She's Human but Alpha Wants Her Back.

Chapter Nine

Rea’s POV

His predatory stare bore into me, and I gasped shakily, managing to grip the iron bars for support, fingers curling tightly around the cold metal. His footsteps thudded heavily, rattling the entire room until he closed the distance with a slow, dominant stride, a faint smirk playing on his lips, his eyes locked on me.

“Up already?” His voice came low—always low and lethal.

I looked up at him, nodding slightly, trembling all at once.

He had almost outdone himself in the gym. It had been a great performance to watch, but I wished he hadn’t noticed me watching.

I felt the flutter in my stomach as he approached, and a fragile thread in my head pushed me to take the chance and do what I wanted. But the look in his eyes unsettled me indefinitely. I convinced myself it wasn’t time for discouragement; I had thought I would never see him again. And if he had taken me outside, that would have happened. My chances of seeing him again would have narrowed, delayed—the very reason I had come here slipping further away.

“You look like a mess, Rea.”

For once, he had said my name correctly.

“Please… get me out,” I dared to say immediately, my eyes lifting to him with the determined look of prey.

He chuckled, lifting his hands to my face, passing them through the bars. I felt his cold, steady hands cradle my face and wished it meant the tenderness he exuded.

“Relax, human.” His voice was velvet-laced, his expression unreadable.

In a heartbeat, his men swung in, and my heart sank.

Thoughts raced through me—what might happen and what might not. The Darkclaw, Damien’s mansion, had to be the most unsettling, unproductive place I had ever stepped foot in in my whole life. One minute you were comfortable; the next, you were the most uncertain fool questioning your very existence.

He never looked back at the men whose footsteps echoed through the place, as though he already knew—had always known—they would come. They walked straight toward us and stopped right behind Damien, like beasts behind their leader.

He stepped aside, almost leaving suddenly, just like that.

My pulse hammered in my ears, thinking I’d missed another chance at getting what had brought me here, because every second close to Damien counted.

“Unlock the gates. Bring her to the suite,” he said on his way to the exit, his deep velvet voice echoing through the space. His footsteps were unhurried, casually clutching a half-empty bottle of water as he walked away.

At the sound of that, relief washed over me like spring water. I shut my eyes for a heartbeat and exhaled.

The men acted swiftly, storming the gate and getting in—not only to pull me out of the cage but to strip the chains from my wrists and ankles.

Possibilities drummed in my head, almost dulling into a dizzying ache as a flutter filled my chest.

Did he just say, Get her out and bring her to the suite?

The men tugged away the chains, giving me the chance to walk freely. And I meant it—I was going to walk into the suite, or wherever he asked I be brought to, freely.

God, please give me control over my emotions. Fear was the last thing I needed; boldness was everything at this point, I mumbled silently.

The men weren’t gentle. They moved like animals, yanking the chains in a way that pressed into my skin until it burned, red marks blooming where the metal bit into flesh.

The chains fell from my hands, and I flicked my wrists in relief, my joints jolting painfully after hours of stiffness.

They shoved me toward the bed at the corner, where I stumbled as they tugged the chains from my feet.

Then they were done.

I didn’t need them to tell me what to do. I followed as they led the way to the suite.

The Remington sculpture by the wall sucked the breath straight from my lungs.

I froze.

Damien’s suite.

What the hell had I been thinking? That Damien would require a special suite for me alone?

From the look of things, this was the room he had ordered I be brought to—and it was unmistakably his.

Another chance.

I didn’t even know why I had been summoned, but I wasn’t ready to let this opportunity slip away. Damien wasn’t in the room yet, but the shower rained in the adjoining space.

The men left without a word, shutting the door behind them.

I stood there, swallowed by ten thousand thoughts pounding through my chest. The ache in my wrists throbbed as I rubbed my fingers over them while I waited. For what, I didn’t exactly know—but I knew Damien had ordered me here. This suite was the same one I’d seen from my cage. It was undeniably his.

So my waiting meant something.

The clothes he had worn during training minutes ago lay discarded, his shoes hung neatly by the rail. At least he hadn’t gone anywhere. He’d been here moments ago—probably the one in the shower.

I swallowed, staring around the suite, admiring its quiet luxury when another thought slammed into me.

No—the sight.

The size of him, outlined in that tight, stretchy outfit.

What would my strategy be this time?

How do I make him release me first—before asking for what I came for? The wolfsbane.

I had no plan. None at all.

And the realization of standing here after being bound in chains—a fate I’d been warned about but never truly imagined—crushed down on me heavier than a space shuttle. I hadn’t expected Damien to come so early, either. It made me wonder if he had slept at all.

Since I had no plan and had already been summoned, maybe I should just go with the flow.

Do anything—but don’t say no to him.

And I wasn’t even talking about sleeping with him anymore. That hadn’t worked the first time.

He truly had control over lust—a stark contrast between him and humans. Maybe I should make him trust me. Maybe I should make myself useful. Maybe I should do anything other than that again.

If Damien had a hundred women in his bed, he could have two hundred more begging for a chance. Humans and his kind alike. That explained why he’d grown furious immediately after s*x.

Or maybe he thought I was loose.

Damn it.

Who gets laid on a gym bench on the very first day she meets someone—not a date, not even a proper meeting?

Holy f**k.

Desperation was a bastard.

No wonder he’d imprisoned me immediately.

He’d been unimpressed.

I should show him.

I wasn’t loose. My mind had just been f****d up in that moment. I hadn’t been thinking straight. I’d acted under pressure and—dopamine.

The marble-framed bathroom door jerked open.

There—Damien stepped out.

I gasped sharply, my gaze flickering up for only a second before I reminded myself of the decision I’d already made.

He wore nothing but briefs—a thin velvet fabric stretched snugly over him, revealing the thick outline of him perfectly.

My face burned as I tore my gaze away, rebuking myself and pretending I hadn’t seen anything. But the sight of it—heavy, filling the fabric, clearly visible even folded there, not at full length—only deepened my terror… and my daze.

He strode into the room as if bored with everything in existence, as if he hadn’t ordered his men to bring me here at all.

Then, like he’d heard the thoughts in my head, he reached for a gleaming white towel hanging near the bathroom door and wrapped it around his waist—low.

That didn’t help.

At all.

I was stupid.

The silence stretched—thick enough to suffocate, long enough to kill you with anticipation.