Chapter 4: Collapsing

ELARA POV

I kept moving, dragging my numb feet through the cold puddles. My left cheek was swollen so badly that my left eye was squeezed half-shut. My jaw throbbed with a dull, heavy ache with every breath I took.

As I rounded the corner into Thornwick Heights, a grand glass building towered into the dark, stormy sky. Bright golden lights shone out from giant glass doors, casting a warm yellow light across the wet black asphalt. High above the entrance, shiny letters spelled out: HOTEL VEYRA.

"Warmth," Vespera whined in my head. "Go inside. Go in there right now!"

“I can’t go in there like this,” I whispered, looking down at my soaked clothes, my muddy socks, and my bloody chin. "That is a five-star hotel."

"Inside!" Vespera barked fiercely, her voice ringing through my mind. "Now, Elara!"

Another agonizing wave of heat slammed into my stomach and pelvis. I gasped, doubling over as my vision turned hazy. My body was shaking so hard my teeth clicked together.

"Okay," I choked out, wiping wet hair out of my good eye. "Okay, I am going."

I pushed through the heavy glass doors into the hotel entrance. The quiet, warm air of the lobby wrapped around me like a thick blanket. Soft piano music played gently from speakers in the high ceiling.

A doorman in a crisp black suit and white gloves hurried toward me from his desk near the door.

"Ma'am!" he said, his eyes widening as he saw my wet clothes and bruised face. "Ma'am, are you alright? Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

"No," I said, holding up one wet, trembling hand. "No ambulance, please."

"You are bleeding, ma'am," the doorman said, taking a step closer with a worried look on his face. "And... excuse me, but what is that scent?"

He paused and sniffed the warm air, his nostrils flaring. He was a shifter too. He recognized the rich, sweet scent of a female wolf going into heat.

"I just need to sit down for a minute," I begged, taking a shaky step past him onto the marble floor. "Just one minute to rest."

"Ma'am, I cannot let you wander around the main lobby like this," the doorman said softly, reaching out his gloved hand to steady my arm. "Let me call the front manager or security to assist you."

"Don't touch me!" I gasped, pulling my arm back out of his reach.

My pride was the only thing keeping me standing. I refused to collapse onto the marble floor like a beaten animal. I held my head up, squared my shoulders, and walked past the grand staircase toward the quiet lounge bar at the back of the lobby.

The lounge bar was dimly lit with soft golden wall lights. Dark wooden tables were scattered across a thick carpet, and expensive glass bottles lined the bar shelves.

Only one person was sitting at the long, dark mahogany bar counter.

He was a tall man wearing a tailored, dark charcoal suit. His broad shoulders filled out the suit jacket completely. He held a glass of amber whiskey in his right hand, his long, clean fingers resting against the heavy glass.

The moment I stepped onto the soft carpet of the lounge, my sweet heat scent flooded the quiet room.

The tall man hand stopped halfway to his mouth. He set his whiskey glass down on the wooden bar counter with a quiet, sharp clink.

Slowly, he turned around on his leather bar stool to look at me.

He had short, neat black hair and a broad, sharp jawline. His eyes were a dark, intense storm-gray.

The moment his eyes landed on my face, he stood up. He was tall—at least six-foot-four—and his strong presence filled the room like a heavy shadow.

"What is that?" I whispered, my heart thumping wildly against my ribs.

Vespera went completely quiet inside my mind. The frantic, panicked clawing stopped instantly. She stopped barking. She stopped pacing. She sat down behind my ribs, perfectly quiet and completely certain.

"Vespera?" I called out in my head. "What is wrong?"

"Him," Vespera whispered back, her voice calm and firm.

My knees gave out. The last bit of strength left my legs, and I tipped forward toward the floor.

"I've got you," a deep voice rumbled.

Before my knees hit the floor, two large, warm hands caught me by the waist and back. He pulled me up effortlessly against his broad chest.

His dark suit jacket felt smooth and warm against my wet cheek. A rich, dark scent filled my nose and the moment I breathed it in, the burning heat in my belly softened into a quiet warmth.

I looked up into his face.

His storm-gray eyes were staring down at me, and around his dark pupils, a bright, glowing ring of amber flashed in the light.

"Are you alright?" he asked. His voice was low, smooth, and powerful like thunder.

"I... I don't know," I gasped, clutching his suit lapels with my trembling fingers.

His gray eyes looked at me as his large hands tightened slightly against my waist.

"Who hurt you?" he asked quietly. The sound of his voice made a shiver run down my back.

"Please," I whispered, tears blurring my eyes as the fever began to cloud my thoughts. "Please don't ask my name. Don't ask who I am."

The tall stranger stared down at me for some seconds.

"I won't ask," he promised softly. "I promise you."

The heat inside my body spiked again, burning away the last of my clear thoughts.

The golden lights of the bar began to spin around me. The quiet piano music faded away into nothing. I leaned my head against his hard chest, unable to fight the fever any longer.

My mind was filled with foggy dreams of cold rain, hot fire, and gentle hands. I could not tell how much time passed. Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like seconds.

In the last clear second before the fever swallowed me completely, I felt two strong arms lift me up off the ground.

He carried my body effortlessly against his chest, holding me close and tight.

I opened my eyes just a tiny bit. I saw the sharp line of his chin and the dark ceiling of the hotel hallway moving past above us.

Behind him, a tall man in a dark coat stepped forward, holding the door to a private elevator open.

"Sir, should I call the front manager?" the second man asked in a low voice.

The tall stranger holding me did not slow his steps. He walked straight into the empty elevator, his storm-gray eyes glowing with that bright amber ring.

"Clear the floor," he murmured, his voice cold and absolute. "No one comes up. No one."