Chp 58
2040 Words
Demyan POV
The heavy cloak draped over my shoulders, its black fabric swallowing the last rays of evening light that filtered through the window. I adjusted the clasp with a practiced hand, but my fingers faltered as a faint scent lingered in the air, sweet, soft, and hauntingly familiar.
I turned slightly, eyes narrowing at the space near the hearth where the maid had stood just moments ago, placing the tray of water and fruit. She had bowed quickly and left without a word. But something… something in the way she moved, the way the air shifted around her…
Pearl.
My heart thudded once loud and sharp.
No. I clenched my jaw and shook the thought away. I was imagining things. Again.
I’d been thinking too much of her. Wanting her too much. Every time I closed my eyes, it was her face I saw. Her voice. Her scent. Her lips parted in surprise. The stubborn fire in her eyes.
Of course I would mistake a stranger for her. It was the curse of longing.
I exhaled, gripping the edge of the dresser tightly.
“If I stay there… near her… much longer…”
I didn’t finish the thought. I couldn’t.
My heat was building again. Slowly. Painfully. And it was only a matter of time before it broke through my restraint. At the Imperial Scholar Academy, I kept myself busy. Kept myself distant. But each day around her tested me her nearness, her laughter, her scent… It ignited something primal inside me.
And worse I wasn’t sure I could trust myself anymore.
I was an Alpha.
And she… was everything I ever wanted.
But I wouldn’t—couldn’t—take her that way.
Not without her choosing me.
Not if I ever wanted to be the man worthy of her love.
Even if the animal inside me didn’t care.
I turned back toward the mirror, my expression hardening, masking the hunger under a cold, disciplined front. I pulled up the hood of the cloak and fastened the last strap across my chest.
“I’ll lock myself away,” I muttered, voice like gravel. “Just for a few days. Until this passes.”
Until I could face her without the madness clouding my thoughts.
Until I could look at her without imagining how her skin would feel under my touch.
And until I could speak her name without it burning on my tongue.
I moved toward the chamber doors, already feeling the pull in my veins, distant thunder rumbling under my skin.
This heat would break me… but it wouldn’t break us. Not unless I let it. And I wouldn’t. No matter how much it hurts.
Just as I was about to leave my chamber, something caught my eye, a glint of red in the dying sunlight.
The wine.
My favorite bottle, aged and sharp, sitting uncorked beside a crystal glass that had already been poured. I didn’t remember asking for it, but the scent drifted toward me, familiar, rich, intoxicating.
My throat was dry, the heat already crawling beneath my skin. I figured a sip would calm the nerves, dull the edge.
Without thinking twice, I walked over, lifted the glass, and drained it in one long pull.
The burn was smooth, almost too smooth.
I set the glass down with a soft clink and pulled the cloak tighter around my shoulders. No time to linger.
The corridor outside was dim and silent. I moved quickly steps echoing lightly across the polished floors. The air around the Moon Mansion had grown heavier since my return. Shadows clung to corners like whispers no one dared speak aloud.
As I made my way to the far side of the estate, toward the secluded chamber where I always locked myself during heat, something shifted.
It started in my fingertips an odd warmth curling up my arms, sinking into my muscles like molten smoke.
My breath hitched.
What was that?
I blinked, slowing just slightly. My vision swayed, the hallway lights stretching unnaturally, like the walls were bending in on themselves.
No…
I stumbled a step but caught myself with a curse, fingers gripping the wall to steady my balance.
This isn't normal.
The heat… it wasn’t like this before. It never came this fast, this strong.
My heart thundered in my chest, thudding against my ribs with every step. The burn was no longer a slow ache it was a wildfire licking up my spine, crashing through my veins.
I ground my teeth.
Was it because of the wine?
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
But I had to reach the chamber. If I didn’t—
A low growl vibrated in my throat as another wave of burning desire tore through me, nearly bringing me to my knees.
I forced my legs to move faster, now nearly running through the winding stone passage. My vision blurred at the edges. I didn’t have time to think. I just had to get there. Get there before I lose control. Before it was too late.
The door to the secluded chamber loomed ahead like salvation.
With trembling hands, I shoved it open and stepped inside. The scent of aged wood and cool stone hit me instantly. Familiar. Safe. I slammed the door shut behind me and turned the heavy iron lock, the click echoing like a warning rather than comfort.
But the second I leaned against the door, I knew something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
My knees buckled slightly as another wave of heat surged through me hotter, more intense than anything I'd experienced before. My body wasn’t just reacting to the usual pull of the moon it felt like I was being set on fire from the inside out.
I gasped, dragging in ragged breaths.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and trickled down my neck. My black cloak clung to my skin like a second layer of heat. I tore it off and tossed it aside, stumbling toward the bed in the center of the room.
My hands gripped the edge of the mattress, fingers digging into the sheets as I clenched my jaw. Every inch of my body was burning my skin, my throat, my chest. I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears.
