CHAPTER 10 : The Alpha’s Bedroom
1781 Words
POV: Cassian Volkov
Matteo De Luca arrived smelling like betrayal. Cassian recognized it before the fortress gates even opened.
Fear, sweat, political desperation wrapped beneath expensive cologne. The scent invaded the snowy courtyard while armed Volkov wolves surrounded the arriving convoy with silver rifles already raised.
Nobody trusted De Luca men inside Volkov territory. Especially tonight, especially after Kozlov’s attacks.
Cassian descended the fortress staircase slowly beside Alessia while snow spiraled violently around them beneath the black night sky.
His wolf remained dangerously close to the surface. Still restless from the corridor, still furious from touching her, still obsessed.
Mate.
The possessive instinct struck again the second freezing wind carried Alessia’s scent toward him.
Mine.
Cassian ignored it brutally.
Ahead, Matteo stepped out of the armored vehicle wearing a charcoal coat dusted with snow. Powerful, elegant and visibly shaken despite trying to hide it.
Interesting.
Alessia stiffened beside Cassian instantly. Not fear, history.Complicated history.
Matteo noticed too.
His gaze softened briefly toward his daughter before hardening again when it landed on Cassian.
The two men stared at each other across the courtyard like kings deciding whether diplomacy was still worth the effort.
Volkov wolves tightened their grip on weapons, one wrong word could start a m******e.
Matteo finally spoke first.
“We need to talk.”
Cassian’s expression remained carved from stone.
“You crossed my borders without permission.”
“I crossed them because Kozlov attacked one of my ports three hours ago.”
That got everyone’s attention.
Even Nikolai’s posture shifted, Interesting.
Matteo looked toward Alessia briefly.
“He’s escalating faster than expected.”
Cassian stepped slightly closer to her unconsciously.Protective instinct, territorial instinct. Same thing now.
Matteo noticed immediately, so did Alessia.
And judging by the slight tightening in her shoulders,she felt the possessiveness too.
Cassian hated that his body reacted around her without permission now.
The curse was accelerating. Fast.
“What do you want?” Cassian asked coldly.
Matteo’s jaw flexed once.
“A temporary truce.”
Nikolai laughed harshly behind them.
“Between families already tied by marriage?”
Matteo ignored him.
His attention stayed locked on Cassian.
“Kozlov’s targeting both empires now.”
“No,” Cassian corrected softly. “He’s targeting mine.”
The implication settled heavily between them because everyone understood the truth now. Alessia was the center of this war somehow and nobody knew why.
Matteo looked toward his daughter again, something unreadable flashed briefly across his face. Guilt maybe or calculation.
Cassian didn’t trust either.
“You should never have brought her here,” Matteo said quietly.
Wrong thing to say, very wrong.
Cassian’s wolf surfaced instantly. Dominance slammed across the courtyard hard enough that several guards lowered their heads automatically.
Gold flashed sharply beneath his eyes.
“She’s exactly where she belongs.”
Silence.
Alessia looked toward him sharply. Matteo noticed too and suddenly the older man looked genuinely uneasy because Cassian didn’t sound political anymore.
He sounded possessive, dangerously possessive.
Matteo lowered his voice.
“You’re becoming attached.”
Cassian smiled slowly, cold, predatory.
“You should worry about your own empire, De Luca.”
The warning beneath the words felt razor-sharp.
Matteo studied him for several long seconds.
Then finally nodded once.
“You’ll receive shipment routes by morning.”
Business again. Mafia politics disguised as war strategy.
Matteo stepped back toward his vehicle before pausing one final time.
“Kozlov’s looking for something inside your bloodline,” he said quietly.
Cassian’s expression darkened instantly.
“What does that mean?”
Matteo hesitated.
Tiny mistake, enough for Cassian to notice.
“You already know more than you’re saying.”
Matteo’s eyes flicked briefly toward Alessia.
Then away.
“There are older things moving behind this war now.”
Cryptic bullshit.
Cassian hated cryptic bullshit. But before he could press further, Matteo entered the vehicle again.
The convoy disappeared through the snowstorm minutes later beneath heavy escort. Silence settled across the fortress courtyard afterward.
Then Alessia spoke quietly beside him.
“You don’t trust him.”
Cassian looked toward the gates.
“No.”
“Because he’s my father?”
“Because he’s alive.”
That earned the faintest reaction from her. Almost amusement. Interesting.
Even after everything tonight, she still reacted to him like a man instead of a monster sometimes.
Cassian needed that to stop immediately because every moment she humanized him, his wolf attached harder and attachment killed Volkov heirs.
Nikolai approached carefully.
“The council wants immediate retaliation.”
“They’ll wait.”
Nikolai frowned slightly.
“Cassian”
“They’ll wait,” he repeated colder.
Nikolai lowered his head instantly.
Submission. Then his gaze shifted briefly toward Alessia understanding flickered across his face too.
Damn him.
Everyone was beginning to notice now.
Cassian turned sharply toward the fortress entrance.
“Come with me.”
Alessia crossed her arms.
“Another order?”
“Yes.”
To his surprise, she followed anyway. The fortress corridors were quieter now but tension still crawled through the walls.
Guards doubled across every hallway, weapons loaded, emergency lights dimmed low against black marble, war preparations had officially begun.
Cassian could feel Alessia watching him while they walked. Studying, always studying him. That alone made her dangerous.
