CHAPTER 11 : Claws at Dawn
1744 Words
POV: Alessia De Luca
Something sharp pressed against her stomach. Alessia woke instantly. Not fully awake, not fully breathing either. Cold dawn light spilled faintly across black silk sheets while snowstorms battered the fortress windows beyond the enormous bedroom.
For one confused second, she didn’t understand why her body refused to move.
Then she looked down. Claws, Black claws wrapped around her waist possessively. Her pulse slammed violently against her ribs.
Cassian.
God.
The Black Alpha slept behind her with one heavy arm locked around her like pure instinct had claimed her during the night. His body heat surrounded her completely. Dangerous, overwhelming.
And those claws, not fully human anymore, Not fully wolf either, half-shifted.
The realization sent fear crawling sharply down her spine. Very carefully, Alessia turned her head slightly.
Cassian’s face remained buried partly against the pillow behind her.
Asleep but even unconscious, he looked dangerous. Dark hair falling across his forehead, jaw roughened with exhaustion. Gold still faintly glowing beneath closed eyelids like the wolf never fully disappeared anymore.
Another thing caught her attention immediately afterward.
The headboard.Deep claw marks shredded through black wood directly behind them.Fresh, massive like he’d lost control during the night.
Alessia’s stomach tightened.
He did this in his sleep.
What would happen if he stopped controlling it while awake?
The thought should have terrified her completely. Instead, another realization unsettled her more. Despite the claws, despite the monster beneath his skin, Cassian’s hold around her wasn’t violent.
It was protective, possessive, like his instincts curled around her automatically.
Mine.
The word flashed suddenly through her memory from the previous night.
Not spoken aloud, felt.
A soft sound escaped her accidentally as she shifted slightly.
Cassian woke instantly. No transition, no confusion. Predator awareness snapped into place immediately. His eyes opened gold, fully gold. The claws around her waist tightened reflexively.
Alessia froze, so did he. Silence crashed heavily through the bedroom.
Cassian looked down slowly at his hand wrapped around her. Then at the claw marks shredded into the headboard.
Then finally at her expression. Fear flickered briefly across his face, not fear of her, fear of himself.
The claws retracted instantly. Too fast, too controlled like he’d practiced hiding the monster his entire life.
Cassian removed his arm from her abruptly afterward as though touching her physically burned him.
He stood from the bed immediately. Distance, space, control. The massive bedroom suddenly felt colder without his heat surrounding her.
Cassian dragged a hand through dark hair before turning away sharply toward the windows. Muscles tight, breathing uneven.
Alessia sat up slowly beneath tangled black sheets.
Neither of them spoke because what exactly was there to say?
Good morning, your claws almost carved through my stomach?
The silence stretched painfully.
Then finally..
“You should’ve woken me.”
His voice sounded rough from sleep and anger. At himself mostly.
Alessia looked toward the ruined headboard again.
“You were asleep.”
“I don’t sleep deeply.”
“That looked deep enough.”
Cassian’s jaw tightened. Another silence followed.
Snow crashed violently against the windows outside while dawn slowly illuminated the fortress mountains below. Beautiful, frozen, deadly.
Just like the man standing across the room from her now.
Cassian finally looked back toward her.
His eyes had returned human again.
Mostly but exhaustion carved sharp shadows beneath them.
Interesting.
The Black Alpha looked tired. Not physically, soul-tired like fighting himself every second slowly hollowed him out from the inside.
Alessia hated noticing that because understanding him felt dangerous.
“You were holding me like a hostage,” she muttered quietly.
Something strange flickered briefly across his expression.
Almost amusement.
“Hostages usually scream more.”
“You had claws around my waist.”
“And yet you’re alive.”
The words came colder than necessary. Deliberately cold, creating distance again.
Alessia recognized the tactic immediately.
Push her away before attachment deepened further. Too late,not emotionally.but psychologically.
They were already tangled inside each other’s minds now.
Cassian moved toward the bed slowly, predator movement controlled.
Alessia’s pulse betrayed her instantly.
His gaze flickered toward her throat briefly before returning upward.The tiny movement made tension tighten sharply through the room.
God.
Everything about this man felt dangerous now. Even eye contact.
Cassian stopped beside the bed reaching down toward something near the sheets.
Then his expression darkened instantly.
Alessia frowned slightly.
“What?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Wrong answer, very wrong answer.
Cassian picked up part of the black silk sheets silently. Blood stained the fabric, not much but enough. Fresh, dark red.
Alessia’s stomach dropped instantly.
“That’s not mine.”
Cassian already knew that. She saw it in his face.
The realization settled heavily between them.
He’d bled during the night because of the transformation,because the wolf kept pushing closer to the surface.
Cassian crushed the sheets in his fist hard enough for claws to almost emerge again. Self-disgust radiated sharply from him now.
Alessia swallowed once carefully.
“You’re injured.”
“It’s nothing.”
Lie.
The scent hit her seconds later. Blood, his blood. Sharp and metallic beneath cedar and smoke.
Cassian noticed her noticing.
His entire posture changed instantly afterward. Alert, predatory, possessive like even bleeding near her triggered territorial instincts now.
God.
This curse truly was consuming him.
