SLEEPING MY WAY INTO YOUR HEART

Chapter 4:

I noticed one man in particular. He stood slightly apart from the others, leaning against the wall with an air of exhaustion. This man stood out, not because he was larger or more intimidating, but because his entire body was covered in wounds and blood. The white shirt he wore was nearly soaked through with red, the knife slashes clearly visible, exposing the pale skin beneath.

He had light blond hair, and the dim light from the hanging lamp cast a golden shimmer on it, like the first rays of dawn. But what caught my attention the most was his expression. Despite being covered in injuries, he showed no sign of pain. His smoke-gray eyes were cold, as if he was indifferent to everything around him.

The wolf inside me suddenly spoke up: "Seraphina, that man looks strange."

He was indeed strange. This man did not resemble the others. His demeanor radiated calm, and in those eyes, I saw no malice or mockery like I did with the others. Instead, there was a sense of darkness, weariness, and... loneliness.

Suddenly, he turned his head, his cold gray eyes locking onto mine. I flinched, my heart racing. His gaze was as sharp as a knife, yet there was something unfamiliar about it, as though he could see right through me, understanding everything I was thinking.

I quickly turned away, trying to avoid that piercing gaze. It felt like his eyes were burning into me, and I couldn’t explain why I felt this way. A shiver ran down my spine—not entirely from fear, but from an unnameable feeling, a mix of unease and curiosity.

"Who is he?" my inner wolf asked, but I had no answer. It was the very question I was pondering at that moment, yet he was too terrifying for me to dare look at him again.

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the cell. A man dressed in a tailored suit entered, his demeanor calm but exuding a chillingly dangerous aura. He had sleek black hair, neatly combed back, and his sharp eyes gleamed with a calculating look. He stopped in front of the group of guards, his gaze sweeping across them before landing on the blond man.

"So, you’re still alive, Alex?" he sneered, a condescending smile curling his lips. "No matter, I have more pressing matters to attend to."

Then, he turned to look into the cell where I was tied up. "This is Seraphina, the daughter of Alpha Lucian, correct?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I didn’t respond, only glaring at him with eyes full of fury. He chuckled, as if he had just heard a particularly amusing joke.

"Good, very good," he nodded, then addressed the guards. "Listen up, you must keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her escape, or you’ll all pay with your lives. By nine o’clock tonight, we’ll take care of her."

One of the guards nodded, grinning. "Right, by that time, she’ll be sent to the afterlife. But before that... can we have a little fun, boss?"

The man in the suit did not answer immediately; he simply stared at the guard with a look of pure malice. "If I hear that anyone touched her, I’ll kill you all myself before Alpha Lucian even gets here. Is that clear?"

The group fell silent at once, none of them daring to make another joke. He turned on his heel and left, leaving behind a heavy, tense atmosphere.

I sat there, feeling the dull ache from the ropes digging into my skin and the exhaustion seeping into my bones after the k********g. My eyes drifted back to the blond man. He hadn’t moved from his spot against the wall, but his gray eyes were once again fixed on me, as if he had heard and understood everything that had just transpired.

"Who are you?" I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, I could only look at him with a questioning gaze.

He smirked faintly, a smile that passed like a breeze—neither happy nor sad, just an empty, hollow gesture. Then, he looked away, his eyes turning back to the void, as if he wasn’t really here, as if nothing that had just happened mattered to him at all.

A chill ran down my spine. Who was this man, and why was he here, amidst a group of kidnappers, with an expression like he was nothing more than another captive?

Whispered conversations rose from the guards outside the cell. I sat on the cold stone floor, straining to catch every word they said. A strange sense of unease welled up inside me, especially when I risked another glance at the blond man, who seemed entirely different from the rest of them.

"Hey, Zephyr," one burly guard called out, his voice laced with an unusual tone of respect. "Did you really pull it off? We struggled for ten days, and you handled it all in just one night?"

Zephyr... The name sent a shiver through me. These men called him Zephyr, and it seemed he wasn’t just an ordinary lackey. They spoke of him with admiration, even fear.

"Yeah, I heard the whole gang was wiped out in a single night. Zephyr took care of everything, leaving no trace behind," another guard added, his face showing clear disbelief and awe. "If it weren’t for Zephyr, we’d still be struggling for weeks."

Zephyr said nothing, still leaning against the wall with that exhausted posture, his gray eyes unreadable. His bloodstained shirt was a testament to the violent fight he had just survived. Yet despite his wounds, Zephyr remained calm, as if it was all just a passing breeze.

I felt a wave of cold wash over me, a chill running through my entire body. These murmurs scared me more than anything else. This man had single-handedly eliminated an entire gang in one night? That kind of feat required not just incredible strength but also a ruthless, icy resolve I had never seen before.

"Zephyr is definitely not an ordinary person," another guard remarked, chuckling nervously, his eyes filled with something akin to reverence. "Just look at him. Before we even had time to act, he’d already finished the job."

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but I couldn’t stop the trembling. A wave of sheer terror gripped me, squeezing my heart like sharp claws. This man, Zephyr, was clearly a notorious killer. What had he done to make even the guards fear and respect him this much?

I risked another furtive glance at him. Zephyr’s gray eyes quietly observed me, as if he knew I was trembling with fear. But in those eyes, I found no mockery or satisfaction. There was only a chilling coldness, a void, and an emptiness I couldn’t comprehend.