Beatrice’s POV
The Aftermath
The instant we emerged from the rest area, the cold wind of the grand hall brushed against my skin, but my tight chest would not ease.
My heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through my veins.
The music, the conversation, the sound of clinking glasses — it all felt far away and muffled, like I was under water. What had just happened was so heavy it pushed against my ribs, and I could hardly breathe.
I had been cornered.
Hunted like prey.
And I would have fought — I was ready
Xander’s POVThe silence had been shattered only by the soft, steady sound of Beatrice’s breathing. The early morning light spilled through the curtains, throwing long shadows behind everything in the room, giving it all an almost muted glow. The air had a faint scent of her — soft, warm, unmistakably hers. It was an unknown comfort, one I had never let myself experience before.I wasn’t used to being next to someone when I woke up.Night after night for years, my sleep had been fitful, the dreams tormenting me as they gnawed at my sanity.The darkness had been my ever-present companion, reminding me of my failures, my losses, the blood on my hands. Not when the gho
Beatrice’s POVAfter Xander left, the hotel suite felt strangely still.It was strange not to have his presence.I sat up in bed, extending my limbs, my muscles still sore from the insanity of last night. I played it back in my head: the masked intruder at the party, the howling fear, the total impotence until Xander arrived.He had burst in like a force of nature, his posture imposing, his voice cutting with unmistakable authority.And then, without missing a beat, he had ordered the man’s termination.A shiver ran down my spine.It wasn&
Beatrice’s POV.Xander had stayed.He sat beside the bed, in the chair, silent, watchful, a presence commanding even in stillness. His muscular build was silhouetted in the light — relaxed but poised. He hadn’t said much after he’d brought me here, just made sure I ate before letting me sleep. And he said little to nothing, but his presence was deafening.A thick blanket of fatigue settled on me, but the gears of my brain didn’t stop spinning. A vivid reminder of the past twenty-four hours replayed in an unending cycle, flashes of terror, the crushing force of fear, the oppressive strength of my assailant. Just thinking about it made my heartbeat quicken, a phantom grip around my throat.
VBeatrice's POV.By that time, the ticking clock in the corner filled the void in between us.I was in front of the mirror, fiddling with the neckline of my dress and attempting to pay no attention to the tension in the atmosphere. The memory of last night — the kiss, the heat, the tension — had yet to leave me and was clinging to me like a second skin. I can sense him heavy across the room. Xander’s specter loomed large in my thoughts, a reminder that nothing about this matter was simple.I attempted to concentrate on the task at hand, adjusting my gown, yet my mind remained wandering back to him. The way his lips had seared against mine, the way his hands had gripped me like I was something valuable, someth
Beatrice's POV.I hardly had a moment to process my breakfast emotions before I heard a sharp knock on my door. I gripped the book in my lap before taking a slow breath and putting it down.“Miss Beatrice, the King needs you in his office immediately,” the formal but urgent voice of Xander’s assistant rang out from the other side of the door.I rolled my eyes. Of course, he did."For what?" I didn’t move yet, so I called back.“The details will be explained when you arrive.”I frowned but didn’t argue. There was no point. There was never an option of saying no to Xander.I rose from my seat and smoothed my simple sweater before running my fingers through hair, and stepped out of my room. The assistant stood in the hallway immediately outside, her posture stiff, hands crossed in front of her, her expression as unyielding as ever.“Go ahead,” I muttered, already steeling myself for what this was about.As we walked toward Xander’s office, the hallways were long and silent. I guessed wha
Beatrice's POV.The auction continued as if anything had occurred, as if Xander hadn’t just dismissed a man with one lethal glance, as if his hand hadn’t anchored around my waist like a possessive tether, as if what he’d whispered in my ear hadn’t knocked the breath from my lungs."You belong to me."And even now, the memory of his touch lingered, the heat of his breath against my skin not quite fading.It was ridiculous.Those words were not his to say. Which gave him no right to treat me like I was his possession, like he could take me whenever he wanted. And yet every logical inclination I had told me yes, I should be furious, shoving him away, but I couldn’t deny how the thrill that had raced through my spine at the moment he had.What the fuck is wrong with me?Once outside, the cool night air on my flushed skin, I knew I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.Xander walked a few steps ahead of me, his gliding effortless, every inch of him radiating the kind of power. He did n