A knock sounded heavily against the bedroom doors. Both of them snapped toward it immediately.
Cassian’s expression hardened back into the Black Alpha instantly. Emotion vanished, monster mask restored.
“Enter.”
The doors opened carefully revealing Nikolai.
The wolf stopped dead the second he noticed Alessia sitting in Cassian’s bed beside torn sheets and claw-marked wood. Interesting, very interesting.
Nikolai hid his reaction quickly but not quickly enough. Rumors would spread through the fortress within hours now.
The Alpha slept beside his wife and apparently nearly shifted protecting her.
Cassian noticed the calculation in Nikolai’s face too.
“Speak.”
Nikolai straightened immediately.
“Kozlov hit another eastern shipment route before dawn.”
“Two laundering corridors connected to Volkov casino fronts were forced offline hours later, costing the syndicate millions before sunrise.”
Cassian’s eyes darkened.
“Casualties?”
“Eight dead.”
Silence.
Violence simmered beneath Cassian’s skin instantly.
Alessia felt it from across the room. Not loud rage, worse. Cold rage, execution rage.
Nikolai hesitated slightly before continuing.
“There’s another issue.”
Cassian’s voice turned lethal.
“What issue?”
Nikolai glanced toward Alessia briefly.
“The council’s questioning whether the attacks are connected to the marriage.”
“Several eastern investors were already pressuring council members for leadership assurances while rival factions quietly watched for instability inside Volkov territory.”
There it was. Political fracture, blame shifting toward her already.
Cassian’s expression became terrifyingly blank.
“Who?”
Nikolai hesitated again. Mistake, big mistake.
“Viktor raised concerns this morning.”
Alessia noticed the shift instantly.
Cassian went completely still.
More dangerous than shouting.
Viktor Volkov.
His uncle.
Another powerful Alpha within the empire and apparently,someone beginning to challenge Alessia’s place inside the fortress.Interesting.
Cassian moved toward the wardrobe calmly pulling on a black dress shirt. Elegant violence wrapped in silk and scars.
“What exactly did my uncle say?”
Nikolai swallowed once.
“That your judgment is compromised.”
Silence.
Then, Cassian laughed quietly. No humor inside it whatsoever, the sound made even Nikolai tense slightly.
“My judgment?” Cassian buttoned the cuffs slowly. “Tell the council something for me.”
Nikolai lowered his head immediately.
Cassian’s eyes flicked briefly toward Alessia.
Possessive again, dangerously so. Then back toward Nikolai.
“Anyone questioning my wife questions me.”
“The statement wasn’t emotional anymore, It was political law. Inside the Volkov empire, opposing the Luna could now be interpreted as opposing the throne itself.”
The room chilled instantly.
Nikolai understood the implication immediately.
Challenge Alessia, challenge the Black Alpha himself. Power move, political claim, terrifyingly public.
Nikolai nodded once.
“It’ll spread quickly.”
“Good.”
Alessia watched Cassian carefully.
Interesting.
He wasn’t protecting her gently, he was building territory around her. Like wolves defended land or mates. Not romantic territory, power territory. The kind built by kings, syndicates, and predators preparing for war.
The thought hit hard enough to unsettle her.
Nikolai disappeared moments later leaving the bedroom silent again.
Cassian finished adjusting his cuffs before walking toward the door himself.
“You’ll have additional guards now.”
Alessia frowned.
“I already had guards.”
“Now you’ll have more.”
“Because of Kozlov?”
Cassian paused.
Then,looked back toward her slowly.
“Because people inside this fortress are starting to realize what you are to me.”
The words landed heavily. Her pulse quickened immediately.
“What exactly am I to you?”
Wrong question, again.
Cassian’s expression darkened instantly.
For one dangerous second, she thought he might actually answer honestly.
Instead, he opened the doors and four armed wolves already waited outside, twice the normal security.
“All entrances to her quarters remain guarded,” Cassian ordered coldly. “Nobody enters without my permission.”
The wolves lowered their heads instantly.
“Yes, Alpha.”
Cassian’s gaze shifted back toward Alessia one final time.
And God, the intensity inside those eyes nearly stole breath from her lungs. Possession,fear, obsession, war with himself. All tangled together.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Stay out of trouble today.”
Alessia crossed her arms slowly.
“That sounds impossible in your fortress.”
For the first time all morning, something almost human flickered across Cassian’s face. A small, dangerous almost-smile.
“Exactly.”
Then he walked away. And somehow, the massive bedroom felt emptier with him gone.
Alessia exhaled slowly before glancing down again at the blood staining black silk sheets. Fresh blood, his blood. Proof the monster beneath his skin was getting stronger, proof the curse was worsening but another thought unsettled her more deeply.
He bled in his sleep yet somehow never hurt her. Not once.
A soft movement near the bed caught her attention suddenly.
Alessia frowned.
Then slowly reached beneath tangled sheets near the mattress edge.
Her fingers brushed against something metallic. Cold, sharp.
She pulled it free carefully. A silver blade.
Thin, hidden beneath the pillow on Cassian’s side of the bed.
Her pulse stopped because silver only existed for one reason in wolf territory.
To kill wolves.
And suddenly, Alessia realized the Black Alpha slept every night beside a weapon designed to murder himself.
- Writer
