𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍✔️

SEVEN|STOP

  THE MAN'S EYES widened. Waves of fear rolled from him as he cowered before his superior. He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth like some strange fish, "Alpha — I, I'm sorry... I didn't —,"

Kaden snarled, "Leave." His voice wasn't raised in the slightest, for he did not need to shout. Somehow his silence was far more terrifying.

My beast kept her head rested upon Kaden's shoulder, arms draped lazily around his neck and she didn't have to turn to hear the man leave, footsteps hastily fleeing amidst the silence before slamming a door behind him. Leaving Kaden and me alone, with the most primal parts of myself in full control. This would never end well.

"Are you ok? Did he..." He didn't dare finish, struggling to subdue the newfound rage that boiled inside of him at the mere thought of something sinful. The wild within me didn't answer, only pushed herself impossibly closer to what she thought was hers, chests flush and hearts beating in unbroken tandem.

"Arden, stop." He pushed her away and at once I couldn't help but miss his warmth. My bones felt hollow without him there beside me. He held my body at arm's length, looking at me through dark, lustful eyes. If I could read his thoughts, I wondered what they would say right now.

"As much as I want nothing more than this..." He paused, staring at the empty space between us before adding. "...I know it's not you in control right now, and I don't want her to do anything you're not comfortable with."

With that my beast gave up, relinquishing the reins to my sanity and handing the forefront back to my conscious. I felt scarlet heat rising into my cheeks. I felt although I was on fire. I had never been so humiliated at my own lack of control over my beast.

The faintest trace of a smile tugged at the corner of Kaden's lips, evidently enjoying my current resemblance to a tomato. I turned, attempting to hide my face from him; ashamed. I had never felt so disappointed in myself, if it had been two years prior, the beast would have struck me for my incompetence, and deep down I couldn't quell the expectation for Kaden to do the same.

"You don't have to hide your blush, Arden," The trace of a smile broke, giving way to a grin as radiant as the sun. "It's beautiful."

My face grew even hotter, only this time I didn't hide it.

Kaden said with a sigh, "It's getting late, would you like me to show you to your room?"

Did I get a room? My own room? I half expected to be taken back to the hospital bed that I had woken up in. I was surprised that he trusted me enough to leave me alone for a night, though deep down part of me didn't want to be alone. I was terrified of being left alone with my own thoughts.

I nodded in response, following Kaden back up the marble stairs but when we reached the top he turned right instead of left, away from where the hospital ward and the sterile white wing.

The walls were lined with countless mahogany doors with delicate gold handles, each just begging to be opened. I wanted to know each and every secret concealed beyond their hardwood barriers. On the walls hung many paintings, however only one, in particular, caught my eye.

It was a girl. No older than I was now, running through the woods, her long white gown lapped by the air and her bare feet pounding against the fallen leaves. The trees blurred into one monotonous green line and the girl's hair was thrown into her face by the breeze, a dark brown mess. It was stunning, yet strangely familiar though I couldn't for the life of me place how.

Kaden moved to stand next to me, staring up at the large painting. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful." I breathed in awe.

Kaden turned his head to face me, soft indents like dimples appear in the hollow of each cheek with the smile. Holy shit he was gorgeous. So much so that I don't think I'd ever get used to this, "Come on."

We came to a stop at the end of the hall with two large doors opposite each other, he pointed to the door on the left. "This is my room, you can come in at any time, I only ask that you knock first."

Then he pointed to the door on the right. " — And this is your room." He pushed the door open to reveal one of the biggest rooms I had ever seen, he shrugged, "If you don't like anything let me know, and we can either change it or find you a new room."

It was perfect, so much so that the mere sight of it made my heart hurt. I stared him dead in the eye. "What do you want in return?"

I had learned during my time on this earth that everything came with a price, nothing was free or from kindness, and usually, the price was my body. I shut the thought out, trying not to think about it.

He looked confused. "...I don't want anything in return."

And then it was my turn to be confused, was he being truthful?

He would probably wait until I was asleep until he came in to get what he wanted. That is what the monster used to do, at least some of the time, though mainly he took his owed outright. He would wait until the middle of the night when I was asleep, and he would come into my cell and take what was his, over and over again and over again.

The caverns of sleep were no friend of mine, I never felt safe within their pitch-black depths. Yet still, I found no solace in waking either.

If Kaden were to force himself on me, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him. It was best not to fight, I knew that only made it worse.

When Kaden left, closing the quietly door behind him, I cautiously made my way over to the bed, the biggest I had ever seen, running a finger over the soft silk of the sheets.

Was this really all for me?

I didn't have any clothes to change into so I didn't bother trying, instead, I just climbed onto the bed, curling into a ball beneath the sheets, and bracing myself for whatever the night may hold before the darkness came and swallowed me whole.