Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
On the tenth floor, I sprinted to my office and locked the door behind me. A door slammed outside in the hallway. Torin must have taken the stairs, and now he was already in front of my office.
I walked backward while staring at the office door. I only halted when my butt hit the small desk underneath the window. I held my breath and listened. Torin didn’t hide or use his stealth. His footsteps sounded like a herd of elephants taunting me.
“Open the door, Princess,” his angry voice boomed.
He wouldn’t kick my door, would he?
The lock clicked, and Torin sauntered in. He retracted his long, sharp talon, which he must have used to unlock the door. He then put his glove back on and closed the distance until a couple of feet were left between us.
“Are you scared of me?” His red eyes radiated amusement and something else.
He was playing with me.
“N-no.”
He chuckled. “You should be because you smell delicious,” he said and licked his full lips.
At least his fangs were gone.
“So I smell like…a medium done steak to you?”
His jaw muscle twitched as he fought to keep his face straight but then gave up and laughed out loud. He was even more handsome when he laughed, which wasn’t often.
“We have privacy now. What do you want? And stop pretending you’re concerned for me out of your duty to your King.”
He narrowed his red eyes. I waited for a long moment, fighting the urge to tap my foot on the floor.
Torin only talked when he wanted to.
He moved to a chair and sat down like he owned the place.
He crossed one leg, ankle over his other knee, and dropped his arms to his sides.
I wouldn’t be able to get rid of him anytime soon, would I?
The more I fought him, the more my chest constricted, making it hard to breathe. I walked behind my desk and sat down.
“What happened at the club?” he asked.
Breathing deeply, I told him how Tammy and I had accidentally walked in on a werewolf torture. Torin rewarded me with his charming smile when I mentioned I was able to free the Alpha of the Nighteye pack, but he didn’t seem surprised by it.
“The one called Master compelled Tammy, and now she has flashes of the events of the night, but she’s scared and not sure what’s real. She has a headache, so I worry about my friend,” I said with a sigh.
“I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
“What are you going to do?”
His face was stoic. “You shouldn’t concern yourself with this. Instead, take care of your wounds.”
The weight of recent events that had thrust me back into the supernatural world rushed into my mind, making me dizzy and emotional. I didn’t want to find the access point to my dream realm. I didn’t want to meet my supposedly fated mates. I didn’t want to fight vampires or risk Tammy’s life.
I didn’t want to be in the same room with Torin anymore.
I blinked back tears and put my hands over my face.
“On the few occasions you spoke two words to me, you talked down to me as if I can’t protect myself like I’m a little child,” I said.
“No, that’s not true.” His voice sounded close.
I dropped my hands to my sides and yelped. He loomed at my side. “I don’t want you to be hurt.”
And yet, he kept on hurting me. I shook my head.
I hated it when supernaturals dismissed me or my ideas because I was a human, as if I wasn’t worthy to be among them.
I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry again.
Turning my head to the other side, I said, “You can leave now. Go do your thing at the vampire club.”
“Okay,” he said and then turned my chair around.
I squeaked as my body twisted. Suddenly, Torin’s arms were behind my butt and back, and I was scooped up and lifted in the air.
“Put me down, you animal,” I shouted.
He chuckled but kept on walking to the office door.
I didn’t like to be manhandled whenever he pleased to do so. While I was cursing him, I kicked with my feet, but Torin pulled my body closer to his and flipped me over his shoulder.
I gasped. He delivered on his promise to carry me out like a sack of potatoes.
I used my fists and swatted his shoulders, but Torin only gave me a low warning growl.
“Wait…I need my bag. At my desk,” I said when we were at the doorway.
My book.
The Alpha jerk actually listened to me and went back. He squatted like an Olympic athlete, lowering my body enough to pick up my leather bag. I clutched it against my chest and stayed silent.
In the elevator, I took deep breaths and tried not to fidget in his arms—one of them awfully close to my butt. It wouldn’t be the first time this man had humiliated me in front of other people. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Torin lowered my legs and gently set me on the floor. My eyes snapped open. Did he sense my distress? He studied my face, and I didn’t know what answer he was searching for.
I averted my gaze. We walked side by side through the lobby and down the front stairs. The cool October air struck my bare skin, sending chills down my spine.
