All of sudden, the body weight on was lifted, and my wrists were released. Almost at the sa ti, a soft blanket was thrown over my body.
I snapped my eyes open in disbelief.
He stopped. Why?
My gaze went to his face as he propped himself up on the bed. His expression seed distant, and maybe a little concerned—I wasn’t sure. Then I watched as he pulled back and picked up his clothes.
I saw the broadness of his back, the curves and firmness of every muscle. There was nothing but power radiating off him. He was the largest, yet finest man I had ever seen.
As he buttoned his shirt, I realized what a coward I was.
I had ruined it...
No, I couldn’t fail this task. I couldn’t disappoint him. I had to do this!
If I didn’t, what would happen to my pack, my father... and ?
Panic rose in . I got up as quickly as I could and grabbed the bottom of his shirt before he had the chance to tuck it in.
I couldn’t let him leave. I had to complete my task!
“Please...don’t leave,” I pleaded in fear.
I couldn’t allow him to go and be the executioner for my pack. Too many innocent lives depended on this.
Cayden slowly turned around and faced . Under his gaze, I felt ashad of how I looked in the thin clothing I had been provided. I didn’t feel like an Alpha’s daughter, but a slave trying to negotiate with her master.
However, I had to try. I had to find courage sowhere.
“Please... I can...”
He stood there towering over . The candlelight was behind him, shrouding his face in the dark. I couldn’t make out his expression, but I couldn’t imagine it was anything good.
My hands were cold as ice, and as I settled down on the bed, I couldn’t help but feel vulnerable toward him.
“No,” Cayden replied firmly, causing my heart to sink in my chest.
Oh no... what had I done? I ruined everything!
It was as if all the strength in my body was sucked away. I had to let go of his shirt. My hands dropped back on the bed, supporting my body in its sitting position.
Done... we were done. My father, my pack, and myself.
Neither Cayden nor I said a word for a few seconds, but it felt like centuries.
“Gain so weight.”
His voice rang above , as cold and emotionless as usual.
I widened my eyes. What had he just said?
It took a few monts to process the aning of his words.
I still had a chance!
I looked at him with appreciation as he was leaving the room. “Alpha... I...”
“You’re too thin. Gain so weight,” he repeated one more ti and then disappeared through the doorway.
For so reason, I sensed the slightest frustration in his tone.
Finally, my emotions all rushed back to . Relief, disappointnt, sadness, sha... The pain in my chest gripped my heart, and I let the tears flow freely as I curled myself up into a ball in the blankets.
It hadn’t been my fear that made him stop.
Of course not. Why would a breeder’s emotion have any effect on the cold-hearted Alpha of Black Shadow?
Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw the heatless candles burning gradually burning out. The entire room sank into darkness again.
I was exhausted. The last thought before I lost consciousness was: I’m not healthy and strong enough for him as a breeder. I let him down.
***
Cayden’s POV
She cried. Why did she have to cry?
As I left the room, I was turning my frustration over and over in my head. What was her problem?
This girl had almost feel guilty for how I approached the situation.
! The Alpha!
The look of fear that had registered on her face when she opened her eyes and looked at made angry. I had seen fear in people before, but never in the eyes of a woman like Tori.
There was sothing different about her, and I hated to admit that my attraction to her was new to . Seeing her like that, though, regardless of the situation, made feel like I was a monster.
I rushed into the training ground and headed straight for my training room. The look of fear in her eyes kept flashing through my mind, which annoyed . I needed a workout to calm my emotions.
I walked to the door of the training room, opened it forcefully, and threw two fierce punches at the sandbag. But it was far from enough to vent my annoyance. So, I transford into a wolf and started running freely on the vast training ground. I leaped over the fields and left deep claw marks on the thick tree trunks.
When I was running freely in the wind, that unrestrained feeling was exactly what I craved at the mont.
Tori. Her na lingered on my lips and wouldn’t go away.
