I wanted his weakness, I wanted to know what made him snap.
And I think I just found it.
"Dance for ." His smooth voice called out to .
"What?" I asked, looking around the table at othe wolves.
"You heard , little hunter."
At first I wanted to argue, to bit back, tell him he could go fuck himself, but if there’s one thing I know about wolves was them having an insanely high amount of pride.
If I did talk back at him now, his pride would be hurt in front of his warriors and that he may never forgive.
So I moved, slowly at first but then the music started to get instense, I swayed my hips, carelessly letting go to all the stress.
Zain was cold, ruthless, and terrifyingly controlled. But when I moved like that—when I let the music take , when I made him watch—his gaze burnt my skin like the scorching sun on sumr, until sothing inside him snapped.
He lost that control.
Even if only for a mont.
I should have been afraid.
A part of *was* afraid. But the other part—the reckless, vengeful, self-destructive part—felt sothing else entirely.
Satisfaction.
Because for the first ti since I had been dragged into this cursed place, I wasn’t the one losing.
I was the one pulling the strings.
Or at least, that’s what I thought.
"Enough!" He growled, banging his fist in the table.
I stopped, staring at him with hatred in my eyes.
He saw it, before he turned and walked away.
I followed him.
Standing over the balcony, the heat radiating off him was heavy.
"I thought I told you to leave." He said, already sensing my presence before I got there.
There was a pause.
Then I said mockingly, "you left so fast I thought you wanted soone follow alpha."
Slowly bye turned to , his eyes blazing with what I couldn’t understand.
Before I could react, Zain was there, closing the distance between us in a single breath. I barely had ti to inhale before my back slamd against the cold stone of the balcony wall.
Heat.
Strength.
Power coiling around like a storm, his scent overwhelming my senses—smoky, wild, and dangerously intoxicating.
His hands weren’t on , but they might as well have been. Every inch of my body was caged by his presence, and my pulse betrayed , hamring so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
I lifted my chin, forcing myself to et his gaze, refusing to cower.
But gods those eyes.
Abyssal gold, burning, filled with sothing untad. Sothing dark.
And sothing that made my stomach tighten in a way I hated.
"I told you to dance," he murmured, his voice dangerously low. "Not to tempt fate, or challenge ."
I swallowed, ignoring the way my body reacted to the nearness of him, the way my breath stuttered as his words ghosted over my skin.
"Maybe I am tempting fate." My voice was steady, but my fingers curled into the stone behind . "Maybe I want to see what happens when the mighty Alpha finally snaps."
Sothing flickered in his expression—sothing like amusent, but laced with warning.
"Careful, little hunter." He leaned in just enough that his breath skimd my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine. "You have no idea what you’re playing with."
I hated the way my body betrayed . The way I felt the heat of him, the strength he barely kept restrained. The way my pulse jumped at his nearness.
And I hated that he could probably hear every single sign of my weakness.
I clenched my teeth. "I know exactly what I’m playing with."
He exhaled a quiet laugh, but there was no humor in it. Only sothing darker. Sothing warning.
"You think you have power here," he said, his voice a slow, dangerous drawl. "That because you made *ook at you, you have any control over ?"
I forced my breathing to stay even, even as my heart pounded against my ribs.
"You did look." I lifted my chin, eting his stare head-on. "And you didn’t like what it did to you."
His jaw tightened, but his expression remained unreadable.
"You’re playing a dangerous ga, Violet," he murmured. "And I promise you, if you keep testing —"
"What?" I cut him off, my own voice sharpening. "You’ll kill ?"
Silence.
Thick. Heavy.
His gaze flickered, but I saw it—the hesitation.
He wouldn’t.
No matter how much he wanted to, no matter how much he hated for existing, for making him feel.
He wouldn’t kill .
I didn’t know how I knew that. But I did. And that confidence was all I was relying on now.
His hand lifted suddenly, and I braced myself for—I don’t even know what—but he didn’t touch .
Instead, his fingers brushed my throat—light, barely there. Not a threat. A test.
My breath caught.
My skin burned.
I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes trained of his forehead to avoid it wondering to the very tempting, very luscious, very inviting lips of his.
I should moved. Should shoved him away, should have clawed and fought and reminded him I wasn’t afraid.
But I couldn’t.
Because at that mont, I didn’t know if that was true anymore.
It felt like the magnetic force that April always talked about had finally found and pinned my feet to the floor
He was too close, too powerful, too—everything.
And worst of all?
For just a second, standing there in the moonlight, with his golden eyes locked onto mine, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to move, I could hear my blood rushing in my ears, drowning out every other sound.
Zain’s expression darkened, as if he sensed it.
And then, just like that, he was gone.
He stepped back so suddenly I almost stumbled forward, the cold night air rushing between us like a slap to the face.
His expression was carefully blank again, but I knew better now.
I had seen the crack.
I had felt it.
And even though my legs felt weak, even though my pulse was still unsteady, I straightened, lifted my chin, and t his stare one final ti.
"Goodnight, Alpha," I murmured.
Then I turned and walked away, refusing to look back.
Refusing to let him see how badly I wanted to, relying heavily on my already shaky legs to get back to my room.
I didn’t stop walking until I was safely back inside, away from him, away from the way his presence had wrapped around like a cage I didn’t know if I wanted to escape from.
Only when I reached my room did I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
My hands were trembling.
I curled them into fists, cursing myself.
What the hell was that?
I had danced to provoke him, to see just how far I could push before he broke.
And I had pushed him—pushed him to the edge of sothing I didn’t fully understand.
But instead of victory, I felt like I had barely escaped sothing dangerous.
Sothing intoxicating.
Sothing that could ruin .
I paced the small space of my room, my mind racing.
Zain had looked at like he wanted to devour whole. Like he wanted to take and destroy and claim all at once.
And for one horrible mont, when he had brushed his fingers against my throat, I had let him.
I wanted him to take there and then.
I still can’t figure out why I’m attracted to him.
No to his body, because who wouldn’t.
With a body like his, he could have any one at anyti, plus he’s the alpha, she wolves will willingly throw themselves at him.
And then, I saw tiny slender fingers, drawing maps of nothing in his chest, while whispering slurry words in his ear.
I saw red.
The thought of him being with another woman sohow made my blood boil.
"What the hell is wrong with you violet." I hissed
I stopped pacing, dragging a hand down my face.
Get it together, Violet.
This wasn’t so twisted, forbidden attraction.
It was power.
It was war.
And I had just found my strongest weapon.
I forced myself to focus. The plan has changed. Stay. Seduce the alpha. Kill Zain. Destroy the monsters that had ruined my family’s lives.
Bring glory to my na.
Make my father proud of , so I don’t have to be married off.
And now, I had an advantage I hadn’t expected.
If Zain was affected by , if he wanted , even if he hated himself for it... I could use that.
I would use that.
I wouldn’t be his plaything.
I would be his undoing.
I sat on the edge of the bed, breathing deep, forcing the lingering heat from my skin. I had work to do.
Tomorrow, I would be back in that dining hall, serving him.
And next ti, I wouldn’t just provoke him.
I would break him.
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