| CHAPTER 43 : HEIGHTENED EMOTIONS |

Peace and quietness enveloped me while I lay sleeping on the bed. The covers draped over me gave warmth from the cold outside as I snuggled deep into the bed.

My eyes stirred awake to the feeling of fingers running through my hair. My hand was flat against a warm and hot, rock-like body that was very, very, bare. My eyes travelled up in confusion to see a set of glistening glass eyes, warmly looking down at me. Strong hands wrapped around my waist, as my head lay softly on King Alpha's chest.

It took a maximum of five seconds for me to comprehend my surroundings before I shot up like a bullet

"Oh my god!" I gasped out, turning to look at King Alpha who smirked at me. Shirtless.

The room lay dark except for the small lamp in the corner which lit a dim yellow light.

"What are you doing?" I breathed, pushing my hair out of my face.

"Sleeping." He stated as if it was the most obvious tone ever.

"B-but, we were-you were-I was-"

"I was trying to sleep, you got cold, you snuggled towards me, I tried pushing you off, you came again, I pushed you again, but you came again, so I just let you cuddle yourself with me." his eyes glinted amusedly with mischief.

My cheeks turned hot, "I-I..."

He held up his hands, smirk widening, "Relax. Nothing happened."

"Why are you without a shirt?"

He as if just realizing he was without a shirt, looked down at his body before meeting my eyes, "I always sleep without a shirt. Sexy, aren't I?" he grinned.

I looked away from him, sighing before taking in a deep breath, running my hands through my hair.

"Okay," I breathed out, blinking a few times then shaking my head as if trying to get control over something. My thoughts were everywhere, and I couldn't help but frown.

King Alpha furrowed his eyebrows, "You okay?"    

"Huh?"

"You okay?" he repeated.

"Uh yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm just gonna-gonna sleep," I mumbled while trying to reach for the blanket, pulling it over myself and lying back down.

King Alpha didn't seem to have it though, he turned on his side to face me, getting up on his elbow and looking at me.

My eyes watched him warily.

It seemed like I was looking at him after years. Which is crazy since I didn't see him for only a week.

He raised his hand and I resisted to finch as he placed it warmly over my forehead. My body had worked up but it slowly loosened under King Alpha's warm touch.

"You're not catching a fever, are you?"

I shook my head.

"You seem like you are." He commented, taking off his hand.

"Where were you?" I asked then wanted to slap myself right there and then.

He paused, "What?"

No going back now, was there?

"Where were you all these days?"

I expected him to look ready to snap my neck or something, but he just looked blank for a while.

"I was busy," he replied finally, "work and stuff. Why? Missed me?" he smirked.

Yeah.

"No."

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it, shook his head and lied back down.

I didn't close my eyes and neither did he. We weren't looking at each other.

A silence fell over us and I felt the need to say something or do something.

The quieter it got, the more awkward I felt.

Finally, King Alpha cleared his throat, "I got reports of your progress. You seem to be doing good."

"Yeah."

The silence fell on us again.

Why are we suddenly so awkward like high school kids?

Well, I am a high school kid, King Alpha isn't. Why isn't he talking like he used to?

Deciding to just give up and go to sleep, I turned to the other side. But due to my overestimating the size of the bed, I went directly rolling down the bed and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Head slamming first.

"Ouch!"

King Alpha burst out laughing, filling the room with his sound.

I would have stopped and stared at him because he laughs so rarely. Laughs genuinely so rarely. But because of my now throbbing and hurting head, I just sat on the ground, clutching my forehead, ready to cry.   

King Alpha half-dangled off the bed, clutching his stomach while laughing his heart out. My bottom lip quivered as an angry pout formed on my face.

"Stop it!" I whined like a small child without even meaning to.

"I can't...breathe." Actual tears pooled at the corners of his eyes.

Tears pooled at the end of my eyes too and I don't know why looking at him laugh at me like this made me want to cry more.

