THE WAR INSIDE HER
Ariana didn't remember leaving the Glass Room
One moment she was standing in front of that impossibly intense man…
the next, she was in the elevator, gripping the railing as the world tilted and now she's in a white looking room ..
Her heart wasn't beating normally.
It was stuttering.
Skipping.
Doubling.
Three pulses.
Three rhythms.
Her.
Ryn.
Lila.
They were all awake.
Where are we ?
"Hospital, you collapsed" .. Ryn answered
But how ?
He saved us ... Lila whimpered softly inside her mind.
"But he scared me … he stood too close… I didn't like his eyes."
Ryn snapped immediately.
"Shut up. You loved it. I could feel you staring at him like a puppy ready to wag your tail for his touch ."
"Nu-uh!" Lila cried. "He smelled like danger."
Ryn scoffed.
"He smelled like power."
Ariana squeezed her temples.
"Please… please stop. I can't think."
But they didn't stop.
Because they had felt something too.
Not just fear.
Not just attraction.
Something deeper.
Older.
Closer.
Ryn's voice dropped, shocked.
"…he looked at us like he knew."
Ariana froze.
"Knew…? About us?"
Ryn almost whispered.
"No. Something else. He looked at us… like he recognized us, even Vyre was attracted to him .. she was the most attracted"
Lila spoke again, trembling.
"He smelled me."
The elevator doors opened.
Ariana sat her self up , her breath sharp and uneven.
"What the hell does that mean?" she whispered under her breath.
Ryn didn't answer.
Because she didn't know either.
Let's get out of here .. Lila whispered .. I don't like the smell of hospitals
Okay .. Ariana replied
---
In a small café few feet away from her house
Ariana sank into a seat by the window, palms shaking as she ordered water.
Her reflection stared back at her ... wet hair stuck to her cheeks, mascara smudged, eyes too wide.
She looked like someone running from a ghost.
And maybe she was.
Ryn suddenly hissed.
"He's watching."
Ariana gasped, twisting in her seat.
"He's not...."
Then she saw it.
Across the street…
In a black Maybach …
Behind the tinted window…
Was a shadow
Unmoving.
Staring directly at her.
Her throat closed.
Her fingers tightened on the table.
"…he wouldn't follow me," she whispered.
Ryn scoffed.
"He doesn't need to follow you. He can feel you."
Lila whimpered.
"Why is he still looking at us?"
Ariana swallowed hard.
Why is he here ?
She didn't know.
But she couldn't look away .. it was like she could see those burning eyes staring down at her like she was prey…
or something worse.
Something important.
Something claimed.
Inside her mind, things got worse
Ryn spoke first, voice sharp as a blade.
"He's dangerous. We shouldn't go back tomorrow."
Lila shook.
"But… but he didn't hurt us…"
Ryn growled.
"Yet."
Ariana pressed her palms over her eyes.
"Stop fighting. Please. I need this job. We need it. Everything is riding on tomorrow."
Silence.
Then Ryn said slowly…
"…you don't get it, Ariana. That man didn't just intimidate us."
Lila whispered the rest.
"He triggered something."
Ariana stiffened.
"Triggered what?"
"Vyre spoke for the first time in a long time .... Because of him "... Lila said
Why is it like that ? And why is she so silent again? Who or what exactly is Luca Anderson.... Ariana pondered
Neither alter answered.
Because even they didn't uderstand what ever was going on.
We owe him a thank you right ? .. vyre spoke for the second time that day ...
We do .. Ariana and Lila responded
Then suddenly the car started and drove off like running away from something..
---
Across the street, In the maybach
Anderson Luca hadn't moved an inch,funny enough he was driving home but didn't know how he ended up here .... Looking at her
His wolf was practically an inch away from clawing at the glass.
Go to her.
Touch her.
Kiss her.
Claim her.
MATE.
Anderson's hands were in fists so tight they almost bled.
"She's scared," he said under his breath , looking into her eyes ,knowing fully well that he has been spotted but too determined to run away ...
The wolf snarled.
Then protect her.
But protect her from what?
From whom?
From me?... He thought to himself
His jaw tightened.
"Tomorrow," he whispered.
Tomorrow, she would be in his building again.
Breathing his air.
Feeling his presence.
And he could begin unraveling the mystery inside her.
Mate or not…
broken or not…
human or not…
He wasn't letting her slip away.
At least not in this world.
With that he drove off ...