Beatrice's POV.The auction continued as if anything had occurred, as if Xander hadn’t just dismissed a man with one lethal glance, as if his hand hadn’t anchored around my waist like a possessive tether, as if what he’d whispered in my ear hadn’t knocked the breath from my lungs."You belong to me."And even now, the memory of his touch lingered, the heat of his breath against my skin not quite fading.It was ridiculous.Those words were not his to say. Which gave him no right to treat me like I was his possession, like he could take me whenever he wanted. And yet every logical inclination I had told me yes, I should be furious, shoving him away, but I couldn’t deny how the thrill that had raced through my spine at the moment he had.What the fuck is wrong with me?Once outside, the cool night air on my flushed skin, I knew I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.Xander walked a few steps ahead of me, his gliding effortless, every inch of him radiating the kind of power. He did n
Beatrice's POV I was still trying to process yesterday's night when Xander came walking in the next morning like nothing had ever happened, looking effortlessly pulled together. As if I hadn’t spent the night in his arms, wrapped around him, the world’s stillness broken only by the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath my palm, his heat seeping into my bone.His navy-blue shirt was unbuttoned at the top, with just the merest hints of collarbone visible, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and making tanned, muscular forearms visible. He seemed the very essence of the powerful Lycan King—calm, composed, completely in control.I, meanwhile, was barely holding it together.I huddled over my coffee, hair a flop, bleary eyes from fatigue. It was a mix of a hundred different emotions, my brain circling that memory from last night, over and over and over again.The warmth. The safety.The way his scent had encircled me like armor.You’re not thinking of it, Beatrice.I took a long dri
Xander’s POVShe was turning toward the exit when, as soon as Beatrice’s eyes fell on the check, time went deliciously slow.The way her breath hitched, the slightest tremor in her fingers as they curled a bit against the table, as if she were bracing herself against the temptation to reach out and touch the check, I did not miss. A check for an obscene sum of money. A check that might alter her life completely.Good.She needed to see it. She needed to understand what it meant — what I was willing to do to have her here.Her eyes skimmed the numbers again, widening ever so slightly and then sliding back up to meet mine. Her face was hesitant, the logical voice that told her this offer was too good to be ignored battling with the uncertainty that made her take the step back.I leaned back in my chair, watching her closely. The way that her shoulders got tense, the way her throat moved with a swallow — she weighed a possible choice, she was trying to talk herself out of it, trying to
Xander’s POVI sank back in my chair, exhaling slowly as the final piece of the crisis with my family fell into place.It had been chaos these last couple of days, blinding, deafening, a settling storm that pushed the bursts of stifled resentments and history and the heavy chains of obligations weighing me down. But I had handled it.The crisis was resolved.And yet I did not feel at peace.Instead, some new disturbance had crept into my head and burrowed inside, like a parasite feasting on my anger.Robert Lee.My fingers were clenched in a fist on my desk, the shining wood creaking beneath the strain. Ryder stood across from me with his arms crossed, his face surly.“He offered her a job,” Ryder said, speaking under his breath.My jaw locked. My teeth automatically tensed as I felt a sudden sharp pain, but I barely noticed.That bastard.I should’ve seen it coming.He was always vulture overhead at the first sign of weakness, and dialysis was no exception. As soon as he perceived a
Beatrice’s POVThe closer I got to my apartment, the more I could think of Robert’s offer. I should forget about it. Assume that meeting never took place. But the promise of more — more freedom, more recognition, more security — wrapped around me like an intoxicating perfume I couldn’t wash off.Was this a trap?You deserve better.The voice of Robert slinked into my head like a venomous whisper.My mind raced then, which by the time I got to my apartment, gave me a headache from too much analysis. My fingers shook a little as I unlocked the door and walked in.I was suddenly surrounded by warmth. Sarah was snuggled up on the couch, a heavy blanket wrapped around her, a bowl of popcorn half-empty on her lap. As I walked in, she looked up, her sharp brown eyes scanning my face in one quick motion. I was not expecting her here, though I was sure she had the spare key to my apartment.Her brows furrowed. She knows something’s up.“What happened?” she said, putting the bowl to the side.I
Beatrice’s POVI should say no. I should walk away.But curiosity — dangerous, reckless curiosity — held me in place.How many times had I reminded myself that I wouldn’t consider anything that issued from Robert Lee? He was the competitor of our company. And here I was, standing in front of him, debating whether to listen.That alone told me how much my world had changed.“…One coffee,” I said after a long pause, my voice steadier than I felt. “That’s all.”“After you,” he said smoothly.I rolled my eyes but said nothing. There was no point. The moment I hesitated was the moment I had made my decision.The interior was engulfed with the smell of lush coffee, leather chairs, and polished wood as I walked in. It was an expensive café, the kind of place where businessmen met over lattes to broker million-dollar deals, where power traded hands in hushed conversations, where a guy like Robert Lee felt right at home.A waiter promptly directed us to a secluded corner booth, away from pryi