He finally noticed my face and rolled his eyes, rolling his body until he was facing me with his head in his hands, "Oh come on, don't act like a child."

I just sniffled.

"What?" His amusement visibly dimmed.

"It hurts!" I yelled, still trying to keep in the tears.

I wasn't going to cry just because he was laughing at me. I never cried when people laughed at me. It's just, that this week's stress and all caught up to me like a tidal wave and I finally felt like bursting.

"Poor baby got hurt?" King Alpha mocked while sitting up and lending me out a hand.

I took his hand and let him pull me onto the bed in front of him, my other hand still clutching my forehead.

"Let me see." He said, prying off my hand and taking a look at my head. His hands unknowingly landed themselves on either side of my face, pulling me closer to inspect my forehead.

"Who falls off the bed like that?" he grumbled, while I knew he was trying to keep in another round of laughter.

When I said nothing, his eyes fell to mine and his breath visibly got stuck in his throat. The same can be said for me. Warmth radiated from his body making me realize just how close we were. His hands still held my face, and I didn't think he was planning to let me go this quick.

The silence in the room caught onto us again. Our slow breathing magnified to our ears. What is going on?

Without giving another thought, King Alpha leaned in, and I found myself leaning in too. The warmth and intensity grew high as we were just inches away. His pupils dilated, his eyes filling with lust. Then finally, our lips connected.

A jolt of surprise and shock filled me, but I was soon responded with contentment and sparks. King Alpha's warm and soft lips moved against mine possessively and roughly. My eyes fluttered close with my hands moving to wrap around his neck.

There was some kind of ferocity, passion and longing as we kissed as if we've been waiting our entire lives.

Seeming to want more, King Alpha moved his hands to my waist and pulled me close until I was straddling him. His hands tightened around my waist with him deepening the kiss with a kind of ferocity. His lips pressed hard against mine and I felt myself melt into him, feeling as if it was only him who existed in the entire world.

I opened my mouth to breathe but he slipped his tongue inside my mouth instead. His hands, strong and warm, held me too close as if he were afraid I might disappear. My legs tightened around his slim waist in response.

Kissing him felt like playing with a torch. If I went in too deep, I might light everything on fire. But he was already doing that. Lighting a fire deep within me, making me want to capture everything.

I felt him moving. He was leaning me down on the bed, refusing to break from the kiss. His body, heavy and hot lowered on top of mine with his hands under my neck, pulling me closer to him.

There was a certain kind of desperation, a hunger, a fear crawling through King Alpha. It seeped through him to me. I could feel his emotions from the way he pulled me close, from the way he kissed me hard, from the way he refused to let go. At that moment, I wanted to give him all of me. It's crazy I know but I wanted to give him all of me.

His mouth finally unlatched mine, letting me take in a breath but before I could do anything, his mouth latched onto my neck and a moan came out of my mouth. My hands went to wrap around his head, fingers running through his hair, as he left hot kisses on the crook of my neck right where he marked me last time.

My eyes refused to open, letting me enjoy the feel of this moment with his body, half-naked, pressed against mine. His arms holding me to him. My hands in his hair. His mouth on my neck.

It all felt like a dream. A dream too good to be true.   

Another moan almost came out of my mouth before I held it in and instead tugged on his hair. That gave him a rose as a low growl came deep within his throat and he gently grazed his teeth on my mark.

This felt good. All of this felt good. The stress that I had been working up inside me, everything slowly melted away with him kissing me like this.

I wanted to run my hands over his body, over his chest, over his biceps, but he held me too close to move freely. King Alpha left soft bites after bites on the side of my neck.

A yelp came out of my mouth when he bit a little too hard.

Something wet trickled down my neck making my eyes snap open. I looked down at King Alpha, his mouth still on my neck. He bit me harder again. Another yelp came out of my mouth. But he didn't stop. My yelps seemed to make him bite harder.

"Stop," I breathed out, "hey stop."

He didn't stop. He grew more possessive until his grip around my waist tightened until I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Alpha, stop," I said, more aware now.

