Chapter 54 Refusal to cower
Ruel's POV
From the scent within the hallway, I can tell Ira recently passed here.
I'd subconsciously followed her scent.
“Just a peak.” Krist mutters and I stop walking, my hands sliding into my pocket.
“What has gotten into you? So you're just going to barge into her room? And do what exactly?” I internally hiss at him.
“So you are not going to do this for me?” Krist says, sounding upset.
“No!”
Taking in a deep sigh, I ignore the sharp pain at the center of my head and turn to Elric who's been quietly standing behind me.
“Go wait in my study. I'll retrieve the file then be with you shortly.” I manage to get out, ignoring how my eyes burn from Krist pressure.
“What is wrong with you?!” I yell but frown, realizing my voice doesn't sound out.
“Nothing. But I'm done waiting for you to make the right decision.” Krist says, my mouth, muttering his response.
Fuck! Krist no!
I can smell her even better now as my legs continue moving.
“Krist, give me back control!” I roar within but he does not relent.
“She is ours. I need her.” He mutters, my voice sounding stronger.
I realize it too late when my hand lifts, the door already opening beneath my palm, my body moving with a certainty that isn’t entirely mine.
I thought he couldn't do this anymore. I thought I'd learned to tame my wolf. I thought he had finally understood how wrong it was for him to control me against my will.
The moment the door swings open, Ira startles, her breath hitching as she turns away from the bed.
She looks as though she’d been about to lie down. Loose hair, night gown, tired eyes…posture unguarded in a way that makes something inside of me tighten painfully.
Her eyes fix on me… us.
Krist’s heart swells with pride when her gaze doesn't drift, but I know that's only because she doesn't trust us.
For half a second, neither of us speaks. Krist shamelessly sniffs the room that smells one-hundred-percent like her. The soft warmth is so peaceful I nearly leave Krist to do as he pleases.
But I can't risk that.
“How are you feeling?” The words leave my mouth in a gentle tone I don’t even recognize. He's so careful you'd think he is speaking to a wounded pup.
Ira blinks. She obviously wasn’t expecting that.
“I…” she hesitates, eyes flicking over my face like she’s searching for something familiar. “I’m fine.” She shifts slightly, keeping her eyes on me.
We feel the shift immediately.
“Look, she's clearly scared of us,” he snaps inside my skull, sounding sharp and offended. “Because of you!”
I grit my teeth. “You’re the one who walked us in here.”
“Because she smelled unsettled,” Krist shoots back.
“That's a lie and you know I'm aware of it.” I say. “Moreover she's only scared of us because you couldn't keep your fucking hands to yourself.”
“I already apologized.” Krist mutters under my breath.
Ira’s brow furrows. “What?”
“Nothing,” he says quickly, yet politely before internally baring his sharp fangs inside my mind.
“I apologized, not you. And Ira never heard it. She was asleep, remember?”
“Don’t pretend this is my fault,” Krist growls. You’re the one who keeps treating her like a threat instead of…”
“...instead of what?” I think at him angrily. “An obsession? A prize?”
The silence between us grows heavy as Krist’s attention shifts back to Ira. He's slower this time, but more intense. I feel it the way I feel a change in pressure before a storm.
Ira notices the change too and her spine straightens, her chin lifting just enough to signal defiance instead of fear.
Cute.
“If you’re going to stand there glaring,” she says mildly, “you might as well say why you came. I’d rather sleep than keep an eye on some creepy commander.”
There it is, that sharp little edge. That refusal to cower.
Krist arches a brow, like actually arches it
He is really using every bit of my body as much as he can.
“You have a naughty mouth.” he mutters out loud.
I stiffen instantly as his gaze drops.
Not to her face.
No, it drops lower, just right on her lips.
Damn it.
Heat floods my body in a way that has nothing to do with anger or dominance. My pulse stutters as Ira subconsciously licks her lip.
Suddenly there’s a sharp, traitorous response in my groin that makes my jaw clench hard enough to ache.
“Krist,” I warn, my breath becoming shallow. “Eyes up.”
Thankfully he listens as he jerks his gaze back to hers immediately. His nostrils flare like he’s restraining himself by force.
Krist exhales through my nose before speaking. “I’m sorry,” he says, taking Ira by surprise.
She looks at him with a confused expression.
“For pinning you against the wall,” he continues. “That night.”
Her expression changes as understanding creeps in.
Her lips part, but then she presses them together. And then she bites down on her lip.
Fuck.
Krist’s control wavers, he straightens, pushing to his feet with a smoothness that makes him look like a hunter, hungry for his first catch of the day.
His eyes stay locked on her mouth like it’s a challenge he’s already lost.
I feel my cock twitch as tension coils tighter in my abdomen.
“Krist, don’t, I breathe.”
The throb intensifies despite my efforts to shut it down and he steps closer anyway.
My heart slams hard against my ribs. Every part of me screams to either regain control of my body or give in entirely to this madness, and the fracture between those instincts hurts worse than any wound.
“Krist,” I say again, this time louder, my voice very strained. “Don’t do something we'll later regret.”
He stops.
Just close enough that I can feel her warmth. Close enough that her breath shifts, just barely.
His hands curl at his sides like he’s physically restraining himself from reaching out.
“Fuck,” he hisses suddenly then spins on his heel and storms out of my room.
The door slams hard enough to rattle the frame.
I stagger slightly as control crashes back into me, abrupt and disorienting. My breath comes uneven. My pulse still racing.
And then I hurry out of the hallway, needing space to think.