At the curbside, a man opened the passenger door to a black car, and Torin put his gloved hand on the small of my back, guiding me inside. He slid next to me in the back seat. Torin told his driver to drop us off at my apartment, and I wanted to pull my hair out. How much more did he know about me?
During the short drive, I pretended to look out the window and took short, shallow breaths. Every time I inhaled, Torin’s forest scent filled my lungs and did something to my heart. My erratic heartbeats were easier to ignore when I wasn’t stuck with the Alpha in a small, enclosed space.
When the car parked at the front of my building, Torin stepped out and held my door open. He extended a hand for me to take. Ignoring it, I thanked the driver and got out of the car.
I took a few steps away and turned to say my goodbyes, but the car was pulling away while Torin stood at my side.
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m coming inside your apartment to check it.”
I sucked in a breath and twirled my entire body toward him. “You were already there when you dropped off the dress. Everything was fine, so you can go back now.”
I turned to walk away.
It was hard to ignore the heat seeping from him when he followed me so closely. Everything about Torin messed with my heart, mind, and body, and I didn’t like it.
He was invading my personal space as I struggled to regain my control.
I climbed the stairs to the second floor with him in tow. I was about to open my front door when Lisa’s lock clicked, and she opened her door.
Her smile grew wider the more she studied Torin, and she fidgeted with her braid that hung over her shoulder.
She held a paper plate with one hand. “Oh my. Is he your new boyfriend, dear?”
I swallowed the wrong way and started coughing. Torin snapped his head at me and narrowed his eyes, but then he faced Lisa with the softest expression.
His amber eyes turned brighter, and he genuinely smiled at her—a rare sight to behold.
“Yes, I’m Torin. The new boyfriend,” he said in a steady voice.
I flinched and attempted to smooth my eyebrows and lips so Lisa didn’t ask about the big frown on my face.
“I didn’t know Anna had such a beautiful neighbor. What is your name?”
Lisa beamed at him, and I wanted to roll my eyes at the Alpha.
“I’m Lisa, and I’m glad Breanna found such a handsome guy.”
I waved at Lisa. “Lisa, it’s getting late. Why are you not sleeping?”
She started toward me across the hall, and as soon as Torin saw her limp, he went to help her. He held her arm while Lisa dragged one leg slower than the other.
Torin showed the same respect to Lisa as he showed my dad. He respected his elders, although Torin was probably much older than my dad and Lisa combined.
“These are for you and your man,” Lisa said, handing me the plate of cookies covered by a thin paper towel.
He isn’t mine.
Years ago, I thought he was, but I was wrong. I wasn’t even close to the type of woman Torin seemed to like—a seductive she-wolf with graceful posture, tall, beautiful, and blonde.
Standing next to Torin, I almost reached his pec muscles, feeling like a child. I fought the urge to brush away a brown lock of hair. And there was not a single seductive element in my human body.
Yet, Torin was here in London and not with her.
It must’ve been because of my inner beauty, then. Scoffing, I almost dropped the plate of cookies.
I thanked Lisa, and Torin supported her while she walked back to her apartment. She moved slower than usual, enjoying Torin’s attention.
I stayed at the doorway watching them, fighting the urge to shut my door in Torin’s face, but I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Lisa.
He came back to me, and we walked inside my apartment.
Still testing my theory on Torin’s jealousy, I counted in my head…three…two…one.
“So, what did the nice lady mean by new boyfriend? Did you have an old boyfriend?” Torin asked calmly, but the vein on his neck pulsed.
His declaration that he had no feelings for me was a big, fat lie. He was jealous, but he wouldn’t answer my questions, and I did not like the way he treated me.
“You’re overthinking it, Torin.” I took a cookie and put half of it in my mouth then set the plate on the kitchen countertop.
“You didn’t answer my question, Princess.”
When he spoke, he was right behind me. Sneaky bastard.
I ignored him and walked into my bedroom to drop my bag on my bed. The book was inside, and I couldn’t hide my bag without raising suspicion.
He followed me, walked into my bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. Then he opened the drawers under the faucet.
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Did you find any vampires in my bathroom, Alpha?”
