Chapter 22: Nightmare.
ELLA.
I tossed my phone to the side, letting it land sowhere on the bed as I finally allowed my body to relax.
For the first ti that night, a faint sense of calm settled over . The tension in my shoulders eased slightly as I lay back, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to take over and pull
away from everything that had been happening.
Slowly... my eyes began to close and just as sleep started to claim ...It ca.
I saw myself.
Struggling.
Everything felt too real, too vivid, like I wasn’t dreaming at all but reliving sothing that had already happened. My body twisted against an unseen force as soone stood behind , their grip tight, unyielding.
A cloth pressed over my nose.
The scent sharp, suffocating and toxic.
I fought against it, my hands flailing desperately as panic surged through . My vision blurred, my strength fading faster than I could comprehend.
No...I couldn’t give in.
With the last bit of strength I had left, I threw sothing forward— it was a small object, and it slipped from my hand and flew into the distance.
A crest moon pin.
After that, darkness seed to have swallowed
while as the scent consud
completely.
My eyes snapped open.
I gasped sharply, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I sat up, my entire body trembling. Everything felt too real, too detailed to be just a dream.
Panic gripped
instantly.
Without thinking, I threw the covers aside and rushed out of the room. I didn’t even know where I was going, my feet moved on their own, driven by a strange urgency I couldn’t explain.
My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I moved through the quiet hallway.
A faint light caught my attention.
I stopped briefly before instinct took over, and I followed it. Step by step, I moved closer until I found myself standing in front of a study.
I hesitated—maybe I should turn back but before I could, sothing pulled . It was not physically but it felt like it, but it was more like an unseen force guiding
forward.
And before I knew it, I was inside.
I froze.
Piercing grey eyes t mine instantly.
Leonard.
He stood there, calm, composed, dressed in a simple black polo and grey joggers. Yet sohow, even in that simplicity, he looked... breathtaking.
My gaze lingered longer than it should have, drifting unintentionally to his Adam’s apple before I quickly caught myself.
"Why were you sneaking around, Theresa?" he asked.
His voice snapped
back to reality.
"I wasn’t," I replied quickly, averting my gaze as my heart continued to race. "I had a nightmare."
The change in him was imdiate.
The coldness in his expression lted away as he stepped closer, his hand finding my waist before pulling
gently toward him.
Before I could react...My head rested against his chest.
"Was it that scary?" he asked softly. Then after a brief pause, "Do you want
to stay with you?"
The mont stilled.
And sohow, It felt too familiar yet, I didn’t understand it.
My heart beat faster than it should, my thoughts tangled between what I should*
do and what I strangely wanted.
Logically, I knew I should pull away. Yes, create a distance and tell him there was no need but another part of ...didn’t want to move at all, as It felt safe and comforting, more like I had been there before.
Like I had missed it.
What exactly is wrong with ?
The question echoed in my mind as I finally forced myself to move, pulling away from him gently as logic took over once again.
But the instant I looked back at him, his expression changed.
The softness that had been there monts ago vanished completely, replaced by sothing darker, sothing intense that made my breath catch in my throat.
"Theresa, why did you pull away?" he asked, his voice lower now, edged with sothing I couldn’t quite place as he took a step closer.
"You have always wanted to be in my arms."
My heart skipped.
I swallowed hard, instinctively taking a small step back, trying to steady myself under the weight of his gaze.
"Leonard, I really do not understand what you are talking about," I said, my voice quieter than I intended. "But I’m so sorry I disturbed you... I will be heading to my room now."
I didn’t wait for a response.
I turned quickly, hoping to leave before things escalated further, before whatever was building in the air could pull
back in again.
But I didn’t make it far.
His hand ca around my waist in an instant, pulling
back against him with a force that stole the breath from my lungs. Before I could react, he turned
around and pushed
backward until my back t the desk.
My heart pounded wildly.
"Leonard—"
I didn’t get to finish.
His lips crashed onto mine, cutting
off completely.
The kiss was sudden, forceful, leaving no room for hesitation. My hands pressed against his chest instinctively as I tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.
Instead, he bit down lightly on my lower lip.
A sharp, unfamiliar sensation shot through , making my breath hitch as sothing strange stirred within , sothing I couldn’t control or understand.
"You have always wanted this, Theresa," he said as he pulled back slightly, his eyes locked onto mine. "Now I’m giving it to you... and you want to resist?"
What...?
My thoughts spun, confusion and disbelief clashing within .
What exactly was wrong with these three brothers?
It was almost as if they had planned this, like I was sothing to be passed between them, sothing they could claim whenever they wanted.
"I—"
Again, I didn’t get to finish.
He captured my lips once more, deeper this ti, more consuming, as though he was determined to leave no space for resistance. My body tensed under his hold, my thoughts scattering as everything beca overwhelming.
And then, his hand moved, lifting my thigh slightly, pulling
closer.
A soft, involuntary gasp escaped , my fingers gripping onto him as a strange, unfamiliar sensation coursed through . It was too much, too sudden, too intense...even my wolf stirred, restless, pressing forward as if begging to take control.
No...I couldn’t let that happen.
But before anything could go further...
The door burst open as the sound echoed sharply through the room.
Both of us froze.
A familiar figure stood at the entrance.
And instantly, the color drained from my face.
Reviews
All reviews (0)