Four - Silver eyes and Secrets

Althea's POV

Xavier's office was nothing like I expected.

I had imagined something cold and sterile just like the man himself. Instead, the room felt warm.

Sunlight streamed through tall windows overlooking the forest. There were painting everything in shades of gold.

A large desk stood in the center with papers arranged neatly beside a laptop and a steaming coffee mug that smelled like dark roast.

It looked like someone actually worked here and actually lived here. For the first time since arriving at this place, something felt almost... human. And somehow that made everything worse.

Because it was easier to hate a monster than to hate someone who drank coffee and read books and kept their office warm with sunlight.

Xavier stood near the window with his back to me. He didn't turn when I entered but somehow I knew he was aware of my presence. He had probably known the exact moment I had stepped through the door. Obviously, he told me to get in before even knowing who it was.

He wore dark jeans and a grey henley that stretched across broad shoulders. Even from behind he looked powerful and dangerous. Something about him made every instinct in my body scream that I should turn around and run.

But I stayed where I was, my hand still resting on the doorknob.

"Close the door."

His voice was calm but carried absolute authority. It was not a request but a command.

I hesitated for just a second before doing as he asked. The soft click of the door closing echoed through the room like a cell door locking.

"Sit."

Again, not a request.

I moved to the chair across from his desk and sat down, forcing my back straight and my hands steady in my lap. I refused to look as terrified as I felt even though my heart was beating way too fast.

He still hadn't turned around.

What was he doing? Just making me wait? Trying to intimidate me?

It was working.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he turned. And I forgot how to breathe.

In the dim lighting two nights ago when he had carried me through the rain, I had thought his eyes were unusual.

In daylight, they were impossible.

Pure metallic silver. Bright and sharp and completely, utterly inhuman.

No one had eyes that color. So far I hadn’t met anyone with eyes like that.

Those impossible silver eyes locked onto mine and the impact was immediate and devastating.

My heart stuttered in my chest with an irregular rhythm that meant something was wrong with my transplant.

This was different.

For one impossible moment, it felt like my heart recognised him. The transplanted heart that had been beating in my chest for one year.

It reacted to him the instant our eyes met, speeding up like I had been running even though I was sitting completely still. Like it knew him somehow, which was completely insane because hearts didn't have memories.

Doctors had told me that a thousand times when I had asked. The donor's personality didn't transfer with the organ. That was scientifically impossible. Even if it was possible, Xavier would be the last person the donor must have known.

But my heart was pounding now for reasons that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the man standing in front of me.

His gaze moved over me slowly and deliberately. Taking in everything. The oversized borrowed clothes. The bandages still on my scraped hands. The tension in my posture I couldn't quite hide.

Then he walked to his desk and sat down, leaning back in his chair like he owned everything in this room.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

I swallowed hard. "Your estate. I heard the guard calling it Redmoon."

"Do you know what kind of estate is this?"

I hesitated. "Some kind of private compound?"

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly. More like bitter amusement.

"You could call it that."

Silence fell between us.

He watched me carefully, those silver eyes studying my face like he was waiting for something. When I didn't speak, the quiet stretched until it became unbearable.

Finally I broke it.

"Why am I here?"

His eyes hardened instantly. "Because you're a complication."

The blunt answer caught me off guard.

"You wandered onto my land." He continued. His voice was cold.

"Now I have to decide what to do with you."

Anger pushed past my fear. "I'm not a problem to solve. I had an accident."

"You're human."

The word sounded like an insult when he said it.

My hands clenched in my lap. "So? Aren’t you one?"

"You're weak and fragile." His voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. "You don't belong here."

The words stung more than they should have.

And then the pain in my chest returned.

It was sharp and sudden. Like someone was squeezing my heart in their fist.

I pressed my hand against my sternum and forced myself to breathe through it. It was strange. I hadn't felt pain like this since before my surgery. The transplant had fixed everything. So why was it hurting now?

Xavier's eyes immediately tracked the movement.

"What's wrong with you?"

The question sounded irritated rather than concerned. Like I was inconveniencing him by being in pain.

"Nothing." I said through clenched teeth.

"You collapsed two nights ago." He said, leaning forward slightly. "And now you're doing it again."

His silver gaze narrowed dangerously.

"What's wrong with your heart?"

My entire body went rigid.

How did he know it was my heart? I hadn't said anything. Marla must have told him.

"That's none of your business." I managed to say.

"Everything on my land is my business." He replied coldly. "Answer the question."

I wanted to refuse and tell him to go to hell.

But something about the intensity of his stare made the truth slip out before I could stop it.

"I had a transplant."