“Damn it!” I roared. With one paw, I smashed the tree trunk beside into pieces. The intense vibration startled the deer and made them flee in all directions.
A familiar figure flashed in the woods not far away. I moved to him in an instant. It was my Beta.
Jace was shocked to see the smashed tree trunk and his eyes widened.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes and walked from the grassy area. I shook my head and transford back into human form.
“Oh, poor tree. What has it done wrong?” he joked, trying to cheer up. “I bet if there had been a stone in front of you, you could have smashed it without any effort.”
“No, that would hurt my paw.” I tried to make my voice sound emotionless.
“Care to elaborate on what happened?”
When it was just the two of us, he was more of a friend than a subordinate to .
A chuckle left my lips, and I shook my head. “You want a detailed play-by-play of what happened?”
“No, but I take it you did what you had to?”Jace asked.
I found myself irritated that he was even asking questions to begin with.
“No, Jace. Shit didn’t happen like I fucking wanted it to.”
My anger was surging again, which only made more frustrated. I had to learn to reel my emotions in better.
He held his hands up in front of him defensively and took a step backward.
“I’m sorry. I was just asking. You wanted to be in charge of her, and knowing if the job was done is important so I can inform Ava.”
Jace was right. He was just trying to do his job.
“Look, I’m sorry, Jace. You know how stressed I am, okay? I am supposed to be in the capital in a few months, and I still have to deal with this shit.”
Frustration filled . Jace was well aware of my issues. After all, he was my beta, and his job was to be my second in command. To make sure that if anything happened to , the pack was still led the way it was ant to be.
“What would you like, Alpha?”Jace finally said after a mont of silence.
What would I like?
There were a lot of things I would like, but, of course, those weren’t happening right now.
I sighed. “What I would like is for you to inform Ava that she has ti to see that Tori gains more strength.”
I picked up a stone and threw it as far as I could toward the farthest part of the lake.
“Miss Tori wasn’t prepared for tonight, then?”Jace asked once more, causing to chuckle in shock.
“No... she wasn’t.”
I didn’t have it in to be angry at her. Kas was right about what she said... Tori’s abuse had been too much.
The look of fear in Tori’s eyes when I was on top of her. The way her body shook with the terror that was coursing through her veins. I wasn’t sure what exactly had happened to her, but I would eventually find out. Not to get revenge for her, but because that trauma was unknown to and had beco a problem. It was getting in the way of what I needed to accomplish.
This was a job. Nothing with her was real... just a task I had to complete.
Even saying that to myself now made it sound more and more like I was trying to convince myself of what my objective was. Never had a woman made second guess my actions, and it wasn’t sothing I would ever let anyone know about.
“She has a short period of ti to gain more weight. Have Ava and your sister work with her on the ntal state she’s currently in, too. I can’t have her emotional state be a hindering factor next ti.”
I knew I sounded heartless, but I didn’t care. That was who I was.
I was the Alpha of this pack.
I had a reputation to uphold, and I couldn’t allow anyone to see fear or weakness in . That was what got my father killed—my mother was his weakness. She was a bitter burden that I was glad was gone.
The thought left its own bitter taste in my mouth that only exercise could settle.
“I will see to it that it is taken care of, Alpha.”
I turned to Jace once more with a nod. “You’re excused, then.”
There was no room for any more discussion. I wanted to be alone, and the company of anyone else right now was an unpleasant thought.
Jace turned and left, and I was once again alone with the thought of Tori. She was beautiful, and even though she was fearful and timid... I could see the small spark that burned deep inside her.
Had she had the chance to marry an Alpha and beco a Luna, she would have been kind and fearso herself. Too bad that her father had diminished that fla within her over the years. Too bad that he sold her to .
A Luna was sothing I would never have, and when Tori finished her task for ... Well, I would set her free and let her find her peace with the Moon Goddess.
After all, that was what most wolves wished for. To embrace the Moon Goddess when their end was here.
I hardened my heart and wouldn’t let anyone sway my thoughts.
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