Chapter 2

I opened my eyes with a pounding headache, my mind struggling to piece together the events of the previous night. Then my eyes widened when I saw the man standing a few steps away from me. His back was turned as he gathered the clothes scattered across the floor and calmly put them back on.

"Oh God. I really slept with him," I whispered.

I cursed myself under my breath. The moment my memories returned in full, nausea twisted my stomach. The image of myself moaning and begging him to take me made me want to crawl into a hole and disappear. My face burned with embarrassment.

When I glanced at him again, I noticed him staring at a phone lying on the table. I had no idea what he was reading, but his entire body suddenly stiffened.

"So, u slept with the wrong woman."

Even though he spoke quietly, I heard every word.

"That's impossible." he muttered.

His gaze shifted toward me.

I stared back, completely confused. Had he just realized that I wasn't the woman who was supposed to be there?

"Who are you, really?"

I didn't answer.

I didn't even know what to say. There was no way I could admit that I was just a drunken stranger who had accidentally wandered into his room and allowed him to have me.

He took several steps backward, his expression growing increasingly tense.

"God.." he hissed, rubbing his temple roughly. "I've completely lost my mind."

"Please forget what happened between us, Mr. Lucan Fiermox."

My voice cracked as I glanced at a name engraved on a plaque near a bottle of whiskey. I was certain it belonged to him.

He fell silent and studied me for a long moment before finally speaking.

"I thought you were the woman who had been sent to me tonight. You made me lose control."

My chest tightened.

I bit my lip, torn between embarrassment and wounded pride.

A few seconds later, he let out a long breath.

"I can't undo what happened. But as a matter of responsibility, I'll compensate you for this mistake."

I looked at him coldly.

"What do you mean?"

He exhaled slowly, as if trying to hide his guilt.

"Name your price. Money. A house. Whatever you want. I'll provide it."

I stared at him in disbelief.

Was he actually serious?

No.

I couldn't accept that.

What had happened wasn't entirely his fault. I had been heavily intoxicated too. Besides, I refused to let my dignity be reduced to a transaction.

His expression remained unchanged.

"Money solves a lot of problems. And you need it, don't you? Look at yourself. Cheap clothes. Your shoes are worn out. Just tell me what you want."

His words hit harder than anything that had happened between us.

"No. I need to leave."

He stepped closer.

"That's foolish. The world doesn't show mercy to people like us."

"People like us?" I repeated quietly.

He looked at me again.

This time something about his eyes seemed different. His blue pupils suddenly narrowed, and for a brief moment I thought I saw something glimmer inside them.

A chill ran down my spine.

"Yes" he answered flatly. "We're both animals who lost our way tonight."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and dropped into the nearest chair.

"Wonderful," I muttered. "So tonight really was determined to destroy my life."

He watched me for several seconds.

"What happened?"

The question caught me off guard.

I blinked.

Normally, I hated discussing my problems with strangers.

But tonight felt different.

Maybe because I would never see this man again.

Maybe because I was simply too exhausted to pretend everything was fine.

"I lost my job," I said quietly. "Because I spilled coffee on a customer."

He remained silent, listening.

"I lost my apartment too."

Still silent.

"I don't even have a place to stay starting tonight."

The room fell quiet.

For a moment, I regretted saying anything.

But when I looked up, I noticed his expression had changed.

His gaze was still cold.

Yet there was something else there.

Something dangerously close to anger.

"What kind of café fires an employee over a single mistake?"

I shrugged.

"The kind that's owned by a rich man. And apparently I made the unforgivable mistake of spilling coffee on the dress of the woman he's sleeping with."

"And the apartment?"

"The landlord didn't care."

His jaw tightened.

As if my answer genuinely irritated him.

Even though none of it was his concern.

I let out a small laugh.

"Why do you look angrier than I am?"

For the first time, he seemed at a loss for words.

That made me smile.

At least I had managed to leave this cold man speechless.

But my smile slowly faded when something strange happened.

He stared at me again.

For too long.

And once more, I felt that same odd sensation.

As though the air around us had changed.

My heartbeat quickened.

I didn't know why.

Apparently, he felt it too.

Because his entire body suddenly tensed.

His hands curled into fists.

His breathing grew heavier.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

His eyes immediately locked onto mine.

For a fraction of a second, I froze.

His eyes.

I could have sworn they flashed silver.

Not a reflection.

