3

THEO

I stood there for a while, my hands clenched into fists at my sides as I watched Luciano walk out.

Everything in this house was built on blood and legacy. My mother had protected that legacy her whole life. My father was tearing it apart.

To see it reduced to him prioritizing another woman and dishonouring the royal bed he once shared with my mother, felt like betrayal and a sin.

I turned toward the hallway, not sparing Sloane a glance. “Follow me and try to keep your mouth shut.”

I started walking, my strides long and purposeful. I didn't care if she could keep up, I just wanted this over with.

“Whatever you say, grumpy asshole.”

My spine stiffened as I stopped in my tracks, slowly turning to her with narrowed eyes. “What did you call me?”

She crossed her arms. “You heard me. Grumpy asshole. Or would you prefer ‘Alpha of Insults? Honestly, the brooding-dark-lord act is a bit much.”

I took a step toward her, my wolf snarling at the disrespect. “Don’t you dare talk to me like we are friends.”

She scowled and my eyes lowered to her lips at that instant. The very lips I had kissed last night. Memories came flashing back but I shoved them out of my head immediately, my eyes looking somewhere else other than her face. “If you want to survive in my territory, pretend to at least have some manners and learn to shut that mouth of yours.”

“Manners?” She let out a jagged laugh. “Says the guy who has been nothing but disrespectful and condescending. Now, are we doing this tour or are you going to keep flexing your jaw until it snaps?”

I didn't dignify that with an answer. I turned and kept walking, leading her through the gallery of the West Wing.

I spoke only when it was necessary, pointing out the library, the dining hall, and the meeting rooms, not concerned about whether she was paying attention.

When I felt I was done showing her the important parts of this castle, I turned and realized that the girl was nowhere behind me.

I dragged a hand down my face and let out a sigh of frustration. “Sloane?!”

Anger flared in my chest. Where the hell did she disappear to?

Did she think this was a playground that she could just run around in? There were rooms in this house that were off-limits for a reason.

I retraced my steps, my senses heightening. In no time, my nose caught her maddening scent coming from a door that had been left slightly ajar.

My blood ran cold.

She was inside my Art Room. There were only a few places in this house that were mine. The art room was one of them.

It wasn't just a room, it was my sanctuary. The walls were covered in canvases, some finished, most not, landscapes of the territory, sketches of the moon, and portraits that I never showed anyone. Especially not a stranger.

I pushed the door open and found her standing in the center of the room, her back to me. She was looking at a large canvas on the far wall, the one I had been working on for months. It was a study of the woods under a blood moon.

“How dare you invade my space? Get out,” my teeth gritted.

She didn't move or flinch. She just kept staring at the painting. “You did this?”

I was across the room in three strides. I grabbed her by the arm and spun her around, my grip far tighter than I intended. The sight of her in this room, being surrounded by my private thoughts, made my vision go red.

“I told you to get out,” I snarled, my face inches from hers. “This room is off-limits. You have no right to be here.”

“It’s just paint,” she said, her voice unusually quiet. “Stop acting like I’m going to steal it.”

“It’s not just paint!” I roared, looking at her defiant eyes and seeing her mother’s features. It felt like all the hatred I had been bottling up finally found an easier target.

“Not surprised though. The apple truly doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? The daughter is a nosy little whore,” I said coldly. “Just like her mother is a gold-digger who married into this family for status.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

I saw the change in her eyes; from cheerful they turned to exploding fire. Before I could process her next movement, before my Alpha reflexes could even twitch, her hand swung through.

CRACK.

The sound of her palm met my cheek in a loud echo and my head snapped to the side.

For a second, I froze. No one had ever raised their hand to me; not even my father.

I slowly raised my head to look at her.

Sloane was standing her ground, her chest heaving, her hand still raised. Her stare held fierceness.

“Don’t you ever,” her voice trembling with a rage that surpassed my own, “talk about my mother like that again. You don't know her. You don't know us. Don’t think you’re so much better than us because of this house and your name. You are just a coward hiding behind a title.”

She took a step closer, her face inches from mine, the scent of her anger was more intoxicating than any drug.

Her lips were still moving, still throwing fire at me, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to shut her up with mine.

No. Absolutely not!

“I know you hate me so much and it’s mutual but do not worry, I’ll be leaving your huge house the minute I get the chance to.”

She didn't wait for a reply, instead, she turned to walk out, but I didn't let her.

My legs moved fast and my hand shot out, catching her waist and slamming her back against the door she was trying to reach. I pinned her there, my body pressed hard against hers.

My wolf was at the surface now, my eyes flashing predatory blue. I could feel the heat of her slap still burning on my cheek, but it was nothing compared to the heat of her body against mine.

“You hit an Alpha,” I growled, dark and guttural. “And think you can just run away? Sloane, do you have any idea of what I can do to you right now?”

Her body trembled under me but her eyes didn't waver. “What will you do? Bite me? Gouge my eyes out? Cut my tongue out?”

She was challenging me and it was definitely bruising my ego.

I leaned in, my lips brushing the shell of her ear. Her heart raced, a frantic thump-thump-thump that matched the rhythm of my own blood.

“Do NOT push me.”

I pulled back just enough to stare at her eyes, down to that luring part. The part that was so hard to resist.

Just then, the door behind her suddenly rattled, a knock coming from the other side.

“Alpha Theo? Are you in there?” The voice of a Pack guard came. “Alpha Luciano has ordered that you come to the meeting room now. The North American Council just arrived.”

I didn't move. I kept Sloane pinned there for a beat longer, making sure she felt every ounce of the power I held over her.

“We are not done,” I whispered before releasing her.

Then I stepped back, straightened my sleeves and walked out before I did something reckless.