Most people saw fear when they looked at the Black Alpha.
Alessia kept searching for humanity beneath it, his wolf reacted violently every single time.
Mine.
Cassian shoved the instinct down brutally. They stopped outside massive black double doors at the highest level of the fortress.
Alessia frowned slightly.
“This isn’t my room.”
“No.”
Cassian pushed the doors open.
The Alpha’s bedroom looked more like a private kingdom.Dark stone walls, massive windows overlooking snow-covered mountains, weapons displayed beside shelves of ancient books, black silk sheets stretched across an enormous bed centered beneath dim amber lighting. Luxury mixed with violence. Just like him.
Alessia stopped near the doorway carefully.
“You brought me to your bedroom?”
Cassian removed his coat slowly, snow melted across powerful shoulders scarred by years of violence and wolf fights.
“For appearances.”
The lie sounded weak even to him.
Alessia noticed immediately.
“Appearances.”
“Yes.”
He loosened the cuffs of his black shirt methodically.
“The fortress already senses weakness after tonight.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“And sleeping beside your wife fixes that?”
“It confirms stability.”
Mostly true, partially true, not the full truth. The full truth was worse.
His wolf refused to let her sleep elsewhere tonight after Kozlov threatened her again. Territorial instinct demanded proximity, Protection, claim.
Cassian hated every second of it.
Alessia stepped further inside cautiously.
“You think someone inside the fortress would attack me?”
“I know they would.”
That silenced her briefly.
Cassian watched emotions flicker across her face.
Fear, calculation, exhaustion. Then finally, understanding because this empire truly was dangerous now. Not politically dangerous, lethally dangerous.
Cassian moved toward the bar near the fireplace pouring whiskey into crystal glasses.
His hands finally looked human again. The shift had receded slightly but not fully, the wolf still prowled beneath skin restlessly. Especially around her scent, especially inside enclosed spaces.
Alessia wandered slowly around the room, studying everything. She stopped near an old framed photograph sitting beside the fireplace, a woman with dark silver eyes smiled softly beside a younger version of Viktor Volkov.
Cassian’s mother.
His chest tightened instantly.
Alessia noticed.
“Your mother?”
Cassian swallowed once.
“Yes.”
“She looks kind.”
Wrong word, dangerous word because kindness had gotten his mother killed.
Cassian’s expression hardened immediately.
“She was weak.”
Alessia looked toward him sharply.
“No,” she said quietly. “She loved someone dangerous.”
The words hit too hard.
Cassian looked away instantly.
His wolf reacted violently beneath skin, recognition, possession, fear because Alessia kept understanding things she shouldn’t. And every time she did, he wanted closer.
Cassian drained half the whiskey in one swallow.
“You should sleep.”
“Do you always avoid conversations that make you uncomfortable?”
His eyes snapped toward her. Bold, still unbelievably bold.
Alessia held his gaze steadily near the fireplace.
Her dark hair spilled over bare shoulders now beneath the low amber lights. Beautiful.
The realization struck harder than expected.
Cassian felt his control tighten painfully.
“Careful.”
“There’s that word again.”
She stepped closer slowly.
“You warn me constantly, but you still keep pulling me closer.”
Silence.
The tension between them thickened instantly.
Cassian set the whiskey glass down carefully before it shattered in his hand.
“You think this is attraction,” he said softly.
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
Lie, dangerous lie.
His wolf nearly tore through him hearing it.
Cassian moved toward her slowly, predatory, measured.
Alessia’s breathing changed immediately.
He noticed of course he noticed. Everything about her affected him now.
“You’re reacting to power,” he continued quietly. “To fear. Survival instincts confuse those things sometimes.”
Alessia tilted her chin upward.
“And what are you reacting to?”
Wrong question, very wrong question.
Cassian stopped inches away from her, close enough to smell jasmine beneath her skin again, close enough to hear her pulse quicken.
Mine.
The possessive instinct surged brutally, his jaw tightened hard enough to ache.
“You don’t want the answer to that.”
Alessia’s eyes flickered briefly toward his mouth before returning upward. Tiny movement, massive effect.
Cassian’s control nearly snapped. The wolf pushed forward violently beneath skin, claws extended slightly again.
Alessia noticed instantly.
Her breath caught, fear returned. Good. Fear created distance, distance created safety.
Cassian stepped backward immediately.
“Sleep, Alessia.”
This time, she obeyed quietly. Maybe because exhaustion finally won, maybe because she saw the monster surfacing again.
Cassian waited until she disappeared into the bathroom before gripping the edge of the desk hard enough to splinter wood.
His breathing roughened.
The curse was escalating too fast, obsessive territorial instincts, violent possessiveness, physical reaction to scent and touch.
Exactly like his father, exactly. Hours later, the fortress finally quieted, snow continued falling beyond the massive windows while moonlight spilled across black silk sheets.
Cassian lay awake beside Alessia in absolute darkness. Not touching, not sleeping, watching. His wolf refused rest while she remained vulnerable beside him.
Pathetic, dangerous, necessary.
Alessia shifted softly in sleep beside him. Closer unconsciously. The scent of her invaded every instinct he possessed immediately.
Mine.
Cassian closed his eyes briefly.
Control. He needed control but sometime near dawn, exhaustion finally dragged him under and when Alessia woke hours later, strong claws were wrapped possessively around her waist.
- Writer
