Times like this, I wished I couldn't see.
"Oliver!" Keyleth squeaked from underneath the male, her neck tilting to my direction with wide eyes.
I let out something that sounded like a grumble and quickly shut the door with a bang.
Sighing, my fingers ran through my hair, scattering pieces of it all over my eyes. I let my head fall back against her door, drowning out the sounds that were coming from behind it. Eyes wide, I let them drift to the ceiling. To the chandelier filled with multiple white lights above. The hallway was quiet, there were no servants bristling around with work to do, and the atmosphere was…calm.
But I wasn't.
I could still feel the embers pressing against me, the frustration burning in my veins. Kicking away from the door, I walked away from Keyleth's room. I needed help with the embers, something to keep me calm or change whatever I was feeling to something else, and Keyleth was usually good at making me irritated. That was far better than what I was feeling. Plus, she could be a good listener when she wanted to be.
What Alpha Reuel had said came back to me in strong waves. The rogues, the elementals, this battle against them…everything seemed strange. It was unpredictable. No one knew what would come next, if the rogues would eventually win on their known quest to take over every pack there is. Right from when I was a pup, we'd been taught that rogues were evil, that those who didn't belong to any pack only had negative intentions. There was nothing good that could come from them, they go around causing chaos in peaceful packs and sowing resentment in families. That was what they were. Ruin and chaos.
But now, an elemental had been spotted with the rogues. An elemental, someone like me, who didn't ask for any of this, for any of the powers he was bestowed with at birth.
"What does that make me?" I whispered, stretching my hands in front of me, fingers splayed.
Was I evil?
A quiet laugh escaped my lips, as I decided to start the walk to my room.
My steps were light against the hard ground, each stride short and fast. A turn to the right and I was seconds away from reaching the door to my bedchambers.
My hand wrapped around the door handle and pushed it open, revealing the large expanse of space. I stepped in and let the door close shut behind me. The bed was the same way I'd left it before the meeting with my soon-to-be consort, arranged and organized.
I let out a deep sigh and walked towards the armoire at the corner of my room. Lifting my hand to pull the sleeveless brown tunic, I paused, my breath stilling. A dark figure stood just in front of one of the large windows in my room, its hands clasped behind its back. Jaw clenched, I wrapped my hand around the dagger I had in between the back of my belt and brought my arm back, aiming for the space in between his chin and shoulder.
I let my arm stretch all the way, tipped the dagger to a angle and flung the weapon as hard as I could. It wooshed through the air, towards the figure and stopped.
The air around me stilled, the same moment it did. The figure had caught it in between his fingers, his back still turned to me. My mouth was still open, when I willed the shock away and readied myself, folding my hands in fist and rai—
The figure turned, revealing sharp jawlines that could cut through metal, broad shoulders that would go against any warrior, eyes, the most perfect shade of golden-brow—
It was Alpha Arias. Fucking Alpha Arias.
"Why are you here?" My voice carried across the room, levelled but strained. "Why are you in my goddamn room?"
He lifted one eyebrow at me, and then, his lips curved. The scene, so beautiful. So terrifying.
"I wanted company." He said simply, his expression drifting from blank to amused.
"You can find it elsewhere." Spite coated my every word. He brought out a side of me even Keyleth hadn't discovered yet. I was annoyed, infuriated, and curious. I was…in the mood of a conversation.
But that didn't mean I wanted to talk to him. Or was a source of entertainment he could come seek whenever he wanted company.
He hummed, placing a foot in front of the other and walking towards me. Now that he was away from the shadow—which so perfectly blended with him—I let my eyes trail against his features some more. They went down his shoulders, to the biceps on his arms, veins gracing his hands.
"Like what you see?" His voice dipped and like steel wrapped in velvet, curled through me before I could stop it.
I jerked my head up so fast I thought it might snap. He had a lopsided smile on his face, one corner tilted up more than the other.
"No." I grumbled, folding my arms against my chest.
He moved closer. The scent of citrus and wood filled up my nose, raising the fine hairs along my skin. My head tilted to meet his gaze, and my lips parted. His eyes glowed a bit as he stared down at me, moving till we were inches apart.
"Liar."
My eyes squinted, arms unfolding as I made to step back.
But I didn't.
I was held in place by him. The way he was looking at me, the way I could feel nothing except him. My tongue darted out to wet my bottom lip and I mumbled, "Stop staring at me like that."
"Like what?" Amusement danced in his eyes, together with something else. Something so intense, I could hardly keep myself upright.
I felt whatever hold he had on me slip and I cocked an eyebrow up, irritation coating whatever curiosity I was feeling. "Like that, goddamn it. Fates, if it's company you want, you can't ge—"
His lips slammed against mine.