Offered To The Beastly Alpha

Olivia’s POV

​I barely had time to blink before the noise, smoke, and crowd were replaced by the familiar walls of my bedroom. My stomach turned from the sudden teleportation, and I quickly pulled my hand away from his.

​”You could at least warn me before doing that,” I muttered, rubbing my stomach.

​Lucian barely seemed to hear me. His eyes hardened as he stared at me. ”What the hell were you thinking?”

​I froze and stared at him. Lucian stood two feet away from me, his chest rising and falling heavily. Ash covered parts of his clothes, and there was soot along one side of his face.

​”What?” I asked, genuinely confused by his sudden anger.

​”You heard me.” His voice was controlled, but the anger beneath it was obvious. ”What you did back there was foolish and completely reckless. You could have been killed. If the guards hadn’t mind-linked me the moment things went wrong and told me what was happening, do you even understand what could have happened to you?”

​Only minutes ago, this same man had looked terrified while checking every inch of me for injuries. Now he was shouting at me as though I had personally started the fire. Apparently, the cold Alpha had returned right on schedule.

​”There was a child trapped in the fire,” I reminded him.

​”And there were guards there!” Lucian shot back.

​I stared at him, my own anger rising to meet his. He sounded furious, almost as if my attempt to save a child was nothing more than an inconvenience to him.

​”They couldn’t reach her!”

​Lucian took a step toward me. ”So you decided to run directly into a burning square?”

​”I wasn’t going to stand there and watch her die!” I argued back.

​Lucian dragged a hand through his messy hair and turned away for a moment before facing me again. ”You could have died, Annabel.”

​Something about the way he said it made my anger weaken for a second, but then everything that had happened between us came rushing back. I remembered waking up alone after sleeping with him. I remembered sitting across from him at breakfast while he reduced everything that had happened between us to something normal between a husband and wife. Then came the allowance, followed by four days of silence while he stayed hundreds of miles away from me. Yet now he was standing here, furious because I could have died.

​I couldn’t understand him anymore.

​”Thank you for saving us,” I said quietly. ”But you don’t have to pretend you care now.”

​His frown deepened. ”What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

​”Nothing.” I shook my head and started walking past him. ”Forget it. You saved me, so thank you. I think you would have been happier if I’d died anyway, so I suppose I should appreciate the effort.”

​I barely made it two steps before Lucian caught my wrist and pulled me back. A gasp escaped me as I collided with his chest, and his arms immediately closed around my waist.

​”Is that really what you think?” His voice was lower now, but the anger was still there. ”You truly believe I would be happy if you died?”

​”Yes,” I snapped, glaring up at him. ”That is exactly what I think.”

​Something changed in his expression, but I was too angry to stop now.

​”You left the morning after we slept together. You sat across from me and acted like it meant absolutely nothing. Then you left for days without saying a word to me. You made it very clear how you feel about me, Lucian.”

​His hold around my waist loosened slightly. Instead of answering, Lucian suddenly leaned down and kissed me.

​For one shocked second, I froze. Then anger rushed through me. I shoved against his chest, but when he didn’t immediately pull away, I bit down hard on his lower lip.

​Lucian jerked back, his eyes widening slightly as his fingers touched his mouth. A small drop of blood appeared on his lower lip.

​I stepped away from him. ”Don’t ever do that again,” I said, my voice trembling with anger. ”Now, please get out of my room.”

​I waited for Lucian to yell, argue, or use that cold Alpha voice that usually made everyone around him immediately submit. But he did none of those things. He simply stared at me, his fingers resting against the small drop of blood on his lower lip. There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t understand, and for a moment, I almost wished he would say something. Anything.

​Instead, the air shifted around him, and before I could process what was happening, he disappeared.

​I stared at the empty space where he had been and slowly released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

​That was it?

​My legs suddenly felt weak, and I sank onto the edge of the bed, burying my face in my hands. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to feel anymore. Angry? Guilty? Frustrated? Probably all three. More than anything, I was exhausted. Everything from the fire, the terrified crowd, Lucian’s sudden return, and our argument seemed to hit me all at once.

​I was still angry with him. That hadn’t changed. He couldn’t treat me like I meant nothing, disappear for days, then return and kiss me whenever he felt like it. But the image of his face when he found me in the fire wouldn’t leave my mind either. He had been afraid. Not simply worried, but genuinely afraid, and somehow that only made everything more confusing.

​Dragging myself off the bed, I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I washed away the smell of smoke and the ash clinging to my skin, wishing I could wash away the memory of the day just as easily. Once I was clean and dressed in a soft nightgown, I climbed back into bed and closed my eyes.

​Are you there? I called out mentally, trying to reach the voice that had saved my life in the square. Talk to me.

​Silence.

​I tried again, searching deep inside my mind for my wolf, but there was nothing. It was completely silent, as if she had never spoken to me in the first place.

​Please. Just say something.

​Nothing.

​I sighed softly and gave up. I pulled the blanket around myself and stared at the ceiling for a while, but my body was far too tired to keep fighting sleep. It was still afternoon, but after everything that had happened at the festival, I could barely keep my eyes open. Within minutes, exhaustion finally won.

​A knock on the door woke me.

​I opened my eyes slowly, confused by how dark the room had become. For a few seconds, I simply stared toward the window before realizing that night had already fallen.

​I must have slept for hours.

​Another knock came.

​I rubbed my eyes and pushed myself upright, running a hand through my messy hair. ”Come in.”

​Gloria entered carrying a small, sealed envelope. ”Sorry to wake you, Princess. A guard just asked me to give this to you. He said it’s your medical report from Dr. Vance after today’s incident.”

​”Medical report?” I frowned as I accepted the envelope from her. ”Dr. Vance didn’t even examine me properly.”

​Gloria gave a small shrug. ”The guard only said I should make sure you received it.”

​That made me pause.

​”Did he say anything else?”

​Gloria shook her head. ”No, Princess.” She glanced toward the untouched glass of water beside my bed. ”Would you like me to bring you something to eat? You slept through dinner.”

​I hadn’t even realized how long I had been asleep.

​”Maybe later. Thank you, Gloria.”

​The moment she left and closed the door behind her, I looked down at the envelope again. Something about it didn’t feel right. Dr. Vance hadn’t examined me properly, so why would he suddenly send me a medical report?

​I opened it carefully and unfolded the paper inside. The moment my eyes landed on the rough handwriting, every trace of sleep disappeared.

​It wasn’t a medical report.

​It was a letter from Owen.