Home / Werewolf / ALPHA PRINCE’S FORBIDDEN DESIRE / Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Lahat ng Kabanata ng ALPHA PRINCE’S FORBIDDEN DESIRE: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

103 Kabanata

71| LENORA

I sat on the cold marble floor, arms wrapped tightly around my knees, eyes fixed on nothing. I wasn’t crying, but somehow, it felt worse. At least tears would have brought some relief. Instead, there was just this… hollowness. A gaping space inside me where hope should have been.Part of me wanted to get up. March back into that room and demand that Victor take me to Jessie. Shake the smugness out of his bones, claw at the door if I had to. But I couldn’t. I’d probably just end up gagged and chained in some dungeon until he decided I was useful again. My only hope now was helping him more so he could keep up his end of the deal. A feeling of despair pressed against my chest. But at that there was a high likelihood that even if I did heal him—fully, completely—he could just keep Jessie locked away forever anyway. I squeezed my eyes shut. What would I even do then?Victor was good—no, a master—at planting seeds of helplessness. And now, I was choking on them. I duh my fingers into my

72| ELIJAH

I liked holding Lenora’s hand.Her palm was warm and a little smaller than mine, but it was firm, smooth, and it fit perfectly into the curve of my own. Like we were meant to always be that way.“Where are you taking me?” she asked as we stepped out through the mansion’s back door.I turned to face her. Already, she looked less suffocated than she had indoors. The morning sun fell softly across her face, and I couldn’t help but drink in the sight of her—surrounded by trees and bathed in golden light.She was wearing a green turtleneck sweater that matched the exact hue of her eyes, and black tights that clung to her smooth, shapely thighs. Her boots came up to her knees, sleek and practical. Her hair was pulled back in one of her usual, smooth, controlled buns—but nothing about her today looked particularly controlled.I kept thinking about the look in her eyes back inside—raw frustration and despair flashing across her face as she argued with Izaak. I’d only caught the end of it, jus

73| LENORA

“Elijah…” the scrawny blond man spoke, his voice soft and raspy like it hadn’t been used in a long time.By the time I was done rolling my pants down and slipping on my boots, I turned to look at Elijah, a question at the tip of my tongue—but he was already watching me, reaching for me, dragging me away.“Elijah!” I yelped, stumbling after him.He paused, then turned back to the man I’d pegged as ‘Connor.’ “Stay there. I’ll be right back.”“Elijah…” Connor wheezed again, shoulders slumping like they couldn’t hold his weight anymore.That’s when I saw it—the tortured look on Elijah’s face—and it hit me hard, right across the chest.“Wait! Isn’t he Sophie’s—” I hissed, but Elijah cut me off, tugging me closer and staring down at me with wide eyes.“You… know?” His grip tightened slightly, and I saw it then—the flicker of fear in his gaze.A small part of me ached at how fast suspicion had come, but a bigger part of me understood. So I softened my voice and held his eyes. “I know because

74| LENORA

Luka was right. What existed between Elijah and I wasn’t safe, and I’d almost forgotten that—with the hand holding, him carrying me, the touches that were purely reflexive. Hell, half of our physical contact was reflexive. I had no idea I was doing it until I already was. It was like I’d completely abandoned my resolve to steel myself against Elijah, letting everything I was feeling—trying not to feel—shine through once more. I needed to put a stop to that. I uncorked the vial of potion and downed it in one hasty gulp. The burn and bitterness made my tongue feel heavy, but I was used to it by now. I relaxed into the feeling of my mind emptying once more. My wolf had been persistent against the borders of my mind the entirety of yesterday morning—it only retreated after I’d used my ability, forcing it to shrivel back from exhaustion. I’d almost lost my mind this morning when I woke up to the damn thing yapping and snapping in my head. Today marked the first day of the weeklong ev

75| ELIJAH

Connor was asleep when Sophie came barrelling into the shack.“Connor! Connor!” she yelled, Luka coming in behind her.I turned to tell her to lower her voice, but Connor’s eyes were already fluttering open. They immediately locked on Sophie and, almost automatically, he sat up and reached for her.Sophie threw herself on him, burying her face in his neck, sobbing and shakily muttering a string of apologies and questions about his well-being. Connor kept his arms tightly wrapped around her, his face calmer than I’d ever seen it. He responded softly, stroking her back and rocking her from side to side until her shaking and sputtering subsided into careful, intimate quiet.Her hands cradled his face, touching him like she couldn’t quite believe he was real. Connor was no different—his slender fingers stroked her cheek and gently tucked her hair away as he peppered kisses wherever his lips could reach.I looked away, feeling like I was intruding on something private. Mates were always li

