Chapter - 6

"You either come with me silently, or I drag you out of here kicking and screaming with no one to help you. Take your pick," Alpha Evan muttered low, so only I could hear, still holding my arms in a vice like grip. 

I looked up at him, knowing he was right. No one would come and help me even if I screamed bloody murder while he took me away from here. There was no point trying to run when I had no where safe to run to. This was my fate. And I had to accept it. 

"I'll go with you quietly." My voice didn't sound like my own. It sounded broken, defeated. That was what this man had reduced me to in the span of a few minutes- a defeated mess. And I hated him for it. 

I let him say his goodbyes to Alpha Adrian before he dragged me behind him, much like he had done moments ago, probably taking me to one of the many guest rooms he was staying at. I kept my gaze down as I walked behind him, not bothering to look up. 

His hand was holding mine. I still felt the shock of having his skin in direct contact with mine. It still made me feel safe. He still made me feel safe. 

And I hated myself for still feeling this way around him. I shouldn't. Not after all that he had just done. 

We came to a halt and I assumed we had come to his room when the sound of a door opening met my ears. 

Alpha Evan slipped his hand out of mine, and then I felt it's imprint on the small of my back as he placed it there, giving a light push. 

"Come on in," he murmured, his voice unusually soft, just like it had been when we'd been talking at the clearing earlier. 

For some reason, it filled me with anger. Who did he think he was? Treating me like shit one moment and then acting so nice the next? 

"Why are you trying to be so nice now, huh? Specially when you accused me to of being a bloody spy moments ago?" I burst out, whipping my head up to look him in the eye, my gaze furious. 

Alpha Evan smirked at me, his expression mischevious, almost as if he found my anger amusing. "Get in and maybe I'll tell you."

"You say it like I have an option," I muttered snidely, more to myself than him before walking into the room. 

It was a normal guest room, one I'd spent way too many days cleaning. Right from the hardwood floor, the large king sized bed in the middle to the fireplace and sofa set off to the side, I'd cleaned it all. 

I turned around as Alpha Evan casually closed the door behind him, waiting for an answer. 

But he completely ignored me, going into the walk in closet instead and coming out moments later with what looked like a fresh pair of clothes folded into a neat pile in his hands. 

He held them out to me before nodding his head towards the en suite bathroom. "Go shower and change."

My brows raised in response. What was he playing at here? Didn't he bring me here to give some sort of punishment to me? This definitely was far from it. And I would know, I'd been punished plenty over the years. 

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask. 

"So you can be more comfortable. Besides, I've heard that one sleeps well after a long warm bath." 

I couldn't help but scoff at his antics. "You know that's not what I'm asking."

He titled his head at me innocently, as if he was utterly confused and clueless as to what I was getting at, but with the way his eyes crinkled in amusement, I knew he was anything but innocent. "Then what are you asking?" He asked. And he looked cute while doing so. Very cute. 

I shook my head. No. Just because he looked cute did not mean he could get away with not answering me. "Why are you acting all sweet now? Didn't you bring me here to punish me?" 

Suddenly, his expression changed, the temperature in the room rising a few degrees as he stared me down. Ever so slowly, he stepped towards me, his moss green eyes darkening the more he looked at me. Almost involuntarily, I gulped, my throat feeling dry as the air between us charged with something hot and sweltering, making something warm flutter low in my belly. 

When he was but a hair's breath away from me, his heady scent invading my senses, he bent a little, so his mouth was right next to my ear when he spoke, "Trust me, my little kitten, you don't want me to punish you. Because when I do, the last thing you would want from me would be for me to stop. Now, be a good girl and go shower, yes?" he murmured, his voice huskier than ever, sending chills down my spine and making my knees weaken. 

All thoughts fled me as the flutter in my belly increased to a dull ache, making me squeeze my legs together to relieve the tension building up down there. I did not waste another second as I nodded hurriedly before practically snatching the clothes from his hands and walking towards the bathroom on shaky legs. 

Once inside, I locked the door, noticing how my fingers shook, and slumped against it. 

Goddess, what was that?

Was that what being sexually turned on felt like? 

And how could his voice and a look alone make me feel like every part of me was on fire? 

I should be angry at him for what he'd done. Instead, I was feeling all sorts of flustered. I looked at the mirror off to the side, noticing my flushed cheeks. I walked closer, taking in my appearance. 

The girl staring back at me looked like me, but not entirely. My cheeks were a dark shade of pink and my pale blue eyes seemed brighter, almost as if someone had breathed life into them. 

I shook my head, letting my gaze wander around the bathroom, taking in the large built in bathtub on the opposite wall. I nearly jumped with joy as I looked at it, all others thoughts fleeing my mind at the sight of the monstrosity. I'd always been the one cleaning it, but today, for once I could actually bathe in it. 

Grinning to myself, I placed my clothes on a nearby rack, quickly running a warm bath for myself, adding a scented bath bomb which I found on the shelves to the water before quickly shedding my clothes. 

I soaked in the tub for a good few minutes, revelling in the feel of the warm water surrounding me before washing myself up and getting out. I'd always wanted to try a bath and I couldn't help but grin like a loon as I towel dried myself and wore the too large t-shirt and sweatpants Alpha Evan had given me to change into. I had to roll the sweatpants a few times and pull the drawstrings a little too tight to keep them from falling off but I was too happy with my bath to care. 

Alpha Evan was sitting on the sofa near  the fireplace with a book in hand when I entered the room. 

"Took you long enough," he said, raising a brow at me. But his teasing tone told me he was only messing with me.  

"I got a little carried away after seeing the bathtub," I admitted a little sheepishly as he stood up. 

He nodded before disappearing into his walk in closet and coming out moments later with a change of clothes for himself and going to the bathroom. 

I sighed a little to myself as the bathroom door closed behind him, taking a seat at one of the sofas much like he had before me. 

I picked up the book he had been reading, a well worn hardcover. It was War and Peace. I'd spent night reading it over and over. By now, I had nearly memorised it, along with a few other classics my nanny had slipped to me surreptitiously. 

I flipped to the first page of the book, gasping. It was a first edition! These were hard to come by, specially for someone like me. Eagerly, I flipped to the page he had bookmarked. 

"A wound in the soul, coming from the rending of the spiritual body, strange as it may seem, gradually closes like a physical wound. And once a deep wound heals over and the edges seem to have knit, a wound in the soul, like a physical wound, can be healed only by the force of life pushing up from inside." I read out loud, running my fingers over the words as I did so. 

"You like Tolstoy?" Alpha Evan's voice from behind startled me, and I jumped in my seat a little, the book dropping to my lap.  

"I do," I answered, nodding as I stood up and placed the book back on the table with the bookmark in place. "I love reading classics. Oh, and this is a first edition! How did you get your hands on..." Words died down in my throat as I turned around to look at him, freshly showered and in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He looked hot with beads of water still sticking to his skin, making it glisten. 

He rubbed a towel through his hair, the strands standing up every which way, but somehow, that made him seem even hotter. "I have my ways," he said, answering my incomplete question and successfully breaking me from my trance. But the smirk on his face told me he'd noticed my flustered state and was enjoying it, too. 

"I have a lot of first editions back at my place. I'll show you when I take you there," he told me, sauntering further into the room until he was a foot away from me. 

I frowned as his words registered. What did he mean take me there? What was this man playing at?