The Alpha's Eternal Ache

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EDWARD

Beads of sweat began to crown her hairline. She wiped her palms against her trousers—an involuntary, rhythmic twitch of nerves. Her gaze was a frantic thing: darting from my face to the door, then the window, before snapping back to me. She refused to hold my eye contact, yet I felt the weight of her stare every time she thought I wasn’t looking.

​She hadn’t touched the soup. I knew that for a fact, and I still intended to punish her for it. Though, in truth, the soup was secondary; my fury stemmed from the fact that she had—infuriatingly—fallen asleep in the lobby. Who does that? If I hadn’t ventured downstairs when I did, she would still be there. Or, in the worst-case scenario: I might not have gone to the lobby at all.

​She claimed she’d called, and I hadn’t answered. Of course I hadn’t; my phone was with my secretary. The meeting was paramount, and I hadn’t expected a peep from her after my last text. Note to self: never let that device leave my person again.

​"Chloe, your punishment increases with every passing minute. Just give me the answer. Did you, or did you not?"

​I pinned her with a look. Finally, her eyes locked onto mine, the wavering uncertainty vanishing.

​"I did not. But it wasn't my fault—I forgot," she snapped, her voice rising in defiance.

​I couldn't believe the change. How did she go from pure terror to this so quickly? Chloe was the only person I knew who could swap her emotions in five seconds flat. Moments ago, she was shaking at my threats; now, her voice sounded sharp—like she was actually challenging me.

​I leaned back slightly to assess her. This woman—this defiant, flushed creature—was not the Chloe I knew. Her name? Chloe. Her personality? Alien. She stood before me with hands planted firmly on her hips, chest thrust forward and shoulders squared. She was trying to keep her breathing steady, but her little "deviant mechanism" couldn't fool my senses.

​"I said no. What are you going to do? Oh, yes—the big, bad Alpha wolf," she mocked, taking a daring step into my personal space. She poked my chest with the tip of her index finger—a futile gesture that didn't move me an inch—while her other hand remained on her hip. "I. Said. What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?"

​Each word was punctuated by a sharp jab against my sternum.

​My length twitched at the contact—an innocent yet forbidden provocation. It would be a lie to say my restraint was fraying; the truth was, it had already flown out of the window. Before she could utter another syllable, I caught her hand. I had to stop her before she bruised her own knuckles against the shelf of my abs—her skin was so delicate, so soft, that the slightest pressure felt like it might snap her bones.

​Her breath hitched. Her eyes turned into saucers as I seized both of her wrists in one of my hands, pinning them high above her head. The movement hitched her short top upward, revealing a tantalising stretch of midriff. I glanced at her trousers: the only remaining barrier stopping me from taking her right here—against the office couch, against the wall, or raw on the floor.

​With my free hand, I slowly lowered the zip of her trousers.

"What am I going to do? Hmmmm? Let me tell you exactly what I will do: I am going to rip this top off with my bare hands, exposing the breasts—my breasts—that you didn’t bother to support with a bra. Since these trousers seem a little too tight to slide off, I’ll simply shred them with my claws. And don’t make the mistake of thinking I’ll be gentle; my claws will leave a mark. I will mark you with my claws, my d**k, my mouth and my f*****g fangs."

​I leaned in closer, my voice dropping into a low, guttural growl that vibrated through my chest. "Then I will f**k you so hard that you will beg me to stop and I won't. As a little human, my little human, you will beg with tears, and I will not stop. You will get exactly what you have been asking for all these while, and you will get more than it. Your little human cunt will bled for me, and I will take joy in bleeding you out. I won't go slow and pleasant. I will f*****g f**k you fast and rough. And I won't be able to stop because you asked for this,"

​It was the longest I had spoken in a single breath in my entire existence.

​The fear she’d tried to mask flooded back into her features. Good. That was where it belonged. She needed to understand the gravity of the next few minutes. The cruellest part of the truth? Every word I’d said was a threat— not an empty one—, not a promise. She is supposed to be scared. The only mercy I could offer was the warning before it began.

​"Pray to the Moon Goddess—or whoever it is you serve—that they grant you a temporary, invisible IUD. Because otherwise? In nine months' time, you’ll be screaming as you push my child out of you."

​"What... what do you mean by that?" she stammered.

​I smirked. "My seed is never wasted, my little human. Even the pills you’re mentally plotting to take won’t work. It is nature; it is fate. And frankly, you’ll be far too weak to reach for a bottle of pills once I’ve f****d you into oblivion."

​I had done justice to my nature. I had warned her. And in all honesty, I couldn't stop myself. The scent of her arousal was invading my senses, making it impossible to turn back.

​"We... we’ll see about that," she whispered. She always had to have the last word.

​"Is my little human doubting her Alpha?"

​I didn't wait for a reply. My claws slid out—sharp and gleaming—and I raked them down the denim of her trousers. The fabric parted like butter, and the delicate skin beneath began to glisten with a fine line of crimson.

​"What the hell!" she shrieked.

​I smiled. Perhaps I was a beast for finding beauty in her pain, but I had warned her. This was merely the tip of the iceberg.