A growl resounded from his throat, making me panic slighting.

"Stop!" I repeated more firmly again.

But he didn't.

I grabbed his head in my hands, pulling it up from my neck to my face. His eyes glowed wild golden, canines pointed out into a snarl, with small beads of blood dripping from them. A scream left my lips making him growl at my face.

I placed my hand on his shoulders, pushing him away and trying to get up. But he wasn't having it. He pushed me back down, roughly grabbing my hands and pinning them above my head.

This isn't King Alpha.

This was his beast.

He brought his mouth to my face hungrily. I turned my face away, making him kiss the side of my face instead.

"So...fucking...tasty." He said in a throaty growl.

"I know I'm delicious but you need to snap of it!" I yelled, trying to free my hands.

This didn't feel like a good dream at all.

"Snap out of it!" I yelled, trying to kick him but he pinned my legs down with his.

Claws extracted from his hands, "So...tasty."

"Alpha, stop!"

He ran his hands through my hair, before roughly gripping me by the neck, leaning my head away so my neck was bare to him. He flashed his fangs, looking ready to sink them into my neck.

I managed to free one of my hands and slapped him right across the face. His head snapped right.

A whimper came out of his lips like a dog.

I didn't wait any moment, and freed my other hand, trying to find the strength in me to push him away. He didn't completely move but moved just enough for to slide from under him. I went stumbling out of the bed, half running half staggering towards the door.  

Before I could reach the door, a large beast jumped in front of me, baring his teeth. I flinched back.

King Alpha growled at me.

I held up my hands, "You need to get control of yourself." I tried speaking in the most calming voice ever.

"Mine." He growled in response. 

"Exactly, I need to be alive and intact for that."

"Mine." He inched closer making me take a step back.

"Who's a good boy? Who wants to be a good boy?"

He inched another step closer while I again moved back.

"Look, Ezzy loved kissing you, but Ezzy hates you attacking me after." I almost cried out when he took two steps forward, almost close to reaching me. "So please get ahold of yourself."

He growled within his throat, his eyes blazing gold and without another thought, he pounced on me. A scream left my lips as I collided with the ground. Before I could move, a heavy paw landed on my chest, holding me firmly to the ground. 

The beast snarled at me, showing all razor-sharp teeth. He raised his head, opening his mouth, ready to strike me. My only instinct there was to shut my eyes. A loud growl echoed in the room. Then...

Silence.

The speed beating of my heart and my ragged breaths were the only sounds in the room.

Resisting the urge to whimper or cry, I slowly opened my eyes to see King Alpha back to his human form, frozen on top of me. His eyes were wide and blue, his mouth parted open. His whole face was horror-stricken.

He blinked, removing his hand which pressed me to the ground. He moved dazedly from on top of me, as if whatever he did slowly caught up to him like a bad dream. He moved away from me, running his hand through his hair numerous times.

I slowly got off the floor, feeling tightness in my throat, "W-what happened to you?"

He didn't answer and kept flickering like a lightbulb, looking highly disturbed. He walked over to his balcony, opened the glass doors and stepped out.

His broad shoulders held tension and stiffness as he clutched the balcony railing with his hands.

I stood in my place for a while, stuck like a statue, only gazing at King Alpha's bare back.

Finally having it in me, I crept towards him and out in the chilly night.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a soft voice.

He tilted his head at my voice but didn't say anything.

"If that was your way of charming ladies then boy, I gotta say, you need attracting lessons. 'Cause girls don't find that attractive like...at all."

"Ezlynn, shut up." His voice sounded low.

I had spoken up only to lighten the mood. 

"That's not what an apology sounds like," I said.

"Why are you here?"

I crossed my arms against my chest, "Oh you see, I don't know what to do after being attacked by a beast, so you know, I'm just chillin', out here, with you."  

He whirled so fast; that I didn't even notice until his hands gripped my arms. A gasp escaped my lips. My eyes snapped to his.

