Sup my amazing readers!

Sorry I couldn't upload on time, there was a teeny weeny problem 😅 Anyways, to make up for it, in gonna upload the next chapter today as well.

Enjoy!

35. Not like others

“I’m fine, really.” Ethan says

He’s lying on the sofa, arm wrapped in a bandage and changed out of the blood drenched clothes into loose, frilly dress shirt and trousers.

The worst of his injuries have already been treated by a witch who’s staying here on the Alpha’s Supreme’s instructions.

“For the last time,” I give him a look “How did this happen?”

Ethan drags a hand down his face “Another team tried to ambush us.”

I nod, feeling absurd that I’m not surprised. Well, what can I say? Anything is possible in this bloody game.

“We barely overpowered them,” Tyler shakes his head

“Reaching the check point must’ve been perfect timing then,” Luke eyes Ethan’s bandaged arm

Ethan huffs out a laugh, either ignoring Luke’s ruthless gaze or not caring about it “A miracle, really.”

“Not so much when you have to dress like a lunatic.” Tyler tugs at his clothes moodily

My eyes stay on Ethan, worry tugs at my heart. He’s always been so good to me, I cant help but feel my heart soften for him.

Unthinking, I gently put my hand on his arm “Does it still hurt?”

Ethan’s eyes slide to mine, he smiles his usual polite smile “You offend me. I’m an Alpha, Elise. I can handle a little pain.”

He stole my line. I smile.

“Alright then,” I stand up and fix my clothes “Time for me to explore this place. See you later?”

“I look forward to it,” Ethan nods

Something warm closes around my hand, causing tingles to spread over my skin. My head snaps to Luke as he puts my hand in the crook of his arm.

“I’m coming with you,” he says

I try to stop my heart from beating so fast. It doesn’t slow down, the darn thing!

“Okay,” I say, breathless for some reason

What the hell, Elise?! Get a grip! There must be a reason behind this, something related to the Hunt. Maybe Luke wants to see if its safe?

Luke guides me out of the sitting room and through the wide hallways, the high walls adorned with portraits and coats of arms.

“Where are we going?” I ask “And how do you even know where to go?”

“While you were busy dressing up, I took a round of this tower.” Luke says as we go down the stairs “It’s secure for the time being, at least.”

I glance at the guards standing by the doors of the tower, two bulky men with guns hanging at their belts. If they want to, they can easily take us down since we don’t have weapons.

“And where are we going?” I ask since Luke doesn’t go to that door but turns into another hallway

“To the main castle grounds,” he says “The tower is where we will be staying, but I want to analyze the whole place.”

I nod, taking in every wall and door we pass by. Through the endless maze of hallways, corridors and rooms, we reach a place I could’ve never expected.

In the inner most part of the castle, a huge garden greets us. Rows and rows of flowers scattered in a million colours and shapes.

“Oh my moon,” I hurriedly descend the steps that lead to it, almost tripping due to my dress “This is amazing!”

Everywhere I look, a new kind of beauty enters my vision. Roses standing proud and magnificent, bluebells hanging their heads as if listening to a distant melody, gardenias little and shy and my utmost favorite, sunflowers following the sun.

Okay, maybe I have a flower fetish.

In a dreamy tranquility, I go from one bed to the next then stop by the roses and take a deep, deep breath. A smile tugs at my lips.

“You really like this, don’t you?” I turn around to see Luke just a few steps behind me

“I love it!” I say with a bright grin

Luke raises an eyebrow “Never took you to be into flowers, Hazel.”

“What do you mean by that?” I give him a look “Isn’t it obvious that girls like flowers?”

“Not when it comes to you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t share a lot of similarities with other girls, Hazel.”

Luke surprises me as he reaches over to the sunflower bed and moves his hand to pluck one.

“No, don’t!” I grab his arm and pull back

“Why?” Luke asks, surprised “Don’t you like them?”

“No,” I say with a shake of my head “I love them. If you pluck it, it’s going to wither away.”

Luke’s stormy eyes stay on me, as if reading a book in another language. Then his lips tug upwards and his shoulders shake with a silent chuckle.

My eyes widen and my heart squirms in place when he leans down to press a kiss on my head, his hand slips into mine, fingers interlocked.

“Definitely not like others.” Luke says, laughter in his voice

The next moment, we’re walking again, my hand still held in his.

“We need to finish this tour before another team arrives or they call us back to our rooms.” Luke says, his voice cool and composed as ever

I shake my head and try to get rid of the butterflies in my stomach.

Goddess, this man is weird.

…

Two more teams arrive and soon night falls. Apparently, only the serious people make it so far because the other two duos don’t really bother getting to know anyone else. Dinner is served at a long table, fancy as if it took them two days to make it.

We retire to our rooms for the night, Luke’s room is just besides mine. I change out of my clothes with a bit difficulty and grab a lose night dress that, thankfully, isn’t pooling at my feet.

With a sigh of relief, I slid into bed and soon, darkness gathers me up in its arms and cradles me to sleep.

Crick, crick!

I furrow my brows and pull my blanket higher, trying to ignore the sound. It comes again, disturbing the lovely dreamless sleep of mine. What is this sound anyways?

I open my eyes and groggily sit up. my eyes swim over the room and then they stop. I stare wide eyed and terrified as the door knob rattles again.

My gun. My hand falls to my hip, where I usually have it in my pocket but I only feel the soft material of the night dress. Oh crap.

