5

"Do you want to take a picture, or are you going to finish your job?" James asked, his voice cutting through the air with a coldness that snapped me back to reality.

"I’m sorry... I... I slipped," I managed to stammer, feeling my eyes prickle with the sting of humiliation.

He remained silent for a few agonizing seconds. In the quiet, I could feel my own body betraying me, reacting to his overwhelming proximity.

"I don’t have time to request another maid," he finally said, his voice now devoid of any warmth. "So get up and dress me."

With a jolt, I scrambled to my feet. My legs were trembling as I began to help him into his clothes. My fingers accidentally brushed against his skin, it felt like cold steel, sending jolts of electricity straight to my core. My hands shook so violently I could barely manage the buttons of his trousers.

I was about to grab his shirt from the sofa when, suddenly, James seized my wrists, pinning me against his rock-hard chest. The impact knocked the wind out of me, forcing me to inhale his scent, a heady mix of thunderstorms and raw power.

"Tell me the truth, Madeline," he whispered, his lips grazing my ear. "Did you steal the ring from my office?"

I gasped, looking into his amber eyes.

"No," I said, avoiding his gaze while my heart hammered against my ribs like a caged animal.

James let out a mocking laugh before roughly releasing my wrists. He strode toward the mirror, adjusting his trousers with a lethal elegance.

"I found the ring in your quarters, Madeline. You know what happens to liars in this pack, don't you?"

The world collapsed beneath my feet. How was that possible? I hadn't stolen anything! How the hell did that ring end up there?

"It wasn't me... I would never steal anything," I began, shaking my head in frantic denial, but James raised a hand to silence me.

"I don't care whether it was you or not," James’s voice thundered, echoing off the walls and chilling my blood. "What matters is that I now have a legal reason to do with you as I please. You are my property by law, Madeline. And I’m going to collect every ounce of that gold through your total obedience."

I stood there, frozen, as he turned back to the mirror, giving me his back.

His shoulders were so broad they blocked the light from the lamps, casting a shadow that seemed to swallow me whole. I knew someone had planted that ring, but standing before James, my word was worth less than the dust beneath his boots.

"Finish dressing me," he ordered without looking at me.

I approached with shaking legs and took the black linen shirt. As I drew near his back, the heat radiating from his body hit me like an oven.

But as I slid the fabric over his shoulders, my eyes locked onto his right side. A silent scream died in my throat. There was a deep, half-healed wound that looked like it came from a passionate encounter turned violent.

"You... you have a wound..." I whispered, my fingers barely brushing the edge of the gash. "It needs to be bandaged, my Alpha. Otherwise, it will get infected."

James tensed, slowly turning toward me. His amber eyes were bloodshot, his pupils so dilated that almost no trace of his iris remained.

"Do it fast," he growled.

I hurried for the medical kit, and when I returned, he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His legs were spread wide, hands resting on his knees.

God. To reach the wound, I had to kneel right between his thighs, at the very center of his power.

The space was dangerously intimate. I could smell the soap, fresh sweat, and that distinct fragrance that made my amulet vibrate against my chest, as if warning me that I was entering the dragon's lair.

With a shaky breath, I took the ointment and began to clean the blood. My fingers brushed his abdomen. James let out a guttural growl that made the very floor vibrate.

"Your hands are cold, human," he hissed, his breath fanning across my forehead.

"And your skin is burning, my Alpha," I replied, glancing up for a split second.

Our gazes locked, and the air became so thick it was hard to swallow. In that moment, the outside world ceased to exist.

***

James’s POV

My head was a complete chaos!

I could feel my wolf clawing at the walls of my consciousness, demanding that I forget my rank and claim this woman until she could utter nothing but my name.

It’s ridiculous. She is a human who barely reaches my chest, yet every time her breath touches my skin, I feel my iron will crumbling like ash.

I remembered the other women of pure lineages who had passed through this bed, leaving nothing behind but the scent of cheap perfume. But Madeline was different; she was my mate, the woman my instincts recognized, even if my logic denied it.

"Why aren't you trembling?" I blurted out as she wrapped the bandage around my torso. "Are you not afraid of me?"

She didn't answer immediately. She simply kept moving her fingers with a precision that irritated me.

"Because I’ve already lost everything, my Alpha," she finally said, tightening the knot of the bandage against my skin. "What more can you take from me? My life? My freedom?" A mocking little laugh escaped her lips.

I stared at her, finding no trace of the pleading I saw in all the others. On the contrary, there was a spark of authority in her gaze that infuriated me. She looked like a queen in rags, judging her captor.

I am supposed to be the Obsidian Alpha, the man who kneels to no one, and here I am, letting a human heal my wounds while my wolf whimpers for a shred of her attention.

After a few minutes, she finished and stood up, but I didn't let her go. I grabbed her by the waist and jerked her toward me, forcing her to fit between my legs.

Her chest heaved rapidly, her nipples peaking through the thin fabric of her uniform.

"Do you think healing me makes you special? Or that the Goddess destined you to be a queen?" I hissed into her ear, my nose burying itself in her neck.

I inhaled her scent, and Fenris let out a howl of pure possessiveness.

I was about to say something else, something to humiliate her and regain my control, when the bedroom door swung open.

I pulled away from Madeline abruptly as I saw Kael enter. But he didn't arrive in his usual uniform. He was shirtless, covered in mud and sweat, his muscles still pumped from combat, filling the room with the scent of testosterone and battle.

"Alpha, we have news from the border!" Kael’s voice boomed.

"Kael, what the hell...?" I started to say, but I stopped dead when I looked at Madeline.

Madeline’s eyes were fixed on Kael, and her pulse seemed to skyrocket.

At that sight, my blood began to boil with a violence that made Fenris bare his fangs, wanting to rip my best friend’s throat out simply for being naked in front of my maid.

It was madness. I had seen Kael train in front of hundreds of pure-blooded she-wolves and I had never cared, but seeing Madeline’s eyes roam over another man’s torso ignited a primitive hatred in me.

It was the first time in my life I felt jealous over a woman, and the fact that it was over a mere slave made me want to destroy everything around us.

"Kael, get out. Clean yourself up; I’ll be out in five minutes," I growled, never taking my eyes off Madeline.

"Yes, Alpha," Kael replied, closing the door cautiously.

I leaned toward her, my gaze darkened. I grabbed her chin with a force that would likely leave a mark, forcing her to look only at me.

"Look at me!" I commanded, my voice vibrating with an Alpha’s command that made the very air tense up.

Madeline swallowed hard, her body beginning to shake under my power. In her gaze, there was no submission, but a defiance that was stealing what little sanity I had left.

"You are forbidden from looking at other men. I don't care if it’s my Beta or a slave. Madeline... you are my damn maid! If I ever catch you looking at someone like that again, I will rip their eyes out in front of you. Is that clear?"