What the hell is happening to me?
I tried to steady my breathing, to focus, to think. But my mind was clouded, taken over by instinct. My control, the one thing I prided myself on was slipping with every heartbeat.
And worst of all… her scent.
I could smell her.
Pearl.
I didn’t even know if it was real or just my mind conjuring her up in desperation, but her scent, wild rain and warm honey was thick in my nose, making my already-overheated body throb with hunger.
“No,” I whispered, dragging my nails against the wood.
I couldn't lose control. Not like this. Not when I had locked myself away for this exact reason.
But every nerve in my body screamed. My muscles twitched. My lips parted, and I let out a hoarse, involuntary growl as I collapsed onto the floor, my back hitting the cold stone. I arched, panting. My body was trembling with suppressed need, my claws halfway unsheathed from the tips of my fingers. This wasn’t just the heat. Someone drugged me. And I had no idea if I would survive the night… not without her.
This isn’t normal.
My claws scraped the stone floor as I staggered upright, the burn inside my chest now blazing through my limbs like wildfire. My vision pulsed black spots flaring at the edges. My breathing was ragged, guttural, as if my wolf wanted to tear free from beneath my skin.
That’s when it clicked.
The wine.
The glass I drank without hesitation before leaving my chambers. My favorite vintage, conveniently placed on the table waiting for me.
My eyes narrowed, fury cutting through the haze.
I’ve been drugged.
I clenched my fists so tightly my claws bit into my palms. The heat... it wasn’t just the usual moon-born drive it was accelerated, twisted. Enhanced. Someone had poisoned my body with aphrodisiacs, counting on my heat to make it lethal.
Someone wanted me weak. Vulnerable. Desperate.
A betrayer.
My lips pulled back in a silent snarl. There was a traitor inside the mansion. Someone who knew exactly when I would retreat here. Someone who knew how my heat worked. Who wanted me—an Alpha—to break. To lose control.
Cowards.
I turned, stumbling toward the heavy oak door, heart hammering against my ribs. I gripped the handle, twisting hard.
Nothing.
I tried again, jamming my shoulder into the door.
Still nothing.
My hand flew to the lock.
Locked.
From outside.
My breath hitched. I looked at the frame, solid iron fittings, and reinforced wood. This door was designed to keep out anyone… or trap someone in.
I was trapped.
Panic sparked, raw and animalistic.
If I didn’t cool my body, the aphrodisiac would consume me. I needed cold water. Ice. A lake. Anything. But there was nothing in this room. Just me—and the fire boiling under my skin.
The truth sank in like a weight in my chest.
I have two choices.
Either I find a female to satisfy the hunger gnawing at my soul or I lose my mind, and maybe my life. But there was only one female my wolf craved, only one scent that could ease this inferno.
Pearl.
My breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. I gritted my teeth, hands trembling as I slid to the ground, back to the cold wall, trying to fight against my own nature.
“I won’t touch anyone else,” I hissed under my breath. “I won’t.”
Not unless it’s her. Not unless she says yes.
But the longer I waited, the more unbearable it became. My wolf clawed at my mind, begging, howling, demanding release. And still… that damned door stayed shut.
The room spun. My hands trembled as I pressed my back against the cold wall, sliding down until I was crouched in the corner, breathing like a beast starved for air. My cloak clung to me, damp with sweat, as the scent of heat and desperation thickened around me.
A low moan escaped my throat deep, guttural, unwilling. It wasn’t a sound I could silence. My jaw clenched so tightly it ached, but the pain was nothing compared to the inferno raging inside me.
I bent forward, resting my forehead against the wall, fists pressed against the stone. My shoulders trembled, and my breath hitched again, then again. I felt my back arch as another wave of unbearable heat rolled through me, tightening every muscle, making my wolf surge forward.
I cursed the gods, I cursed him.
Whoever that man was... the betrayer... the one who slipped the drug into my drink, he’d sealed his fate. If I survived this, I’d find him. Rip him apart.
But right now, I was locked away, like a caged beast, driven mad with a need I refused to satisfy with anyone but her.
Pearl.
Her name alone made the ache worse. Her voice, her eyes, the way she used to sneak glances at me when she thought I wouldn’t notice. Every memory of her intensified the hunger clawing through me.
And yet, all I could do was clench my jaw and fight it. Because I wouldn’t betray her. Not even like this.
But I was weakening.
My breaths became shorter, sharper. My skin burned. My heartbeat roared in my ears.
There was no escape.
I tilted my head back, letting it hit the wall with a soft thud. I stared up at the ceiling, vision blurring, throat dry.
I was going to die here. A prisoner of my own instincts, because I refused to give in.
And in that moment, only one regret bled through the haze.
Pearl…
“I’m sorry,” I whispered aloud, voice hoarse, cracking. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
My body trembled violently. I let my eyes fall shut, as a single thought burned brighter than the fire in my veins—
I just wanted… one more moment with you.
- Writer