76| LENORA

“We didn’t notice anyone unfamiliar coming into the apartment building at all,” Gerald said. He lifted his shoulders a little higher and addressed the Pack enforcer before him. “I always make sure to confirm every unfamiliar person’s identity before they even come in.” “I see,” the enforcer replied, scribbling something into the tiny notepad he’d been carrying around all day. Gerald shot me a pitying look. “I’m so sorry, dear. This kind of thing has never happened around here before.” I gave him a tight smile. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault.” No, it was mine—for waving away the past few instances where I’d felt like someone had been in my home as nothing more than paranoia. The enforcer stepped aside to take what seemed like a phone call, leaving me to assure Gerald that I didn’t blame him or the building’s management for the break-in. When the enforcer returned, the other one—who’d been questioning my neighbors—came with him. One look at his face told me everything. They’d fou

77| LENORA

The library was quiet, dim with late-afternoon light filtering through the stained glass windows. I made my way to the back shelves, searching for a specific book I’d used earlier in the semester. My fingers skimmed across spines until I found it—too high on the shelf to reach. I stood on my toes, stretched as far as I could, fingertips just brushing the edge of the spine— A body moved behind me. Close. Too close. Before I could react, an arm reached over my head and plucked the book from the shelf like it weighed nothing. “Here you go.” I froze. My breath hitched, heart leaping into my throat. My body tensed, instinct screaming danger. For a split second, I imagined a hand clamping over my mouth, dragging me away—no sound, no struggle, just vanishing. But then I caught the scent. Apples. Spice. Earthy undertones. Elijah. A tremor ran through me, and I let out a slow, shuddering breath, slumping slightly against the shelf. “Lenora?” His voice was soft, concerned. “Are you ok

78| LENORA

The dress clung to me like a second skin—dark green, satin, soft beneath my fingers as I smoothed it down for what had to be the fiftieth time. It matched my eyes a little too well.My hair was swept up into an elaborate twist that had taken me thirty minutes and a pair of aching biceps to perfect. My makeup was done exactly how I liked it—how Jessie had taught me to do it. The dress covered the crook of my neck, at the same time, covering the mark there, and the back was high enough to keep my scars covered.I looked… pretty. Really pretty, actually. The kind of pretty that once might’ve made me feel powerful.But all I felt was dread.It had draped itself over my shoulders all day, this slow, smothering dread. I’d spent the hours pacing my apartment, waiting for something—anything—to shatter the quiet. For a hand to twist the doorknob, for a shadow to pass across the window, for someone to finally come and slit my throat.Maybe I should’ve taken Morgan up on her offer and stayed at

79| LENORA

The scent hit first—mildew, rot, blood. Copper and fear.I hesitated at the first stone step, blinking into the heavy dark, then slowly descended, one hand pressed to the wall to steady myself.With every step, the temperature dropped. The kind of cold that didn’t just settle on your skin—it slithered into your bones. Into your marrow. It was unnatural. Stale. Wrong.And then I saw it.Not a catacomb.A lab.No—a prison.Rows of metallic beds bolted to the floor. Chains looped through iron rings, blood crusted into their links. Bodies—some conscious, others still—lay draped across the beds. Wounded. Bandaged. Bent in positions no body should bend. A woman sat in a corner, her throat stitched into silence. Her eyes met mine, wide and broken, as a child beside her whimpered through a metal muzzle.Buzzing fluorescent lights cast pale yellow shadows on the grey stone walls, flickering occasionally like the space itself couldn’t bear to see what lived in it. IV bags swayed gently, their t

80| ELIJAH

‘Be on the lookout, something huge will happen today…’Connor’s voice echoed in my mind, low and tense, as the music swelled around me. Those were his only words to me before I left for tonight’s event, I hadn’t wanted to attend but Luka and Sophie were convinced that something would actually happen today and since I was the only one actually invited, it made sense for me to attend. I was supposed to be on the lookout for something, anything that might hint at my father’s current game plans, but I wasn’t…Because all I could think about was her.The dance played over and over behind my eyes. The way Lenora’s body had fit against mine like a secret she didn’t even realize she was telling. Soft curves brushing up against hard muscle, her scent—warm, sweet, laced with something darker underneath—clinging to me like it didn’t want to let go.I didn’t want to let go either.Goddess, it had felt good. Too good.But it had also felt like a betrayal. The high of it was already starting to ro

PREV

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status