Chase’s P.O.VI barely had time to register the cold air of Alexander’s bedroom before my back hit the mattress.One second I was stepping across the threshold, hesitant, heart pounding out of sync with my thoughts—and the next, he had pushed me down with a force so graceful it barely made a sound.For some reason, I felt heat surge from my neck to my face.His room was dark, the curtains drawn tightly, the air thick with something that didn’t belong to this world. I tried to look around, to see what kind of space the enigma that was my stepbrother called his own, but I couldn’t focus. Not with him leaning over me.Not with the weight of his body pressing against mine.His hand was beside my head, fingers curled loosely against the sheets. The other gripped my waist, firm, possessive, like I’d already been claimed. He was looking down at me with those cold, unreadable blue eyes—so sharp, so inhuman in their stillness—that I couldn’t breathe right. My chest heaved, my limbs stiff again
Chase’s P.O.VI stood there, absolutely flabbergasted, as Alex's words echoed in my ears. "Wait, what did you just say?" I stammered, trying to wrap my mind around what had just come out of his mouth."What do you mean, Alex? What the hell do you really want from me?" My heart was racing, and I felt this strange mix of confusion and unease settling in my stomach.Alex didn't respond the way I expected. Instead, before I could process anything further, he reached out and, without warning, grabbed my waist. His hands were firm, pulling me toward him, and before I could even react, his chest was pressing against mine. I froze for a second, feeling the warmth of his body against mine as he whispered, his voice low and almost too casual for my liking, "I want a good fuck."My brain short-circuited. "W-what?"It only made Alex smirk. “I want to fuck you, Chase. In my bed, ridding you and fucking the hell out of you and you screaming my name, telling me how much you enjoy my dick in your tig
Chase’s P.O.VI couldn’t sleep. The house was too quiet. The kind of quiet that made every sound feel amplified—every creak of the wood, every sigh of the wind. But what kept me awake wasn’t the house. It was those eyes. Those damn red eyes.They kept flashing in the darkness of my closed eyelids, jerking me awake every time I almost drifted off. The hissing too—I could still hear it, like they were right there again, circling me, breathing down my neck, hungry and wild.And then Alex—he’d appeared like some kind of phantom, tearing them off me like I was nothing more than a piece of meat being fought over. I didn’t want to admit it, but he’d saved me. Still, that didn’t mean I trusted him. Not even close.I gave up trying to sleep and dragged myself out of bed, padding barefoot down the stairs to the kitchen. Maybe some water would help clear the fog in my head. Maybe. Or maybe I just needed something to do other than lie in bed, haunted by creatures I didn’t even know existed a week
Chase’s P.O.VI sat on the edge of my bed, shirt half off, the pain from the gash on my temple a dull throb now compared to the sharp sting it had been earlier. My mother knelt beside me with a cloth soaked in antiseptic, dabbing gently around the bruises from the fall before she focused on the wound on my forehead.The familiar scent of lavender clung to her sweater, grounding me in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. I winced when the gauze grazed a particularly raw edge, and she muttered an apology under her breath, her fingers far too practiced at this. Like she had done this a thousand times before—not just for me, but maybe even for herself once. Or for someone else.“You’re lucky it didn’t go deeper,” she murmured, taking out a band-aid and placing it carefully around the gash. “Stupid lucky, if you ask me.”I gave her a crooked smile, trying to ease the tension I felt buzzing in the room like static. “You always say that. Feels like I’m either lucky or stupid. Or both.”She didn
Chase’s P.O.VI sank to my knees.The second she said it—those words, that she loved him—that nothing had changed while my world felt like it was crumbling right in front of my eyes—It was like the fight just drained out of my body. All the confusion, the anger, the heartbreak—it turned into something else.Something heavier. I felt it in my chest, pressing down until I couldn’t breathe. My hands trembled as they hit the floor, and I just stayed there, stunned and silent, like the truth itself had ripped the ground out from under me.“Chase!” I heard her voice crack as she rushed to my side. “Oh, sweetheart—please, please look at me.” Her hands were on my arms, trying to lift me, comfort me, but I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t even bring myself to blink.“You knew,” I whispered hoarsely. “You knew about everything. About him. And you didn’t say anything?” I finally looked up at her, eyes stinging with the threat of tears. My voice broke, and I hated it, hated how small and raw it m
Chase’s P.O.VI had never run so fast in my life.My boots thundered against the cobblestone drive as I stormed past the wrought-iron gates of the estate—the same ones I once thought looked regal and beautiful, like the opening to some grand fairy tale. But there was no magic here. Only ghosts. And secrets. And the echo of my own heartbeat threatening to tear through my chest as I slammed my shoulder into the front door with enough force to make the hinges scream in protest.“Mom!” I bellowed, my voice raw, cracking from the cold and the panic that had clawed its way up my throat.The door flew open under the pressure, crashing against the wall and making one of those damned ancient vases tremble dangerously on a nearby table. That vase alone probably cost more than everything I’d ever owned. I didn’t care if it shattered into a million pieces. The house smelled the same—like lavender and furniture polish—but the air felt wrong. Heavy.The kind of stillness you feel in a crypt. The ch