some helpless thing—and now this? You don't even trust me!"
His grip finally loosens.
Cooper drops to the floor, coughing hard as he gasps for air.
But Azren isn't looking at him anymore.
He's looking at me, and the expression on his face is something I've never seen before. It's not just rage, but something deeper. Devastation.
"You think this is about trust?" he asks slowly.
My throat goes dry.
"I—"
"You think I don't trust you?"
"I don't know what to think anymore!"
A heavy, awful silence stretches between us. His chest rises and falls slowly, his fists clenched.
Then he nods.
"Fine."
A sudden rush of dread floods me.
"I won't control you," he says.
"Azren—"
"You want space? Go ahead and take it."
His gaze darts to Cooper who is still on the ground, then it returns to me with a new coldness.
"You want to be around him? Be my guest."
My chest tightens.
"That's not what I meant—"
"No," he cuts in, his voice flat and distant. "You made yourself very clear."
"Az..." I whisper.
But he's already stepping back, pulling away, and shutting down right in front of me.
"Have fun tonight."
Then he turns and walks away without hesitation, without looking back.
My heart sinks straight into my stomach.
"Azren—!"