Chapter 137 Chapter 137
Elijah
Across the floor, Violet's fingers tightened visibly on Marcus's shoulder. Her jaw set in that way it did when she was trying very hard not to show emotion and failing.
I shouldn't be enjoying this but I absolutely was. And my impatient wolf was already nudging me to approach her.
And finally she was in my arms. She was close enough that I could feel her heartbeat, could smell whatever it was she wore that made me want to bury my face in her hair and not come up for air.
Close enough to turn the vibrator back on.
I'd been hard since the alcove. Or for that matter, even before the alcove, if I was being honest. Since she'd walked into this gathering wearing that dress and I'd realized she'd actually done it. I had actually worn what I'd asked her to wear and had shown up ready to let me torment her in a room full of people.
The trust in that act had done something to me that I was still processing.
But watching her struggle to maintain composure while we danced, feeling her fingers dig into my jacket, hearing her breath catch, seeing her eyes go unfocused and desperate…that was pushing me toward a breaking point I'd been fighting all evening.
I wanted her. Needed her in a way that had stopped being purely physical weeks ago and had become something considerably more dangerous.
I wanted to spend several hours making her forget Nate had ever existed, to hear my name the way she'd said it in the alcove. I was dying to mark her in ways that would make it very clear that she was thoroughly, completely claimed.
The intensity of the want was almost frightening.
I'd never felt like this, never lost control like this. I had always taken what I wanted unapologetically but this was the first time I had to actively fight the urge to just take and to ignore every rational argument my brain was making and follow every instinct my body was screaming.
Mine.
She was mine. Not anyone else's and certainly not Nate’s. She was mine to protect, mine to pleasure, and mine to keep safe from the people who kept trying to hurt her.
So I'd pocketed the remote when Nate disguised it as a gift, the evil part of me wanting him to see exactly what I was going to do with it. And I was lowkey proud of how I had made this entire evening a very clear demonstration of ownership.
Because if I couldn't claim her the way I wanted to—publicly, permanently, with all the intensity I felt—I could at least make sure Nate understood he'd lost her.
The dance had barely lasted a few minutes when Nicole, frustrated by Nate’s ignorance, asked for a girls dance to save her face.
I needed to calm the fuck down as well because it was growing very hard to not just bend Violet over and take her then and there.
And then some random Alpha had cornered me with his tedious questions about territorial disputes.
I'd tried to extract myself quickly while keeping one eye on the stage where Violet had been pulled into Nicole's girls-only dance number.
I didn't trust Nicole or her brainless cronies but the guy beside me just kept talking.
So I told myself that I would take my eyes off her for just five minutes and then I'd go extract Violet from whatever Nicole was planning.
But those five minutes had been four minutes too long.
When I'd looked back at the stage, Violet was alone.
Everyone else had left but she was still dancing and it took me barely a second to realize that she was moving in ways that weren't quite coordinated or controlled. It was as if she was somewhere else entirely, lost in a haze that had nothing to do with choice.
My blood instantly went cold.
The crowd was watching her and something about the scene felt very odd. Some of the onlookers seemed concerned while some were entertained. And a majority of them were holding up their phones.
Madison was recording her and my gaze flitted to Nicole who was watching with an expression of pure, satisfied delight.
Violet stumbled slightly, but caught herself and kept swaying. She did a small twirl and I was horrified to find her dress that was gaping at the back. The zipper had come down, exposing the top half of her back to a room full of people with cameras.
The rage that hit me was incandescent and clarifying.
I was moving before thought became action. The crowd between me and that stage might as well have not existed. I took the steps two at a time, and when I reached her she was still swaying, still lost.
My hands settled on her waist and she blinked up at me like she wasn't entirely sure I was real.
"Elijah?"
The way she said my name, sounding a bit confused yet trusting did something permanent to whatever was left of my control.
"I've got you," I said.
I pulled her against me, her back to my chest, shielding her exposed skin from the watching crowd. My hand moved to her zipper and I pulled it up smoothly, to make it look like it was part of the dance.
No one else was going to see. No one else was going to get that satisfaction.
Nicole and Nate had already been trying to make her life hell in Ironcrest and even before that they had created one video of her humiliation floating around from Nate's previous cruelty.
I had looked for it but they had probably deleted it. Because I wanted them to know it was me who was embracing her, and that I would never let her turn into a subject of mockery ever again.
And if they wanted another one, I’d be in it as well.
I kept her close, swaying gently, letting her weight rest against me while I pulled her back from wherever Nicole's poison had sent her. Because I was sure she had something to do with it even though I had no proof.
"Stay with me," I murmured against her ear. "Come back."
Her fingers curled into my jacket with weak pressure and I felt the catch in her breathing as she tried to focus.
"I feel strange."
"I know. Just focus on me. Can you do that?"
"Yup, I always do that," she mumbled, and that honest and unfiltered admission made my chest tight. Especially after knowing that she was not even in her senses right now.
A few of the onlookers began to applaud and thought I'd stepped in for a sweet, spontaneous dance.
I gave Nicole one icy glare and her smile died just as that of her cronies as they registered my expression.
I would deal with all of them later. Right now, Violet needed to be anywhere but here.
"Elijah," she said against my shoulder, her voice slurred and small. "Everything's spinning."
"I know. We're leaving."
"We…we can't leave. The party's not over."
"It is for you."