His entire body went still. Like he had stopped breathing.

"What?" The word came out rough. Barely controlled.

"My heart was failing." I continued quietly, watching his reaction. "One year ago. I received a transplant. Emergency surgery at Patient Care General Hospital."

"When?" The single word sounded strangled.

"March fifteenth. One year ago."

The moment the words left my mouth, something happened to Xavier's face.

His hands gripped the armrests of his chair so tightly his knuckles went white. The tendons in his forearms stood out sharply.

For one brief, devastating moment, the cold mask he wore cracked completely.

And I saw what was underneath.

Pain.

Raw and sharp and so intense it actually made me flinch backward in my chair.

Like I had just stabbed him. Then his expression went blank.

And somehow that was more terrifying than the pain had been.

He stood abruptly and turned away from me, staring out the window with his back rigid.

"Get out."

I blinked, confused. "What?"

"Get out." He repeated in a low voice and dangerously. "Leave this room. Now."

"I don't understand?"

He turned back suddenly, and the fury in his silver eyes made me press back in my chair.

"You want to understand?" He said harshly. "Fine. You are a reminder of everything I lost. Everything that was taken from me. Having you here, in my home, breathing my air..."

He cut himself off sharply, jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping.

"It's torture."

Everything he lost?

What did that have to do with me?

How could I possibly remind him of anything?

Unless..

I thought about his reaction when I said January. About how he hqd gone completely still. About the person Leo had almost mentioned in the hallway. Em…

Was it connected somehow?

But that didn't make sense. Nothing about this made sense.

The pain in my chest exploded.

I gasped, my hand flying to my heart. It felt like invisible fingers were squeezing the life out of it. My vision blurred as I struggled to pull in air.

"Pathetic." Xavier muttered, his voice cold enough to freeze.

"This is exactly why humans don't belong here."

The word struck deeper than any physical pain could have.

I forced myself to stand even though my legs were shaking. Even though my chest felt like it was being torn apart.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice coming out shakier than I wanted. "What is this place? Why do you keep talking like you're not human?"

A cruel smile touched his lips.

"Because maybe I'm not."

The words hung in the air between us.

My mind immediately went to the wolf paintings everywhere. The howling I had heard. That massive wolf in the road with silver eyes.

Silver eyes like his.

No. That was insane.

Before I could process what he had said, he continued.

"The name is Xavier Sandalio. I'm the leader here. The Alpha." He said the title like it meant something significant. "And you, Althea Madison, are leaving today."

"Leo will drive you to the nearest town," He said, his voice completely flat now. "You'll receive money for a hotel and a new phone. Your car is destroyed beyond repair. You'll return to your human life and forget you ever came here.".

"I don't want your money." I said.

"I don't care what you want."

His voice turned harsh again.

"You're a liability. A security risk. The sooner you leave, the better for everyone."

Each word felt like a blade twisting deeper into my chest. I gripped the back of the chair to keep from collapsing.

For one brief second, something that looked almost like hesitation crossed his face. Then it disappeared behind the cold mask again.

"You have one hour to be ready." He said flatly. "Don't make me force you out."

The threat was crystal clear.

I straightened slowly, pulling together what little dignity I had left.

"Fine."

I turned and walked toward the door on shaking legs.

My hand was on the handle when his voice stopped me.

"Althea."

I turned back. His expression was once again completely unreadable. Like stone.

"Stay away from this place." He said quietly. "Don't come back and don't try to contact anyone you have met here so far."

A pause.

"If you do... you'll regret it."

The words should have sounded like a threat. Instead they sounded almost like a warning. Like he was trying to protect me from something.

From him?

I left without another word.

The hallway outside his office was empty and silent. Only when I was sure I was alone did my legs finally give out.

I slid down the wall, pressing both hands against my aching chest. My heart was doing that thing again. Intense pressure. Like it was protesting. Like it didn't want to leave this place. Which was absolutely insane.

Xavier had just kicked me out. He had alled me pathetic and weak and a liability. Threatened me if I ever came back.

So why did my heart feel like it was being torn in half?

Why did the thought of leaving, of never seeing him again hurt almost as much as his cruelty?

I pressed my forehead against my knees and tried to breathe through the pain.

Nothing about this made sense.

Why did his words hurt so much when I barely knew him?

Why did my heart react every time he looked at me?

Why did March fifteenth matter so much to him?

And what had he lost that made looking at me torture?

I had one hour before I had to leave this place forever. One hour to pack the borrowed clothes I was wearing and walk away from Xavier Sandalio and whatever secrets this compound held.

So why did every instinct I had scream that leaving was wrong?