The Alpha's pretend mate

chapter 16

KHYRIX

“Goddess, Avelora!” I exclaimed, the sound of my own voice startled me as I finally fumbled for and found the light switch.

A massive sigh of relief washed over her face the second she realized it was me and not some monster coming out of the shadows. “You shouldn’t scare me like that,” she groaned. Her voice was shaky, but it still carried that stubbornness. My eyes trailed down from her face to her hand.

She had a nervous habit, one I had been tracking for a while now. Every time she was scared, uncomfortable, or just plain uneasy, she pinched her own thigh.

And there it was, she was doing it right now, her fingers digging into the fabric of the hoodie.

“Can you stop that?” I asked. She stopped briefly, her hand freezing as she looked up at me. “Stop what? I wasn't really doing anything.” It was funny how wide her eyes could get in situations like this.

“Nothing,” I replied. I looked away quickly, wanting to take any distraction away from her face before I stared for too long.

It was almost a full moon, and that meant the beast inside me was clawing at me. Around this time of the month, I become painfully aware of my surroundings. Every sound is louder, every scent is sharper, and I’m barely able to keep my wolf in check.

Torin was wild right now, dangerous, asserting his dominance, and demanding to be let out.

And she was my entire surrounding right now. The whole room was engulfed in her scent.

Every time I came back to the room, I found her sitting in front of the frame on the wall, checking and assessing the picture like she had some deep, secret connection with it. It made my wolf stir in a way I didn't like.

“Why did you put off the lights?” she asked. Her voice was steadier this time, her courage coming back now that the room wasn't pitch black. Her hair was everywhere. The hoodie she had on, my hoodie, had fallen down one shoulder, exposing her skin. The fabric was so loose on her that it stopped right on her thigh.

I couldn't help but wonder what she had on underneath.

I had gone through the trouble of picking out new clothes and expensive underwear online earlier. I’d told one of the staff members to get them and place them in her bag so she’d have something of her own. I wondered why she was still wearing my hoodie.

Not that I was complaining, seeing her in my clothes did something to my ego, but I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible.

“I sleep with the lights off,” I said, trying to sound normal. She rolled her eyes immediately.

“Nope, absolutely not. We should not be doing that,” she argued. She always asserted her point even when she was clearly scared of what my reaction was going to be.

“Are you a psychopath, sweetheart?” I teased. Her eyes shot up to mine, her pupils dilating at the nickname. I knew she was scrambling for answers in her head.

“What?” she quizzed. She rolled her eyes again before turning her back on me and going back to lay on the makeshift bed she’d made on the floor.

It bothered me more than I wanted to admit. I wanted her to sleep on the bed. I had specifically ordered the staff to change the bedsheets to the exact same color that was on the bed in her old dorm.

I thought it would make her feel more comfortable, more at home.

Yet here she was, back to sleeping on the hard floor.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

“Why are you using nicknames on me?”

I knew it, that definitely got under her skin. She didn't like the familiarity.

“We are not that close,” she concluded, pulling her blanket up.

“Ouch, Avelora. I would say we are plenty close.” I took a slow step closer to her. She didn't move, she just stood her ground, arms folded over her chest like she actually thought she could take me on if I wanted to fight.

“You're sleeping in my hoodie. In my room.” She glanced down at herself, suddenly looking very self-conscious.

“How much closer do we need to get?”

She didn't reply to that. I think I finally broke her brain, or maybe she just doesn't work well after being woken up from a deep sleep.

Right then, her stomach gave a loud, long grumble.

She looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine in what I would call a desperate attempt to be cute. She was failing miserably. Instead, she looked like I was about to rip her guts out.

“Don't do that again,” I muttered, and she groaned immediately, her face turning a soft shade of red.

“I was stuck here taking care of you, after that stupid initiation, so I couldn't get anything to eat,” she explained. She was acting as if those events had happened one after the other.

“By the way, are you okay now?” she asked. The shift in her voice was sudden. Genuine concern flashed in her features as she studied my face.

“Yes. I am,” I simply answered. I didn't want to go into the details of my collapse.

“If you don't mind me asking...” She studied me, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Avelora, I mind you asking. I don't trust you enough to want to tell you my secrets.”

She bit her lips and backed down immediately.

The knock on the door broke the awkwardness. The timing was perfect. The staff member I had asked for food was here already.

“Your food is here,” I said, trying to brighten the mood. Like clockwork, her face lit up with a massive smile as she came over to collect the heavy tray from my hand.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice much lighter. “With what I have gone through today, I promise I deserve more than this.” She was glazing herself now.

For a while, she ate in silence. I moved around the room, getting ready to sleep while I tried to find another way to trick her onto the bed. I couldn't stand the thought of her on that floor while I was right here.

I eventually sat on the bed, my head resting against the headboard as I contemplated telling her the truth. I knew Avelora wasn't the type of person who would try to take advantage of knowing something. She had plenty of opportunities.

“Avelora.”

“Hmm,” she answered. She was barely paying any attention to me. She was so focused on devouring the food that it seemed like every other sound in the room was dead to her.

“I can't control my wolf.”

She dropped the spoon she had been holding. It hit the plate with a loud clank. She came closer to me, her eyes slowly studying my face as if to see if I was telling a lie.

It would be a great shock to the council too, to know the only werewolf alpha to exist in over a century was on the verge of running rampage.

“Since when?” she asked carefully.

“Since I presented as an Alpha,” I admitted. “So what happened yesterday was just the recurring theme of Torin crippling me when I went against his wish.” Her eyes widened in shock. “He's stronger now, since it is almost a full moon. He doesn't like it when I try to stay in control.”

“Can I hug you?” she asked. She was treading so carefully.

“We still have five days to go on that promise you made,” I joked. She slapped my chest as she giggled.

“Hugs are comforting, Alpha.” She said before wrapping her hands around me.

She thought she was helping. She thought she was being sweet. But it didn't comfort me at all. The second her body touched mine, every cell in my body woke up. Even Torin, who I had successfully gotten to sleep for a little while, stirred awake with a growl.

Pain emerged from my finger tip as my claws threatened to push out. My pupils were changing colors, the gold taking over. I struggled with everything I had to keep myself in check while she was blissfully unaware of what she was doing to me. The heat from her body felt like it was burning me.

The control problem wasn't this bad before. It had always been a fight, but it became a thousand times worse the moment I noticed her.

“You know, I used to think having no wolf was worse. But I don't think it is that bad. I can't imagine having a wolf strong enough to harm me.”

That was her attempt at comfort? I almost laughed. She started to pull away.

I couldn't have her see me like this. I pulled her back into me, holding her tight so she couldn't see my eyes. It was too early for her to be afraid of sleeping in the same room as me. If she saw my face now, she would run and never come back.

'Take her. She is all yours,' Torin growled in my ear, his voice loud and demanding.

I pulled away in total shock, my mind slowly slipping into that unknown state where I wake up with no memories.