362- Fire Beneath Control
POV Seraphine Valerian:
I felt like a mess. Grief still hurting, half unreal. There were moments when I thought my father would appear and fix everything, as he had before. Maybe isolating me, protecting me, keeping me from danger.
That wouldn’t have been good. It hadn’t prepared me for being threatened anyway. Full of ups and downs, trying to understand myself and find my place in the middle of that chaos. I was still just an appendage.
My clan, in Vila Rósia, and my aunt Gretel surely thought I was dead. If I ever left there, would they welcome me? Would I finally fit somewhere?
I stood up, distressed, just walking, not even knowing what I truly wanted anymore.
Viktor had shaken my world. He always had—even before I was born, sealing my fate. And his indifference, even while keeping me captive, had its cost.
He had torn me away from what was known and desired, thrown me into that madness, saved my life, taken my virginity, thrown me out of his room. Killed for me, let his daughter escape because of me. And yet, he now avoided me as if everything were my fault.
I felt like crying, lost and hurt.
From the first moment I saw him, I had been captivated. My attraction to him had grown intensely since we slept together and I dreamed again, seeing his face, certain it was him. To the point of seeking him out two nights in a row, needing at least to look at him, to breathe his air.
I was like the villagers—admiring him. And more: wanting him.
I sat farther away, under a tree, simply watching people come and go as the afternoon faded. I closed my eyes for a moment, and his image flooded me.
Naked and erect that morning, irritated, asking what I was doing in his bed. His reaction said he wanted me far away, but that huge thing pointed at me betrayed his body’s desire.
I reached no conclusion, staying quiet in my corner until it was almost dark. Then I got up and returned to the center of the village, where more people had gathered. I saw why.
Viktor was leaving the building, surrounded by four large men, a young man, and Katarina. Other guards joined them as they headed toward the castle. Some curious villagers followed, whispering.
I followed them, quickening my steps. Watching his broad back, his height making him stand out, the tension in his rigid posture and hardened expression. He was nervous, furious. Woe to anyone who got in his way at that moment.
I stepped back into the shadows, near a group of trees, when the curious villagers stopped and his team halted in front of the mine gates, beyond the castle.
I couldn’t hear what they said, only saw him speaking quietly to Katarina and the young man, then stepping closer to her and holding her arms. The she-wolf smiled, not losing her sensuality despite the tension. She leaned in and kissed his lips, intimately, almost licking him.
I clenched my jaw, irritated. So that was it—the lovers saying goodbye. And it wasn’t just sex because Katarina was one of the village’s prostitutes. She was someone he trusted, sent to take care of his daughter.
I turned away and hurried back to the castle, not understanding the painful tightness in my chest, the urge to cry. I ran to my room, telling myself I wanted to disappear from there, never to have met that man—that wolf!
My life would have been so different!
...
“Viktor spent the night in the office and won’t be back so early.”
Daciana told me that when I came downstairs the next morning and had my breakfast. She was packing containers with sandwiches and fruit into a bag, along with a thermos of coffee and another of fresh juice.
“Is that for him?”
“Yes. In fact, he probably didn’t even sleep in that chair. He stayed on duty because there were attacks on the eastern side. You could even hear some explosions from home.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
It had taken me a long time to fall asleep, sad and unsettled, full of doubts. In the middle of the night, I finally passed out, resisting the urge to go peek at him in his room. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway—he hadn’t even come home.
“And those attacks… were they contained?”
“It seems so. My husband Florian stopped by the office very early—they had already stopped, with another retreat from the invaders. They won’t have it easy! Not at all!”
“And Katarina? Any news from her?”
“Not yet.”
I was filled with anger when I remembered the spectacle the night before, in front of the villagers, complete with a kiss and everything. I finished my juice and went to wash the glass at the sink. I wished she would explode too!
As soon as I thought that, I regretted it. Everyone was worried about Adelina and the risks, while I was feeling jealous. As if Viktor were something serious and important. He wasn’t. He only left me confused. Lost.
“I’m going to take him breakfast.”
Daciana closed the bag, and I turned to her, not wanting to admit I was worried and missed him.
“Don’t you need to make lunch?”
“There’s time.”
“I’ll take it.”
She looked at me. I shrugged.
“I was already going to the center of the village—it’s no trouble.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course!”
“Then ask if he needs anything. Maybe a change of clothes. There’s a bathroom in the office—he can shower there.”
“All right.”
“Wait! I’ll get the clothes so he can keep them there. I’ll be right back!”
I brushed my hair away from my face, adjusted my green dress, trying to calm myself. When she returned, I took the bag of food in one hand and the clothes in the other, leaving the castle into a somewhat cold day.
My skin prickled, but I didn’t go back for a coat.
The sky was clear, without clouds, but the breeze announced the advance of autumn, with a drop in temperature.