10
1089 Words
I smiled.
"My pleasure."
I picked up my drink while Elena took hers.
That was the last thing I remembered. Well, almost.
I vaguely remembered a pounding headache. I remembered stumbling through a hallway toward my room. I remembered an unnatural, scorching heat burning through my veins, making my skin feel entirely too tight. After that? Nothing.
I carefully slid my arm out from beneath the girl's head, my brow furrowing as I stared down at the empty pillows.
I should have known Elena was up to something. That smile. She had been far too pleased with herself when she watched me take that sip.
"You drugged me," I muttered under my breath, my voice grating in the quiet room.
An aphrodisiac. That had to be it. She must have slipped something into my glass to set me up, hoping to force a bond or catch me in a compromising position.
My gaze drifted back to the sleeping girl beside me. But if Elena had planned this entire thing, then why isn't she the one in my bed?
I had never seen this woman before in my life.
I looked around the room, checking the heavy drapes and the familiar layout. This was definitely my suite. Not the wrong room. Which meant she was the one who had somehow ended up in my space. Or perhaps someone had deliberately sent her. An enemy? A trap? I didn't know.
Quietly, I swung my legs out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cold hardwood. I walked toward the armchair where my suit jacket was draped, reaching into the inner pocket to pull out my checkbook.
After a brief pause, I tore out a check, quickly writing it out for five million dollars. I slipped the paper into a white envelope, grabbed a pen from the desk, and scrawled a short, blunt message on the front:
When you wake up tomorrow morning, I don't want to find you here.
I placed the envelope on the nightstand beside the bed.
Before heading to the bathroom, I glanced back at the girl one last time. Then I stopped. For some reason, I couldn't look away. My eyes remained fixed on her sleeping face.
One second. Two seconds. Ten.
I didn't even understand why I was staring. Yet my boots felt glued to the floorboards.
Finally, I forced myself to tear my gaze away and walked into the adjoining bathroom.
The moment I stepped beneath the shower head and turned on the water, a sudden, heavy pressure built behind my sternum. Something wasn't right.
My wolf was restless. Feral. Pacing frantically inside my head like a caged beast.
I gritted my teeth, my jaw locking so hard it ached. My fangs began to slide down, pressing sharply against my lower lip. Dark, thick fur threatened to break through the skin of my forearms. It felt as though my body wanted to force a shift against my will, my bones clicking as they began to realign.
That had never happened to me before. Never.
I lifted my head and stared directly into the steam-fogged mirror. My eyes had bled from their normal shade into a bright, glowing amber. My nose was beginning to lengthen, the bone structure shifting into the shape of my beast form.
"What is wrong with you?" I growled at my reflection, the sound vibrating deep in my chest. "Control yourself."
But my wolf refused to listen.
Freezing water poured over my shoulders as I twisted the handle, trying to shock my system into submission. Nothing worked. The beast continued thrashing inside me, a wild, uncontrollable force. My entire body felt completely out of my hands.
This had never happened before. Never. When I gave an order, my wolf obeyed. That was how it had always been.
So why wasn't he listening now?
Eventually, the pressure subsided just enough for me to rinse the soap from my skin. I thought the worst of it was over.
I was wrong.
A few minutes later, the sensation rushed back, twice as violent. A sharp, physical ache squeezed my chest, cutting off my air. My vision blurred into a gray haze. I grabbed the metal shower handle to steady myself, my fingers locking around the cold pipe. The dizziness hit me so hard that my knees buckled, nearly sending me crashing against the tile.
It felt like grief. Pure, suffocating grief. The kind that tears through your soul without warning. The exact same pain I had felt years ago when my brother died. My chest tightened, my lungs burning as my breathing became uneven and shallow.
Unable to remain standing, I slowly slid down the wet wall, sitting flat on the cold bathroom floor with my knees pulled to my chest.
"What is happening to me?" I whispered, my voice sounding weak and entirely hollow even to my own ears.
Then I heard him. My wolf.
A single, booming word echoed through my mind, shaking my entire consciousness.
Mate.
I froze, the water spraying over my soaked hair.
Mate.
My eyes widened in the dim light of the bathroom. "What mate?"
Mate.
"That's impossible."
Mate.
I shook my head violently, trying to clear the voice. "I don't believe in that nonsense."
Mates don't exist.
Mate.
My wolf ignored every logical thought I tried to throw at him. The voice only grew louder, more desperate, and more demanding with every second.
Mate.
Using what little strength I had left, I forced myself up onto my feet. I wrapped a towel around my waist and staggered back into the bedroom, my shoulder hitting the doorframe as I passed.
The moment I entered the room, I stopped dead.
The bed was empty. The sheets were disheveled, but the girl was completely gone.
I searched the room. The balcony. The living area. Every single corner of the suite. Nothing. She had disappeared into thin air.
My pulse quickened, a cold sweat breaking out across my chest. Without wasting another second, I grabbed the bedside phone and dialed Marcus's direct number.
I barely remember what happened next. The line connected, the low ring cutting through the silence of the room. I heard Marcus answer on the second ring, his voice alert.
I opened my mouth, trying to speak, trying to tell him to lock down the entire estate.
But my vision suddenly went completely black. The room spun on its axis. Darkness closed in around the edges of my sight, and then my knees gave out completely, and I fell.
- Writer
