CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA PRINCIPAL のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

Eden’s POVA few days laterThe sun crept into my room through the thin curtains, painting my walls with soft golden light. My body stirred before my mind did, the faint weight of a restless night pulling at me. I rolled over slowly, my face buried against the pillow that still smelled faintly of him. It was ridiculous, almost insane, but I swore I could still feel his presence lingering in my bed.Kael.Even just whispering his name in my thoughts sent a shiver racing down my spine.My lips were still swollen from how hard he had kissed me. My skin was sensitive, remembering every brush of his fingers, every dark promise he had left unspoken but heavy in the air between us. I pressed my thighs together beneath the blanket, shame heating my face because the ache inside me had not left. If anything, it had grown sharper in the silence of the night.I had hardly slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him again. The way he towered over me, his breath hot against my mouth, his voice a

Eden’s POV The sunlight that streamed through my curtains felt too bright, too ordinary, as if the world had no idea what had happened only hours before. My eyes fluttered open slowly, heavy from a restless night, and the first thing that greeted me was the silence of my room. My body ached with awareness, every inch of me still alive with the ghost of Kael’s touch. I lay still for a long while, staring at the ceiling, afraid to move because I knew the moment I did, reality would crash back in. Yet no amount of stillness could erase the memory of him standing outside my window. His gaze had pinned me in place, sharp and consuming, until it felt like I had no air left to breathe. I had not slept much after he left, and when I did drift off, my dreams had been thick with him. When I finally sat up, I pressed my palms to my face and groaned quietly. My heart still raced whenever I thought of the way his eyes had darkened, of the way my hand had lifted almost of its own accord to tou

Eden’s POVThe silence between us was alive. It pulsed in the cool night air, filled with everything unsaid, everything restrained. My breath fogged faintly as I exhaled, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I feared he could hear it.Kael stood a few feet away, a shadow carved into something more dangerous than the dark itself. He had not moved since stepping closer, but his presence pressed against me, heavy and inescapable.I told myself to leave, to turn around and return to the safety of my house, but my body betrayed me. My feet remained rooted, my eyes locked on him. It was as if the night had closed us off from the rest of the world, creating a private space where only we existed.He tilted his head slightly, studying me with a gaze that stripped me bare. His eyes were not kind, but they were not cruel either. They were intent. Possessive. Hungry in a way that made my skin burn.“You came outside knowing I would be here,” he said, his voice low, steady, with a thread of

Eden’s POVThe curtain fell back into place, shutting out the sight of him, but it did nothing to ease the storm inside me. My hands shook as I clutched the fabric, holding it closed as though that could shield me from what lingered beyond. My chest ached with the weight of my heartbeat, each pulse thudding so violently I wondered if he could hear it even from where he stood.He was out there. I knew it as surely as I knew my own name. Even if I never looked again, the knowledge sat heavy against my skin, undeniable, unshakable. Kael was watching me.I pulled back from the window slowly, my legs unsteady as though I had run a great distance. The air in my room felt too thick, heavy enough to drag me down, to trap me in this strange place between fear and desire. I sat on the edge of my bed, pressing my trembling fingers against my lips, unable to forget the sight of him in the shadows.His stillness had been what unnerved me the most. He had not paced or shifted or given any sign of r

Eden’s POVClaire kept talking as we moved farther away from the escalator, her words sharp and protective, but I barely heard her. My head was still full of noise that was not the mall’s noise at all. It was the echo of those boys’ voices, their laughter sticking to me like smoke, the heat of their stares still crawling over my skin. My hands would not stop shaking. I pressed them into the sides of my skirt to hide it, but it did not stop the tremor that lived inside me.“Forget them,” Claire said finally, her tone softer now. “You know how some guys are. They get off on being pests. They are all talk.”I wanted to nod, to let her comfort be enough, but something inside me twisted tighter. It was not just that those boys had followed us. It was how quickly my body had frozen under their attention, how powerless I had felt. And worse than that, it was the thought that had cut through the panic, uninvited and sharp.Kael.I kept seeing his eyes in my mind, pale and unyielding, the way