CHAPTER 37
1223 Words
ADINNA’S POV
I’m still staring at the ballroom doors long after Riley goes through them. The music comes back, but it feels different now, distant and empty. I keep looking at the exit, half hoping she’ll walk back in, messy and grinning.
Instead, Ashton appears next to me, breathless and worried.
“Adinna,” he says quickly, “I’m really sorry. I think we need to leave.”
I blink, trying to focus. “What? Why?”
He rubs the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. “Riley sometimes gets overwhelmed by the crowd. The lights and noise. She’ll be fine. I just need to make sure she’s okay.”
The relief washes over me like a wave. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, go. She probably just needs some air.”
He hesitates, looking torn. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. Really. Go keep her company. She’ll need you.”
He frowns, that typical overprotective look on his face. “You sure? I can stay if you want. Maybe we could dance just to keep you company until she gets back.”
I laugh softly. “You don’t have to babysit me, Ashton.”
He smiles a bit. “Maybe I want to.”
I roll my eyes, but his insistence wins me over. “Fine. One dance. But only because you look like you’ll explode from guilt if I say no.”
He chuckles and offers his hand with a slight bow, like an old-fashioned gentleman. “Then let’s make it a proper dance.”
I take his hand, and we start moving to the rhythm of the slow song that just began. His steps are careful and precise, like he’s trying too hard not to make me uncomfortable.
It’s sweet, yet also awkward.
We sway back and forth, and I realize I can’t even hear the lyrics properly. My mind keeps drifting back to Riley, to the exit, to the uneasy knot in my stomach that won’t go away.
“Hey,” Ashton says softly, noticing I’m distracted. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I lie. “I’m just thinking.”
He nods, his hand steady on my waist. “I get it. She’s fine, though. She always is.”
I want to believe him. But something inside me feels wrong.
The air seems heavier.
I breathe in, expecting the familiar scent of champagne and perfume, but it’s different now. It feels thicker and warmer, as though the room itself has started to breathe.
Then my chest tightens.
At first, I think it’s just nerves. Maybe it’s the dancing or the fact that I haven’t eaten much. But then the warmth grows, pulsing through me in waves until it’s not just warmth, it’s heat.
An intense, consuming heat.
My heart races, beating too fast and too hard.
“Adinna?” Ashton’s voice sounds far away. “You okay?”
I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. The air feels too heavy, too sharp to breathe.
My wolf stirs suddenly like she’s been asleep until now and someone just ignited a fire within her.
The music begins to warp. Each beat stretches and bends, echoing strangely in my head. My vision blurs for a moment before snapping into sharp focus. Every sound and color feels too bright and too loud.
I stagger back from Ashton, pressing a hand to my chest. “I… I think I need—”
But the rest of my sentence gets stuck in my throat.
Because suddenly, everything stops.
Literally.
The music cuts off mid-beat. The laughter, the chatter, the clinking of glasses—all gone.
Silence crashes over me like icy water.
I look around, confused. The people nearest us are still dancing. But they aren’t moving.
Frozen.
Their smiles hold, eyes half-blinking, bodies paused mid-motion like statues.
“Ashton?” I whisper, turning to him.
He’s right in front of me, one hand still extended from our dance. His expression is calm, but his lips aren’t moving.
He’s frozen too.
I stumble back, my shoes scraping against the marble floor, the sound echoing too loudly in the silence.
“What the hell…”
My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat.
I wave my hand in front of Ashton’s face. Nothing. Not even a flinch.
The chandeliers flicker suddenly, light pulsing like a heartbeat. Shadows creep along the edges of the room, sharp and cold.
Every instinct screams for me to run, but my legs won’t move.
The heat inside me builds again but it’s hotter now, like my blood is molten. My wolf thrashes, pushing against the walls of my mind, wild and scared.
“Stop,” I whisper to no one. “Please stop.”
But the world stays silent.
Only the sound of my breathing fills the air, harsh, labored, and too loud in the stillness.
I glance around desperately. The lights keep flickering. The band is frozen mid-play, the violinist’s bow hovering inches above the strings.
Everyone looks alive, but trapped in some invisible moment.
I can move. They can’t.
The air hums suddenly, low, and vibrating through the floor. My skin pricks with sensation. The chandeliers sway slightly, shadows deepening at the far end of the hall.
Then I hear it.
A sound that doesn’t belong here.
A low, guttural growl.
It rolls through the silence, deep and primal, shaking something inside me that I didn’t know existed.
I spin around, heart racing. The growl comes again but it’s closer now, resonant, powerful.
Every hair on my body stands on end.
“Who’s there?” My voice cracks in the stillness.
The lights flicker violently again, and the temperature drops so suddenly I can see my breath.
Then, just behind me, the sound returns deeper now.
A whisper of movement.
A presence.
It’s like the air itself bends around it. My wolf goes silent, not from fear—but from recognition.
I don’t even have to turn. I feel it.
A pull.
Like gravity just found a new center—and it’s standing behind me.
My pulse skips. My breath catches. The entire world narrows to that space behind me.
Slowly, I turn.
At first, there’s only darkness. Then, from it, two eyes emerge glowing, sharp, and molten gold.
The kind of eyes that see everything.
My lips part, but no sound comes out.
The creature, or man, or whatever he is steps forward, out of the shadows. The flickering light reveals his face, and my knees nearly give out.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with an aura so heavy it feels like it’s pressing against my chest. His expression is unreadable and primal, his jaw tight as he stares at me like I’m the only thing keeping him alive.
My wolf surges to the surface so suddenly I gasp. She’s not afraid. She’s thrilled.
The bond hits me like a tidal wave of heat, awareness, and instinct all tangled into one impossible heartbeat.
My vision swims, but his voice slices through it, low and rough, like thunder splitting the world in two.
“Mate.”
The single word vibrates through me, through every bone and every cell.
It’s not just heard. It’s felt.
My wolf howls inside me, ecstatic and terrified all at once.
- Writer