“Nope, all clear,” he said and kept on invading my privacy .
I followed him to the kitchen, where he opened my pantry and the fridge. I stood by the kitchen stools with my arms crossed and exhaled loudly. He was too much for me to handle at the moment.
“Are you done?” I asked.
He ignored me as he checked the locks on my windows. To cool off, I walked to the fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of water.
“Who is Lisa to you, Princess?” Appearing to be finished inspecting my apartment, Torin made his way to me. He stood in front of me, way too close for comfort. Would giving him answers pacify him and make him leave faster?
“I met Lisa when I first arrived in London, and she gave me shelter until I had enough money for a security deposit and the first month's rent. Lisa and Tammy are my only friends here.”
I unscrewed the cap and brought the bottle to my lips. The cold water cooled down my throat but not my nerves.
“Don’t you miss your family in California?” He leaned his hip on the counter and crossed his arms. I closed the bottle. “I do, but I’m okay here.”
“Your parents miss you so much, Princess. I can see your dad is struggling with your departure.”
Heat flushed through me, and my body tensed. “Are you trying to guilt trip me into going back, Torin?”
I couldn’t have a normal conversation with him. Everything about him made me angry. Every word. Every gesture. Everything in me rebelled against him, and my heart tipped closer to another breaking point.
He thought he could show up out of the blue and butt into my life like he had the right to do so. He was unreasonable, demanding, and bossy.
I’d never felt such anger toward Torin before I left the kingdom at the age of eighteen with a reeling mind and a broken heart. Although the pull toward him was strong and alive, confusion, suspicion, and a pinch of fear laced through my feelings for him.
Torin’s stoic and cold face was ingrained in my mind, not because of how handsome he was, but because every time he glanced my way, his face changed into a frown, and his eyes held nothing but anger.
At least he never flashed his crimson eyes at me when I was a teenager—not that he was allowed to display any parts of his vampire on Dad’s territory, but still.
Now, an indecipherable emotion gleamed behind his narrowed eyes that promised to break free, and I didn’t want to find out what it was. The icy mask he wore back in the kingdom cracked the longer he watched me—and not in a good way.
Back then, I tried to avoid him as much as possible in the kingdom, but my heart still raced whenever our paths crossed, even when he looked at me with irritation.
As I grew up, my body reacted at the mere sight of the Alpha—the cliché statement of “butterflies in the stomach” turned out to be true, although the butterflies took flight in my chest most of the time.
Blood rushed to my cheeks, and my core tightened whenever I felt Alpha Torin’s presence around me.
While living in the werewolf kingdom, I did nothing else but stare at Torin’s strong jaw, ruggedly handsome face, and tight-fitting shirt that hinted at sculpted muscles underneath. But once I figured my attraction to the Alpha went beyond the physical, I knew I was in so much trouble.
His mysterious air and knowledge beyond his human years pulled me toward him. It was as if he knew a secret that I didn’t, and Alpha Torin wanted to keep it away from me. The more distance he put between us, the stronger my curiosity burned.
My only explanation for his unfriendly behavior reserved only for me was that I was human, unworthy of being in the werewolf kingdom.
I couldn’t help but feel nervous under his intense gaze that seemed to follow my every move, leaving me feeling exposed and vulnerable.
“Get out,” I demanded before I regretted saying something I couldn’t take back.
I didn’t know what he saw on my face, but he nodded and turned around, striding out of my apartment. I locked the door behind him and marched to my bedroom.
The life I’d carefully built in London among the humans had crumbled. Why was he here?
I ordered my mind to stop thinking about Torin and went into my bathroom for a hot shower.
I wanted to sleep and forget it all. After showering, I wrapped a towel around my body, took out my phone, and swiped the screen to check messages from Tammy.
She had sent me one saying she was going to bed and not to worry about her. I sighed.
A loud knock rattled the front door, and I almost dropped my phone when my body jerked. I stomped toward the door. If Torin was back to check on me again and to be unreasonable, he had another thing coming.
“Oh, gods, stop knocking. You’ll wake up everyone,” I shouted.
I swung the front door wide open with one hand while the other held the top of my towel secured at my chest and then did a double take at the man leaning casually at my doorway.
No.
“Hayden.”