Evaline:
"River!" I yelped as he lifted , effortlessly, and slung over his shoulder like I weighed nothing more than a bag of flour. The shock froze for a full two seconds before mortification caught up. "Put down! Right now!"
I could hear Oscar trying, and failing, not to laugh. Kieran had his head lowered, probably to hide whatever expression was fighting to break free.
"River, I swear, if you don’t put down this instant-!" I started kicking, pounding my fists against his back.
He didn’t even flinch. His only response was a low, restrained, "You can scream all you want once we are upstairs, little star."
That nickna - soft, teasing, infuriating - made my face burn hotter than the sun.
"This is humiliating!" I shouted.
"Noted," he said dryly, climbing the stairs like he wasn’t carrying a furious woman flailing on his shoulder.
I could feel the servants’ shocked stares on my back as we passed. My pride shriveled. My hair was falling into my face, my heart thundering between anger and embarrassnt. I tried to twist around to look at Oscar, but all I could see was his helpless expression and the faintest twitch of amusent on his lips.
I swore to myself that I would make them all pay for this later.
But right now - with River’s arm around my legs, his heartbeat solid against my stomach, his scent wrapping around like the dark woods he was born from - I couldn’t decide whether I was angry at him... after all, i couldn’t ignore how my own pulse was betraying .
By the ti we reached the end of the first floor, he shifted his grip, opened the door to his bedroom with his free hand, and stepped inside before finally lowering down.
The mont my feet hit the floor, I glared up at him, breathless and furious.
"You can’t just-!"
He closed the door. The click of the lock echoed through the room.
He said nothing - just stood there, his hands pressed flat against the door, his chest rising and falling as if he was wrestling his own temper.
I didn’t care.
"Who do you think you are?" I snapped, stepping forward. "Dragging here like I’m so child who doesn’t know how to think for herself. Do you even realize how humiliating that was? In front of all the house staff-"
"Eva-"
"No!" I shouted over him, my pulse roaring in my ears. "You don’t get to cut off again. I have had enough of you ordering around, deciding what I can or can’t do as if I’m still your employee. I’m your mate, River. Not soone you get to command!"
His eyes hardened. "Then start acting like one."
That hit square in the chest.
I froze for a heartbeat, anger and disbelief tangling in my lungs. "What did you just say?"
"You heard ," he said, his voice low, controlled, but shaking at the edges. "A mate doesn’t throw herself into danger when her family is doing everything to protect her."
I laughed - the sound cold and disbelieving. "Protect ? You call this protection? You don’t protect , River - you cage !"
"Evaline-"
"You keep deciding for . You think you know what’s best, what I can handle, what I should feel-"
"I’m trying to keep you alive!" he thundered, his patience snapping. His voice filled the room, vibrating through the walls, through my bones. "You think I like stopping you? You think I enjoy saying no when every part of wants to give you the world?"
"Then show it!" I threw back, my chest heaving. "Show it in a way that doesn’t make feel like I’m just another one of your warriors following orders!"
His expression cracked for just a mont. But I saw it - the raw ache behind his eyes. Then it was gone, hidden under that icy Alpha calm. He took a step forward, slow and deliberate, and for every inch he moved, I stepped back, my anger and pulse tangled in equal asure.
"Evaline," he said quietly, "you need to calm down."
I barked out a laugh that was anything but calm. "Don’t tell to calm down. You don’t get to silence -"
"I’m not trying to silence you-"
"Yes, you are! Every ti you don’t want to hear what I have to say, you-"
He moved.
One heartbeat he was across the room, and the next, his hands caught my wrists, his body closing in until my back hit the wall with a soft thud. And his scent wrapped around like a spell.
"River," I hissed, trying to yank my hands free. "Let go!"
"I’m not going to hurt you," he said, his voice rough, his breath grazing my cheek. "But you need to stop fighting for one damn second."
"Then stop forcing -"
"Evaline." My na left his lips as a warning, low and desperate. "Please."
But I couldn’t stop. The anger in my chest wouldn’t let . "You can’t just - just pin to the wall and expect to-"
And then his lips were on mine.
The world tilted.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t soft. It was a collision - of frustration, of longing, of everything we had been holding back since previous evening. My protest died against his mouth, swallowed by the sheer force of the kiss.
He pressed closer, one hand sliding from my wrist to cup the side of my face, his thumb trembling slightly as if even he didn’t know what he was doing anymore. His other hand held firm, trapped between him and the wall.
I should have pushed him away.
I wanted to.
I tried to.
But my body betrayed the second his mouth moved against mine - demanding, consuming. The heat of him poured into , and the anger lted into sothing else entirely - sothing wild, breathless, and dangerous.
When I finally pushed him back, it wasn’t to stop him... it was to breathe.
And then, before he could say a word, I caught his collar and pulled him right back.
This ti, I kissed him.
Hard.
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