A mate for the beast

Chapter 10: Unexpected kindness

/-Sabrina-/

My lips quivered lightly, and I stammered in fear, “A…Alpha…” voice barely above a whisper.

Alpha Raizan's jaw was locked tight, and he had his lips pressed into a thin line. His dark brow furrowed with such intensity that it made a chill rise to my spine, and his face had turned so grim that it frightened me to tremble violently, scared witless.

“What are you doing here?” He asked in an almost growl, his brown eyes deeper than the normal shade.

Before I could even open my lips, the maid lingering at the entrance had already fallen to her knees, her forehead pressed hard against the cold floor.

“Alpha King, I know nothing about this! It was her, she entered without permission.” She quickly said, her voice trembling like a leaf blown by wind.

I struggled to stand, feeling as though my knees would give in beneath me. My head was bowed so low that it could be buried in my chest.

The shards of what I had broken glared at me, as if mocking my carelessness and the fate that awaited me.

“I…I didn't mean to…”

“Leave.”

His voice was cold like ice, shrouding me like I was trapped in an antarctic cave. I flinched, taking a small step back in trepidation.

I knew he was referring to me, and I was about to turn on my heels when I heard the scrambling of limbs behind me.

The maids scrambled backward, her trembling voice showing her fear, “My Lord, I never meant to…”

“I said, Leave!” He repeated, his voice louder this time that it rang in my ears.

That moment I knew, I was doomed.

The maid did not dare to linger, she fled the room like her life depended on it, leaving me alone with him, with Alpha King Raizan - whose anger simmered like molten magma.

I wanted to run too, I wanted to leave his suffocating presence, but I didn't dare do that without his permission. I didn't even dare lift my head, in fear that it would only incur an even worse version of his wrath.

As the maid left, silence resumed.

It was a heavy silence that depicts the calm before the storm, the kind that makes me want to fall on my feet and start begging for mercy to be spared.

As Lady Fiona had once said, all I knew was to beg for mercy, and I couldn't refute that fact anymore. My fate was never in my hands, and all I could do was beg.

I could feel his gaze on me, burning and heavy, as though he was deliberating how to punish me.

Then came the unexpected sound of his receding footsteps, followed by the soft rustle of fabric, but I kept still with my head still lowered.

I heard him shuffling through the desk, probably looking for something.

I braced myself for his wrath, for some punishment - a slap, an order to be thrown into the dungeons, or a command for the guards to take me away?

Or was it a whip? Does he plan to thrash me until I breathe my last?

A knot formed in my throat, tightening with each step he took towards me, and my hands trembled.

“You are bleeding.” I heard him say, but I didn't react to it on time. I glanced down and saw a small line of blood trailing down my palm from where the shard had pierced me.

I hadn't even noticed the pain due to the fear.

Then, it suddenly occurred to me, and I quickly said, “I…I will clean the blood now.” With that said, I tried to hide my hand in my dress.

He didn't reply, but in the next second, he had already taken another step forward, stepping so close that I almost took another step back, startled.

“Give me your hand.” He said stiffly, and I blinked.

When he uttered those words one by one, I understood what he meant, but when said together, I could not.

Does he plan to cut my hand off in anger?

I hesitated, scared. But, seeing how persistent he was, I knew it could not be helped. Well, it was my left hand, losing that was better than losing my right.

Reluctantly and slowly, I lifted my bloodied palm towards him.

His fingers brushed mine. It was warm, warmer than I expected, and against my cold ones, it was contradictory. Instinctively, I tried to curl my hands against his warm ones, before suddenly freezing.

I watched as the ruthless Alpha King, the one I had watched kill several of his clan members coldly, dabbed something cool against the cut in my palm.

I blinked, shocked. But I tried to withdraw my hand.

“I…I can tend to it myself, I…” While saying that, I raised my head slightly to peek at his expression.

Wasn't he afraid of someone coming in? What if someone enters and sees him like this? Wouldn't that be…

“Stay still.” He spat, but the coldness in his voice had reduced drastically that I even began to wonder if he was still the same person. “What are you, five? Don't you know how to tend to a wound?”

Although his face remained cold, his voice and touch were... gentle.

But, how could the Alpha King of the Virekans be gentle?

“I…I didn't know.” I answered softly, staring at my hand placed on his palm. His hand was bigger, a lot bigger and wider. The calluses in his hand were dense, and it pricked my skin, inducing a tingling sensation.

I couldn't help but wonder how his touch could be gentle when he had killed with the same hand.

Then he suddenly pressed the soft fabric he was using to dab something on my palm, and I winced.

In response, he snorted coldly, “So, it hurts now?”

I pressed my lips together, not speaking.

“Next time, don't touch what does not belong to you unless you are ready to lose it.”

I looked up at him, surprised.

Wasn't he supposed to tell me not to come to his study anymore?

No 'don't come here again' or 'you are banned from entering the study.'

But…a warning?

What does that mean?