Chapter Twenty One: Outburst
1059 Words
Fane’s POV
I had barely wrapped my hand around the doorknob when the door flew inward, wrenching it from my grasp.
I stumbled backward with a sharp gasp as Valek strode into my chambers without so much as knocking. The door slammed shut behind him with enough force to make the windows rattle in their frames.
The room seemed to shrink around us and he didn't speak immediately, he just simply stared, his chest rose and fell in measured breaths, each one controlled with visible effort, as though he were restraining something that threatened to spill over. His silver eyes found mine and held them, cold enough to make my pulse stutter.
For the briefest instant, something flickered across his face and if I didn't know better, I would have said it almost looked like relief, but it disappeared too quickly for me to confirm. It would have been easy to convince myself that I imagined it.
The muscles in his jaw tightened, a vein in his forehead bulging slightly.
"What,” he said at last, his voice low enough to send a chill through the room, "were you thinking?"
I blinked, my anger dissipating at how thrown off guard I was. "I'm sorry?"
"You left the estate." The accusation landed like a stone. "You disappeared for an entire day," he added.
I narrowed my eyes, folding my arms across my chest. "I wasn't aware I needed permission to breathe fresh air."
His expression hardened. "This isn't a joke."
"I know it isn't."
He took another step forward. "You left without informing anyone."
"I was with Jason."
"Exactly." The word cracked through the room. "You walked out of this estate with my Beta and not a single person thought it necessary to tell me."
I huffed, my annoyance bubbling. "I didn't realize I needed an escort approved by the committee."
"You needed to tell me."
"Why?"
His eyes narrowed into a glare. "Because I said so."
I let out a short, humorless laugh. "There it is."
"There what is?"
"The answer you always give."
His brow furrowed and I continued, “‘because I said so.' 'Because I'm Alpha.' 'Because it's an order.'" I shook my head. "You never explain anything."
The room fell quiet, and for a split moment, something shifted between us.
I searched his face but he looked away first and when he spoke again, his voice had become colder.
"You acted irresponsibly.” His words struck a chord deep within me and before I knew it, whatever moment we had just shared shattered instantly.
I took a step forward, raising a hand to shove Valek's shoulder, it startled him for sure, if his bewildered expression was anything to judge by, but before he could recover, I shoved him again.
“Are you f*****g serious? That's all this is to you, isn't it?” I took another step forward, crowding his space as my voice raised. “Am I just a joke to you? You think you can just order me around and I'm sick of it!”
“I wouldn't have to order you around if you acted like an adult,” Valek shot back, grabbing my hand and squeezing as he pushed me away. I stumbled back a few steps but caught myself just as he continued. “You're pregnant with my kids and yet you act like a child, running off with whatever man shows you even the smallest bit of kindness.”
His words cut into me deeply, and tears gathered at the corner of my eyes, angry and fast.
My hands curled into a fist, and the words escaped me before I could stop them. “You're the problem! I wouldn't act like this if I was pregnant with Jason's kids instead!”
The room stilled, the silence loud and suffocating. It took Valek one second to process my words before he was moving, everything happening in a flash.
One second he was staring daggers into my soul, and the next, he had his hand wrapped around my neck as he slammed me against the wall.
He simply stared at me, his hand around my neck tightening slightly as he pressed me harder against the wall. My breath hitched as I leveled his gaze the best I could, staring back at him with what I could only hope was defiance; I was not going to back down.
“You have a lot of nerve,” Valek started, “speaking like that. You want Jason that badly?”
His voice barely rose above a murmur, smooth and impossibly low, yet it settled over the room like a weight pressing against my lungs.
It wasn't loud enough to be called a threat, but somehow that made it worse. Every syllable slid beneath my skin, slow and deliberate, sending a shiver down my spine that I hated my body for betraying. My pulse stumbled once before racing ahead, each beat thudding against my ribs hard enough that I was certain he could hear it.
I refused to look away, refused to give him the satisfaction but my fingers curled tighter at my sides, and for one humiliating second, I understood why people feared quiet men far more than screaming ones.
A choked sound crawled its way out of my throat, and his grip around me eased a bit, his fingers practically caressing the sides of my neck.
A low heat pooled in my stomach, and I could feel a slight flush creeping up my cheeks.
His hand slid up my face, the back of his fingers slowly moving over my jawline before he grasped my face. “Answer me.”
I swallowed thickly, my throat bobbing up and down. My words were stuck in my throat, unable to escape me.
Valek leaned even closer, his scent tainting the little space between us. The thick scent of cedar and smoke filling my senses, a hint of something darker stirring beneath.
A soft fog clouded my mind, and my lips parted slightly as I struggled to catch my breath.
Valek's eyes darkened, his gaze flicking between my lips and my eyes as he let out a hum. “What? You don't want to repeat yourself?”
My face burned, my legs trembling as he stayed completely still, refusing to let up. God, I am so screwed
- Writer
