chapter 7

THE BEAST: ETERNAL OBSESSION

*AMELIA'S POV*

My head felt like it had been stuffed entirely with thick cotton.The very first thing I noticed was a deep, radiant warmth. It wasn't the cold, damp temperature of the forest; this was a solid, steady heat radiating from somewhere incredibly close to me.

Then came the smell.

The rich scent of his cologne filled the entire space, heavy and intoxicating.I tried to force my heavy eyelids open, but everything remained a blurry smear of shadows.

"Her heart rate is normal," a voice echoed across the room. It wasn't his. It sounded older, calmer.

"Then why did she lose consciousness?"

That voice. It was low, rough, and sounded like gravel being dragged slowly over expensive silk.

Leonhart.

My heart instantly began beating right out of my chest.

"Shock," the older man replied from the shadows. "Her body couldn’t handle it."

Right then, I felt a sudden shift in the room. A suffocating pressure settled into the air heavy, dense, and terrifyingly possessive. It rolled over my exposed skin and settled deep into my lungs, making it genuinely hard to breathe. Every single nerve in my body went completely taut.

My eyes flew open.

He was right there.

Leonhart sat on the edge of the bed, close enough that if I moved an inch, I’d touch him. His jaw was tight, eyes burning into me like he was memorizing every detail. When his hand moved, I flinched. He stared down at me, and for the first time, I saw it ..hurt, raw and unguarded, flashing across his face before he could mask it.

“Don’t,” I whispered. My voice sounded foreign to me.

Shaky. Weak.

“Don’t touch me please" tears rolling down.His thumb brushed over my cheekbone wiping it away

“I can’t,” he said. My chest ached. from fear. and something else. Something deep and thrumming, pulling me toward him even as my brain screamed at me

It felt like a chain wrapped around my ribs, tugging me closer. Like coming home to a place I’d never been.

The mate bond.

Felt it. I hated how i felt

Because even as I glared at him, even as every logical part of me wanted to claw my way out of this room, my body betrayed me.

My pulse sped up.

My skin warmed where he touched me.

he smiled, like he knew exactly what was happening to me i wanted to slap him

God, I hated him.

“Get your hand off me,” I said again, but it came out softer this time.

Leonhart’s eyes darkened.

“Not until you’re steady, Amelia.” Amelia he has never called me by my name before it rolls out perfectly from his lips

His voice was sharper but at the same time soft he is angry I could feel it but his trying to control himself so not to scar me any further

"get some rest we will talk when you wake up" he said standing up from the bed i didn't even realize that his topless I bit my lower lip

he turned his back and I saw it.

A tattoo.

It started at the base of his neck, the ink stark and black against his pale skin, spilling all the way down his spine like a living thing. It was a wolf massive, snarling, with its throat thrown back to howl at a full moon. The moon itself was carved directly into his shoulder blade, looking pale and vicious. The wolf’s eyes were rendered so perfectly they looked real, as if they would glow gold if he shifted.

It wasn’t just body art.

It was a claim.

A warning.

And it fit him entirely too well.

Dark, powerful veins stood out against his defined skin. His hands looked big enough to wrap completely around my throat if he ever wanted to, a thought that should have terrified me to my core. Instead, all I could think about was how incredibly steady and gentle those same hands had been when he carried me out of the woods. Like I weighed absolutely nothing to him.And his eyes. Even now, completely human-colored and controlled, there was something lingering in them that wasn’t human at all. Something ancient and wild, watching me as if I were the only thing that mattered in the entire world.

He didn’t need to speak to be threatening; his body did all the work for him.Suddenly, he cleared his throat, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.I snapped out of my trance instantly, my cheeks flushing with deep embarrassment. He had completely caught me checking him out.

"Get some rest," he repeated smoothly.I nodded my head rapidly, looking like a flustered high school girl. Without another word, he strode out of the bedroom, followed closely by his guard and the elder doctor.The moment the heavy door clicked shut, I faceplanted directly into the pillows and let out a long, silent scream of frustration.

*A WEEK LATER*

I inhaled sharply, lying flat on my back across the massive bed.

It had been weeks since I’d last seen Leonhart.

Weeks since I had furiously told him to stay away from me.

He actually listened, didn’t he?

The heavy bedroom door suddenly clicked open. I sat upright instantly, my heart leaping straight into my throat as I foolishly expected to see his towering frame.

But it was just Iris.I rolled my eyes in disappointment and threw myself back onto the pillows, hugging a bundle of fabric tight to my chest as fresh tears threatened to spill.

Oh gosh, I knew I should be absolutely terrified of him. Of what he was, I mean. He wasn't even human for goodness sake. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't find it in my heart to hate him.

He had saved my life from that horrific rogue after all, so it felt reasonable to let go of the anger.Over the last few days, Iris had told me everything I needed to know about the werewolf world. She was a wolf herself, completely loyal to the pack.

"Iris, tell me again why I’m not allowed to leave this room?" I asked, squeezing the pillow tighter against my chest. "I feel like I’m suffocating in here."

She set a fresh food tray onto the wooden table, then walked over to sit quietly at the edge of my bed. Over the past two weeks, the two of us had gotten close. She was the only person allowed inside my room, after all.

"The Alpha doesn’t want what happened at the waterfall to ever happen again. And inside..." She hesitated, her eyes flickering nervously toward the closed door. "Inside, this isolation is killing him. You must understand, Luna."

My head snapped up at the title.

"What do you mean by that?"Iris bit her lip anxiously, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Every single night, he stands right outside this door. For hours. You can actually hear it if you listen closely enough the way the old wood creaks under the sheer weight of his claws. He desperately wants to come in. He wants to touch you. But he’s terrified that if he does, you'll reject him. He's afraid you might push him away again."My chest tightened painfully at her words.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because you’re his," she said simply, as if it were a universal law. "And once he claims you, there’s no going back. For either of you.”The remaining air completely left my lungs. I took a ragged breath, trying to steady myself.

"Iris, you don't know him. If he truly wanted to see me, he would be standing here right now. He has never cared about what I wanted before, so why start now?" I let out a bitter sigh. "He just doesn't want to."Tears finally slipped down my cheeks, fueled by pure frustration. My entire life had been snatched away from me overnight my phone, my job, my identity.

I hadn’t even been allowed to grab a single personal item.Iris pulled me into a comforting hug, gently rubbing my back.

"The Alpha is a little bit... hmmm, difficult. But he is a genuinely good person. All of his people love him to the point that they would willingly die for him.

Even the Alpha's fian…."