I spring up from my bed to the furthest corner of the room. The door cracks open and I do what comes to me instinctively.

I scream.

Like a banshee, like a crazy lady, like an annoying kid who didn’t get their favorite ice-cream.

The intruder stumbles back as I throw a vase towards him. It misses and crashes against the door frame. I pick up a second vase and throw it, just for good measure.

The door is thrown open then, I inch towards the pointed fire poker near the grate. In the dark of my room, I see a tall silhouette move forward and without thinking twice, I bring the poker up against his throat.

“Move one inch,” I marvel at the steadiness of my voice “And I wont hesitate before making a hole in your throat.”

“I had no idea,” A deep, hard, oddly familiar voice says “You felt so strongly about me.”

The next moment, Luke plucks the fire poker from my hand and carelessly tosses it aside.

“Why were you screaming?” he studies my face “What happened?”

“There was someone outside my door,” I say, trying to wrap my head around what just happened

“What?” A new voice says

I look at the door again, my eyes now accustomed to the dark, see Ethan and Tyler, their bed hair sticking in all directions. Behind them I catch a glance of our messenger, Mr. Stone, as he had told his name earlier.

“Someone was at the door, they opened the door and woke me from my beauty sleep” I say, my voice calmer than what I feel “And I guess I woke all of you up.”

“But Ms. Attwood, are you sure?” Mr. Stone asks

“Now that you’ve said it, maybe I just imagined the door opening,” I say, sarcasm dripping from my voice “And those vases were kind of ugly so I thought I might as well get rid of them.”

“But why would anyone come here?” Ethan mutters, eyeing the door, then he turns to me “Did you have the door locked?”

I hesitate before shaking my head.

“Seriously, Hazel?” Luke gives me a disappointed look, I shrug sheepishly

I was so tired after dinner, I simply changed and fell on the bed like a corpse. Goddess, that was a big slip on my part. If the door wasn’t so old and hard to open, I probably wouldn’t even notice.

“But there’s not a hint of another scent here,” Tyler points out

“Whoever it was, must’ve masked their scent.” Ethan says, my stomach twists into a horrible knot

No, no. Don’t overthink, who knows maybe it was… room service?

“Can we sort this out in the morning?” I say, then yawn before I continue “I really want to sleep again.”

“You’re right,” Ethan sighs “Make sure to lock the door.”

Everyone moves to go out but Luke stays in his place, looking around the room with skeptical eyes.

“Umm, Luke?” I say “Shouldn’t you get going?”  

Luke turns to look at me, his face set in stone with determination “I’m staying.”

The other three men stop in their tracks and turn to look at him, no expression crosses Luke’s face.

“But, Alpha Winters,” Mr. Stone says “You cant just—

Mr. Stone cuts himself off when Luke is towering over him the next moment, eyes narrowed a fraction.

“If you cannot grantee her safety, I will just have to do it myself.” Luke says, every word hard with determination “Is that a problem?”

“I, err,” Mr. Stone’s eyes dart around the room “Alright.”

I watch Ethan glance warily at Luke, his jaw clenched just a bit but he says nothing about it.

“Good night,” He says to me “And stay safe.”

He catches Luke’s eyes and I see a steely look on Ethan’s face that I’ve never seen before. He goes out of the room, Tyler follows behind and so does Mr. Stone.

Luke bolts the door and when he turns to me again, I cross my arms.

“You didn’t ask for my permission to stay here,” I say

“Why should I ask when I can just do as I please?”

I huff, what an arrogant idiot “I can just kick you out.”

Luke doesn’t answer me as he picks up the extra pillows and the cushions on the settee to divide the bed in two halves.

We settle down, and the silent night goes on. Every now and then, my eyes start to drop but then they unintentionally swim to the door.

Come on! I tell my brain. It’s bolted, calm down will you?

But my head refuses to let down its guard and I have to deal with being sleepy as hell but not being able to fall asleep.

“You’re still awake.”

I almost jump when the familiar, deep voice reaches me. I turn my face to Luke, he’s laying still on the other side of the bed, so still I’d almost forgotten he was there. He has his face to the ceiling, his eyes closed.

“So are you,” I say, my voice quiet in the silence around us

Luke turns his face to me, hooded blue eyes dark “I can hear your heart beat slow down to normal and then suddenly speed up again. Its not the best sound to fall asleep to.”

My eyes widen “Really?”

He nods, his gaze penetrating through me. I fiddle with the covers, words jumble in my head. Damn his too accurate senses.

“I cant sleep.” I whisper

I expect Luke to scoff and tell me to somehow regulate my heartbeat so he can sleep, give a demeaning comment about Omegas or flat out laugh at me.

But he does none of that. He just stays quiet.

Then; “Come here.”

My eyes snap towards him, he’s extended his arm in my direction, his face unreadable.

There’s a beat of silence, then my hands develop a brain of their own and push away the cushions to scoot over to him.

Luke’s arm wraps around me, holding me so my head falls on his chest, his warmth radiates to me, the steady beat of his heart a rhythm, the scent of pine trees and coffee oddly comforting.

“As long as I’m here,” Luke’s voice caresses my ears “No one can lay a single finger on you.”

My eyes fall shut, the tension in my shoulders goes away and I feel myself drifting into peaceful sleep.

I didn’t mean to say it, I didn’t even know I meant it, but the words simply tumble out of my mouth without permission.

“I know.”

…

P

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