Chapter 30 I’M IN LOVE
Chapter 30
/Nelson/
I barely slept last night. Not because I was tired or drowning in paperwork like usual. No. It was because of her. Edlyn. The girl who somehow managed to exist in my head even when she was not in the damn room. I sat at my desk with documents scattered everywhere. Meeting agendas. Trade routes. Security reports for the North Poll Alpha visit tomorrow. My head should have been buried in them. Instead I kept replaying last night like a movie that refused to stop.
I heard her scream. Enough to rip me straight out of alpha mode. My wolf Sunny growled instantly. We sprinted to her room without thinking. Something felt wrong when I touched her door. Cold. Pressured. Like someone was holding it from the other side. I almost broke it down. I swear I would have if she waited one more second before answering me. When she finally opened, she looked shaken. Breathing uneven. Like she had seen something she was not ready to talk about.
I wanted to hold her. Comfort her. Protect her from whatever monster crawled into her dreams. And I did. I sat beside her. She let me wrap my arm around her like I belonged there. That alone messed me up more than it should have. I wanted to stay longer. Spend the night. Just in case she screamed again. But she wanted me out. Politely. Softly. Like she was hiding something. Or someone.
Sunny did not like that. Not at all.
She smells divine. She is ours. He kept repeating. All that remained was her wolf surfacing to confirm it and the bond would snap tight. I tried to ignore it but even an idiot could see the truth. My feelings were getting intense too fast. Possessive. Hungry. Drawn to her. I barely knew her yet I wanted to mark every inch of her soul. That is not normal bonding speed. Not for a supreme alpha like me.
This morning her room was empty. No sign of her. Curtains wide open. Bed cold. Maybe she went for a stroll alone. The thought made my jaw clench so hard it hurt. Sunny snarled inside me like he wanted blood. Calm down I told him but my chest still felt like it was caving in.
Hours later I sat in the main hall staring at the same unread document again. The words blurred together and dissolved like useless ink. I rubbed my eyes. Still no sight of her. Was she avoiding me. Did she regret last night. Did she even think about me half as much as I thought about her. Yes. I sound pathetic. Whatever.
A voice snapped me out of it.
"Are you alright man. You look like life personally dragged you into the gutter and forgot you there." Felix said, leaning over the table with that stupid amused smirk of his.
I blinked slowly. "I am in love."
Silence.
Felix choked on his own spit. Timi dropped an apple he was eating like it offended him personally.
"Wait. Hold up. You are in love. With Edlyn." Timi asked like I just declared I was pregnant with twins.
I shrugged. "Apparently."
Felix threw his hands up. "Bro. It is not even four days. Four. And you are already in love. Wow man. Just wow. Should we plan the wedding or call a therapist."
I gave him a glare that could kill. He smiled like he had nine lives.
Before I could throw something at him Jasmine burst in breathless.
"Guys. We have a problem." Her voice already pulled my shoulders stiff.
"What happened." I asked, getting up.
She swallowed. "The elders moved the meeting. They want it tonight. And they are bringing Jackies father with them to finalize the engagement."
Everything inside me froze. Engagement. Mine. To Jackie. They don’t have the right to make decisions for me just because I can’t find my mate but things are different now.
Sunny roared inside me. I felt it build. Hot. Violent. My claws almost pushed through skin. The room temperature dropped like winter storming through the walls. Felix stumbled back. Jasmine clutched her throat like breathing became impossible. Timi fell to his knees.
That is when I realized what I was doing.
I was suffocating them with my alpha aura.
I inhaled sharply and forced myself to calm down. Power retreated like an angry tide. They gasped for air. Timi grabbed the wall for balance. Jasmine bent over coughing. Felix stared at me with wide eyes.
"Wow. Nice to know you can kill us without touching us." Felix wheezed.
I ignored him and paced the room once because I needed space before I destroyed something. They think they can come here and make decisions like I am a child. Like I am not the supreme alpha. Like I do not have the right to choose who stands beside me as Luna.
Edlyn flashed in my mind again. Her sleepy eyes. Her soft voice. That moment she let me hold her. That single memory was the only thing that stopped me from tearing the castle roof apart.
"I am not marrying Jackie." I said. Voice flat. Final.
"You know the elders will lose their minds if you refuse." Jasmine warned gently. "Her father might as well declare war."
Let them. Sunny growled. We want her. No one else.
I pressed my hand on the table to steady myself. "I will handle it."
Felix crossed his arms. "How. With charm. Threat. Magic. Or that alpha aura chokehold you just pulled."
I almost laughed. "Whatever works."
Timi hesitated. "Does Edlyn know how you feel."
"No." Which is true, she knows I like her but not love.
My voice came out rough. Honest. Scary even to me. "But she will."
Felix whistled. "Bold. Slightly suicidal considering she is wolf less and you know no one in this pack will be ok with that”
I ignored the jab. My brain was already crafting plans. Steps. Options. I had to win her first. Win her trust. Break that stupid ancient engagement contract without collapsing alliances. And possibly kill anyone who thinks they can take her away from me.
I moved toward the hallway. I needed to find her. Talk to her. Maybe hold her again. Maybe pretend I did not feel jealous when she pushed me away in the morning. Maybe confront the fear that someone else could already be stealing her heart.
Sunny pushed forward, eager. Hungry.
Find her. Claim her. Now.
I rolled my neck slowly. "I am going for a walk."
Felix raised a brow. "A walk to clear your head or a walk to go sniffing for Edlyn like a lost wolf."
"Same thing."
They laughed. But I was not joking.