36

ALINA

I felt like the floor might swallow me whole the moment the woman, Cassandra, lifted her head and stared straight at me. Like she could feel my gaze and knew exactly where I was standing.

That couldn’t be possible, I told myself, even as her eyes locked on mine, her lips drawn into a tight, disapproving line.

She didn’t look the least bit pleased. Oh well. That’s unfortunate… I guess. But truthfully? I didn’t care.

I couldn’t decide whether to be smug that she’d seen me or mortified that I couldn’t move away from the window. I had just been watching them like some creep, and she caught me red-handed. Still, I didn’t care.

“Move,” Lisa hissed beside me, gripping my arm and yanking me forcefully away from the window.

Every part of me wanted to fling her hand off and lunge back to see more. But when I turned my head again, they were both gone. And that’s when it hit me. What I’d just done. My heart lurched into a panicked gallop.

My entire body began to tremble. My fingers quivered so badly I couldn’t even curl them into fists. I just stood there, trying to hold myself still while my brain spiraled.

“Oh my God, Alina. What were you thinking?” Lisa whisper-yelled, her eyes wide with absolute panic.

I had never seen her like this. Sure, she’d get worried sometimes, but she was always the cool one, the one who joked through fear like life owed her protection. Like there was always a fairy godmother just around the corner waiting to bail her out.

But seeing her this unsettled made my anxiety spike even more. My thoughts started running wild. We needed a plan. Something, anything, for when Alexander inevitably asked what I was doing.

Except we didn’t expect when to be now. Or this fast.

The door flung open without a knock. Only one person stormed in like they owned every wall and piece of furniture in the place. I’d told Claude how that made me feel, and he had learned to knock or at least call my name first.

But I hadn’t had that conversation with Alexander. And if he was still anything like the man he was a few weeks ago, he wouldn’t care to hear it from me or anyone else.

Alexander walked in like the embodiment of silent destruction. Dressed in black from collar to boots, his whole aura cloaked the room in shadows. Part of it might’ve been the woman still clinging to his arm. And I really, really wished I had a reason to hate her.

But besides the fact that she was absolutely stunning, which already felt unfair to the rest of us, there wasn’t much to hate.

If you searched the world for “the most beautiful woman alive,” I’m pretty sure her face would show up in every result. If you flipped open a dictionary and looked up ethereal, her photo would be the only image under the definition.

Her hair was nearly golden, not overly long, but it brushed just past the top of her breasts, which, by the way, looked damn near perfect in that low-cut neckline she was wearing.

Her eyes… God. That green shouldn’t even exist. A soft forest hue, flecked with warm brown, surrounded by a delicate lighter ring, all set in the brightest, whitest sclera I’d ever seen.

Up close, her skin was even more flawless. She glowed, literally. Like someone who hadn’t been touched by stress in years. Like her whole life made sense and she had never woken up ten minutes before a meeting with bed hair and existential dread.

“Will you introduce me to your friend, Alexander?” she asked, still latched onto his arm like she belonged there.

Of course, I listened. I couldn’t have looked away even if I’d wanted to.

“My mate,” he corrected.

My cheeks flushed so hard it felt like even my shadow blushed. He wasn’t hiding me. No, he was claiming me. Right there. In front of her.

She studied me slowly, not skipping a single inch. Her gaze traveled from the crown of my head all the way down to the tips of my toes. And I stood there, frozen, willing myself not to squirm or shift from one foot to the other.

When she finished her examination and her eyes met mine again, she let out a small sound in the back of her throat.

“A true beauty,” she said, completely void of emotion.

There was no praise in her tone. No disdain, either. Just… apathy. Like she was looking at something mildly interesting but not enough to bother remembering.

“Once again, the rumor mill was right,” she added in that same neutral cadence.

Then she stepped forward. My first instinct was to step back. Her presence wasn’t loud or imposing but it carried weight. She didn’t need to threaten me aloud. Her existence did the talking.

“How long do you plan on keeping this one?” she asked Alexander, turning to him like I had ceased to exist.

I’d been dismissed plenty of times in my life. I was used to it. But something about her doing it? It burned.

Maybe it was the way she phrased it. Or maybe it was because I’d heard that same damn question from Alexander’s other so-called friends. It implied familiarity, like she knew his patterns with women.

Maybe they hadn’t slept together. Maybe she wouldn’t have asked if they had. Then again… why disregard me like that if there wasn’t something between them?

She probably didn’t fall apart just from his touch. She probably knew how to kiss like a goddess and hold her own during foreplay.

Whatever face I made must have given me away, because when I looked up, Alexander was watching me, amusement dancing in his dark eyes.

The moment our gazes met, I dropped mine. I couldn’t look at him. Not with the memory of his lips on mine, of his hands brushing my skin, still alive beneath my clothes.

She probably didn’t shrink into herself after something like that. But me? I wanted to melt into the ground and never be perceived again especially with how he was watching me.

Like… like he wanted to do it all over again.

“Oh, she’s here to stay, love,” he said, finally looking away from me. “I told you. She’s my mate.”