Stella

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧

STELLA BURNS

"I found this lost rat wandering around in Rowan's room." It was the first thing Octavian said.

He shoved me forward with a hand on my back so I had no choice but to stumble forward a little. With another hand, he still had a hard grip on my arm. Even with the distance between me and Mr. Zale, I had to tip my head back to look at his face. He was so tall which didn't help me at all.

I gulped as his dark eyes ran over my face, his face made out of stone.  

"I'm aware, Octavian." Mr. Zale said as he clasped his hands together behind his back with his shoulders high. I think if I tried to squint my eyes to get a better view or I had a microscope, I'll find dark fog around him like magic tethered to him - to scare everybody off.

"So what do you want me to do with this rat," Octavian asked and I tilted my head back to find him crossing his arms across his bulky chest.

"I'd suggest you avoid referring to her as a rat in the future," Zale said, his tone so sharp and it made me so cold that I had to dart my eyes around discreetly to make sure I haven't found myself in the North Pole magically.

Maybe not the North Pole because Mr. Zale would scare Santa and all of his elf people off, and it'll be deserted. Perhaps in one of those snowing mountains where these countless climbers get lost and suffer from frostbite. Like in one of those older kids' movies I've seen with Uncle Gabriel secretly without my mother knowing.

Octavian narrowed his eyes and spared me no glance when he let my arm go with a hard jerk. I winced and rubbed the growing red mark on it. I couldn't suppress my tears anymore and a few trails of them ran down my cheeks, to my lips and jaw. I was silent, careful to not let out any hiccups or sniffs. Not when the scariest two men I ever saw were staring each other down.

There was disbelief in Octavian's features and while Zale's face was expressionless, his slightly raised brows and hard-pressed lip seemed too daring the latter to challenge him.

I took a step back and no one was looking at me...

Another two steps and I was right behind Octavian. Looking back and forth between the two men, I tiptoed backward until my palm was pressed to Rowan's door where Dom was still barking behind the door. I could hear his nails scrapping the wood, marking it. I winced, hoping Rowan won't get mad. Grams would get so mad when my door got destroyed by the once puppy version of Dom and he had to sleep outside that night instead of cuddling with me.

"Stella." Zale echoed and I let out a squeak of surprise, my entire body jumping at the sudden sound.

He wasn't even looking at me, his hardened gaze still on Octavian. I looked at him with wide eyes. His eyes flickered over to me and stayed there. I tensed up, remembering how coldly he spoke to me and how I almost peed myself in the dark room.

My brows furrowed as I realized when he looked at me, he didn't look at me to intimidate or scare me like before. He was merely studying my features.

He was still too terrifying for me to be able to meet his eyes but I darted my eyes around him, rolling on my toes and heels with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Stay in the room and do not come out again." He ordered his tone far less coldly and hardened than this morning. "Elias and Rowan will be here at any second to take a blood test. You will get some rest. We'll speak tomorrow morning."