He looked angry, irritated.

"I mean it," he gritted his teeth, "Why are you here?"

And I knew he didn't mean why was I on his balcony. He meant why was I here at all.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Don't act innocent," he spoke harshly, fingers tightening on my arms, "no insane person would actually choose to stay here until they had a reason. Why are you here?" he jerked me close until his sharp teeth almost bit off my face, "to break me again?"

"You think I chose to stay because I want you to turn into your beast?!" I yelled, trying to pry off his hands off my arms.

"What else can there be?" he raised an eyebrow, "I tried killing you and now you want revenge for it."

My mouth fell open, "Do I seriously look like the type of person who takes revenge?"

"Then tell me, Ezlynn," his expressions turned dark, "why are you here? Why would you be here, in danger, when you can be as far away as you can from here, where no harm can touch you?"

"Because..." I opened my mouth then stammered off as I didn't know how to explain my thoughts.

"Because?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Because in a way, I'm helping myself," I finally started, although that's not the entire truth.

"How?"

"I'm learning how to fight people; I'm learning a new version of myself. I've been kept in the dark for a very long time and being here helps me see the actual world."

He titled his head to the side, a deep 'hmm' coming from his throat as his eyes roamed over my face.

"You lie like an expert." He stated.

"You can think whatever you want," I glared, "I know what I'm here for and I know what kind of a person I am. If you knew me only the tiniest bit, then you would know that I'd never do something such as called "revenge"."

He shut his mouth only proceeding to glare at me.

"And how does turning you into a beast called as having revenge?" I asked, "I would prefer more of stabbing or drowning."

He rolled his eyes, "Some of us turn into our wolves and don't ever change back."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"When we turn into our wolves, it's hard to stay connected with the human mind of ours. If we lose focus, then we might lose our subconscious and might never change back."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, oh."

"But why did you change into your wolf form now?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "we were just-" my cheeks heated up, "you know."

He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long sigh, "Werewolves feel emotions more than humans. Including attraction. And feeling high emotions usually stirs awake our beast from inside."

"So you mean to say that...your emotions were too high that's why you suddenly turned into your beast?"

He shot me a glare, "Way to make me feel like a high school girl, stupid."

"What? I'm just trying to understand you."

"My emotions heightened while I was kissing you. Does that clear your doubts?" He gave me a pointed irritated look.

"Yeah, yeah," I said while trying to hide a cheeky grin.

"Good!" He turned away from me, back to clutching the railing.

I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it, choosing to huff instead, crossing my arms against my chest.

"So was kissing me a mistake?" I blurted.

He turned towards me, frowning, "What?"

I immediately shook my head, "Nothing, nothing. I'm just stressed from the past few days and don't know what I'm saying or doing."

He crossed his arms against his chest, leaning back on the railing, "Why are you stressed?"

"The ball," I stated in an obvious tone.

"What about that?"

"You can't just tell someone that they're gonna be attending a ball with Royals from all over the past coming to see her without expecting her to be stressed about it."

He shrugged, "There's nothing to stress about. You just have to meet a couple of people, talk, dance, eat and then we'll be done."

"What about you? What do you have to do?"

He gave a bored look, "The same as you."

I inhaled deeply, wrapping my hands around myself, getting lost in my thoughts.

"Hey," King Alpha spoke, reading my face.

I looked up at him.

"If you manage to embarrass yourself -which I know you will- I'll trip someone from the crowd, so the crowd's attention is not on you."

My eyes widened, "Geez, King Alpha. That's the nicest thing you've done. Trying to make up for your sins by doing good?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Piss off."

A laugh came out of my lips.

"And I'm done here," he pushed himself off the railing, walking over to his room. Not before turning around with a warning look, "If you tell anyone about what happened tonight, I'll bite off your tongue."

I made a gesture of sealing my lips with my hands, giving him a fake sweet smile like the one a little kid does.

He scrunched his nose at that.

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Date: 24 August 2021