Beatrice's POV.All I knew as I walked into the office that morning is that I was going to take on Xander.He’d avoided me for the last two days. Not in the blatant, in-your-face way, but in subtle, calculated moves that left me little choice but to notice. There were no wayward glances across the office, no charged silences sparking between us. Not even a casual brushing of fingers or the well-known heat that always simmered when we occupied the same space.As if everything that was said and done in Cape Town never happened.Like it had never mattered at all.I was done being patient.Bursting toward his office, I barely noticed the curious looks from staffers as I flung the door open without knocking.Xander was at his desk, scanning files, feigning indifference. He hardly even looked up at my abrupt entrance.“Beatrice,” he acknowledged flatly.That was it. No warmth. No teasing. Just cold detachment.Something inside me snapped.I slammed the door behind me, the noise reverberati
Beatrice’s POVThe second after I opened the front door I hardly had time to breathe before being attacked by three forces of nature; Sarah told me something about aunty Silvia. I suppose she had already taken them home."Mommy!""You're finally back!""You were gone forever!"I stumbled a little but managed to keep standing as Caleb, Cooper and Charlotte all wrapped around me like overexcited puppies. I laughed, the tension of the past few days evaporating as I hugged them back.“I missed you guys too,” I said, tousling Cooper’s hair then hitting Charlotte’s forehead with a kiss. I gripped Caleb’s arm, warmth spreading in my chest. But “it’s not that long ago.”Charlotte recoiled, her lips retreating into a theatrical pout. "It has! You were gone for days, and you hardly called us!”Cooper huffed, his arms crossed. "Yeah! And do you know how boring it is without you? There was no one to adjudicate our beefs.”Caleb smirked. "Not true. I settled them my way."Charlotte shifted to loo
Beatrice’s POVThe droning of the private jet was constant, a soft, nearly soothing sound as it sliced through the clouds. But inside, the quiet was excruciating.I sat rigidly in my cushy seat, fingers gripping the arm rests, looking out the window at endless sky. My stomach knotted with anxiety, and thoughts raced through my mind.I was trapped on a maddening loop, rewinding every single moment of our time in Cape Town, replaying it in my mind, again and again, and refusing to let me sleep.How Xander had looked at me in the light of the stars, dark and unreadable but with something that made my heart beat faster. The way he’d pulled me against him in the storm, his warmth bleeding into me, rooting me to place when the outside world had felt as if it was tearing apart. How just his touch had made me shiver, stirring something deep inside that I thought I had buried a long time before.I hadn’t imagined it.I knew what I had felt.But now?Xander sat across from me now, his great bo
Beatrice's POV.That evening, the suite was strangely quiet.Perhaps because it was our final night here.Perhaps because neither of us wanted to admit that truth.I watched from my bedroom window as sunset turned the ocean into brilliant orange and crimson. It was a view to behold, like art ripped from a canvas, but the radiance of it all felt bittersweet.Reality was waiting for us.And neither Xander nor I had the courage to mention it.There was a smell of salt and blooming jasmine, a combination of the sea and the villa’s gardens. Usually the waves crashing against the shore would be a soothing comfort, their rhythmic lull welcoming, but tonight they only enhanced the quiet tension that still wrapped around me.I had become accustomed to the quiet here. The weird, delicate bubble we’d created around ourselves. But then tomorrow, that bubble would burst.Would all of us, everything between us, disappear with it?I was startled by a soft knock on my door.My heart slammed in my ch
Beatrice's POVIt was unlike all the other mornings I had spent in this suite. There was nothing weighing heavily on me; there was no confusion fogging my mind.For once, the past wasn’t disturbing my thoughts.Instead, I could only think of him.Yesterday’s words from Xander echoed in my head."I want you.""But I’m scared."His confession had shaken me to my core. I had poisoned my own mind until I could not see clearly enough to understand that what had sprung up between us was not temporary, nor was it something that could be manufactured by circumstance.But now?I wasn’t so sure anymore.I elongated myself, muscles achy from the tightness of the last few days. Sunlight streamed through the high glass windows, creating golden diagrams on the silk sheets. The storm was over and there was a cool morning wind coming in through the open balcony doors.I breathed out, my fingers sliding across the space beside me. It was empty — though the fading warmth told me he had been there.Had