Not a trick of the light.

Actually silver.

Before I could process what I had seen, he fixed me with an intense stare.

His movement was so fast that it startled me.

"Miss."

His voice sounded deeper now.

Darker.

More dangerous.

"I need you to do something."

I swallowed hard.

"What?"

"Don't panic."

My stomach immediately dropped.

That was not something a woman wanted to hear while alone in a locked room with a stranger.

I rose slowly to my feet.

"Why do I have a feeling the next thing you say won't be pleasant?"

He studied me for a moment.

Then he answered quietly.

"Because I don't like it either."

At that moment, an odd cracking sound echoed from his body.

Crack.

I froze.

The sound was unmistakable in the silence.

Like bones shifting beneath skin.

"Lucan?"

He didn't answer.

His head lowered.

Both hands gripped the edge of the table so tightly that the veins in his arms stood out.

Crack.

The sound came again.

Louder this time.

My heartbeat became painfully uneven.

"Hey..."

I took a cautious step forward.

"Are you hurt?"

"Don't come closer."

His voice was rough.

Heavy.

Almost like a growl.

I stopped immediately.

Lucan slowly lifted his head.

My breath caught.

His eyes.

They had truly changed.

The silver glow that had appeared only briefly before now filled both irises, shining in the dim room.

I instinctively stepped back.

"What.."

My body began to tremble.

"What happened to your eyes?"

Lucan closed them for a moment.

As if he were fighting to control something.

"You need to leave."

"I'd love to leave," I shot back. "The problem is that the door is locked."

He muttered a curse under his breath.

The word was unfamiliar.

A language I didn't recognize.

But the frustration in his tone was obvious.

Crack!

The next snapping sound made me jump.

His shoulders tensed.

The muscles beneath his black shirt shifted unnaturally.

As though something alive was moving beneath his skin.

Fear slowly crept into my chest.

"Sir.."

He looked up.

For the first time since I had entered this room, I saw fear in his eyes.

Not fear of me.

Fear of himself.

"Don't look."

"What?"

"Don't look at whatever happens next."

I frowned.

The statement made absolutely no sense.

Before I could ask another question, Lucan moved.

In a single swift step, he was standing directly in front of me.

I didn't even have time to react.

He pulled me into his arms.

"Hey!"

I tried to break free.

But his grip felt like steel.

"Be still."

His voice was low.

Tense.

"I won't hurt you."

Those words should have reassured me.

Strangely, they only made me more nervous.

Because truly harmless people rarely needed to say such things.

Then I noticed something.

Heat.

Lucan's body was burning.

Like a severe fever.

Or living fire.

"Oh my God!"

I touched his arm.

"You're seriously sick."

His body went rigid.

For a moment, the entire room fell silent.

Lucan froze.

So did I.

Several seconds passed.

Then, slowly, his grip loosened.

His breathing, which had been erratic moments earlier, gradually steadied.

The intense heat radiating from him began to fade.

As if whatever had been raging inside him had suddenly calmed down.

I lifted my head.

"You.."

Lucan stared at me.

His expression had changed into something I had never seen before.

Shock.

Disbelief.

And a trace of admiration.

"What?" I asked, confused.

He didn't answer immediately.

His gaze searched my face as though he were trying to solve an impossible mystery.

"Miss.."

His voice was much calmer now.

"Hm?"

"There's something different about you."

I blinked.

"I don't think that's a normal compliment."

But Lucan didn't smile.

He continued looking at me with the same expression.

The expression of someone who had just discovered the impossible.

Then he spoke quietly.

"You're not an ordinary human."

I laughed nervously.

"And you're extremely drunk."

"Leave."

This time his voice was firm.

I frowned.

"Sir.."

"Leave."

I stared at him for several seconds.

Then I let out an irritated sigh.

This man was truly strange.

Still, if he wanted me gone, I wasn't about to argue.

I turned toward the door.

Oddly enough, the moment I grasped the handle, it opened without resistance.

As if it had never been locked in the first place.

I glanced back over my shoulder.

Lucan was still standing exactly where I had left him.

His eyes followed my every movement.

And for some reason, for just a moment, he looked as though he had lost something.

As though a part of him was leaving with me.

I shook my head.

It had to be the alcohol.

Without another word, I stepped out of the room.

I never saw the way Lucan clenched his fists after the door closed.

And I never heard the low growl that escaped his throat.