My jaw clenched, and my chest tightened in fury. The interruption was a slap to the perfect moment I was savoring.
I turned sharply, already prepared to lash out when I saw who it was—Celia.
My mood darkened instantly. I didn't even bother masking the scowl that overtook my face.
Celia was everything I despised—loud, intrusive, and far too bold for my liking. She didn't belong near Jasmine. No one did.
"What the fuck? How dare you barge into my office unannounced?" I asked coldly, feeling my arousal relaxing.
Fuck it. She just ruined a very pleasant morning for me.
She flinched, "I am sorry, Alpha. I knocked several times but didn't get a response." She explained, her hands tightening around the files she held.
"The next time you don't get a response, I suggest you leave and try again. Is that too much for an adult's brain to process? You mustn't be told everything, must you?" I snapped at her lame excuse.
"...I am sorry, Alpha." She apologized, as if it would do anything to calm the storm raging inside me. "I brought the files you asked me to bring," she managed, and I glared at her, gesturing for her to drop them on the table and leave. She did without hesitation and scurried away immediately.
By the time I turned my attention to my obsession, she was staring at me with disappointment written all over her. She always disliked the way I spoke to her friend. But who cares?
JASMINE
"I am so sorry. I..." I said, heaving a sigh of frustration.
The phone felt slippery in my hand as I clutched it tightly, careful to keep my voice low. My heart pounded with an anxious rhythm that almost left me breathless.
"Jasmine... I know it's not your fault, but how many more apologies will you have to offer?" He questioned.
"I'm trying, Cory," I whispered, pressing my palm against my mouth to muffle the words. "I don't know how to make him see reason. Alaric is—he's suffocating me." My voice cracked, and I bit down hard on my lip to stifle a sob.
On the other end, Cory's silence lingered for a beat too long before he finally spoke. "Mine, you have to fight for yourself. You deserve your own life. He can't keep dictating everything you do." His voice was so gentle that it made my chest ache more.
He chose to call me 'Mine.'
From Cory, the name felt sweet, almost natural, as if the name belonged to me and not to his control. But from Alaric... it was different. Every time he said it, the word wrapped around me like chains—possessive, inescapable, suffocating.
Alaric made it specific that he was the only one allowed to call me Mine. He claimed the name as his own, made it clear that no one else was allowed to utter it. But Cory didn't know that, and I couldn't bring myself to stop him. He'd chosen it on his own, just as Alaric had, drawing it from my name in an innocent way.
Why should it matter? Why should it feel like I was betraying something—or someone—when it wasn't meant to belong to him in the first place?
I turned my head towards the door, my gaze darting to the thin sliver of light spilling through the gap at the bottom. The last thing I needed was Alaric knowing I had a secret phone, which I used in communicating with Cory.
If he ever found out... The consequence is something I don't want to think about. No. Not now.
"I don't know how to fight him," I admitted in a hoarse whisper, gripping the phone tighter. "It's like he's everywhere. Watching. Controlling." My voice broke off as tears threatened to spill, and I drew a shaky breath. "I'm tired, Cory. I just want to be free. To live my life without feeling like I owe him every moment of it."
He sighs. "If your brother keeps up like this, we'll never have the chance to spend any time together. You deserve happiness, and it kills me to know you don't have it." He said in his usual calm tone.
I could tell. He was tired. For someone who was still trying to woo me, he must have exhausted his patience already.
We've not had the opportunity to feel the things people feel when they are at this stage of a relationship. There isn't any thrill, memories, excitement, anticipation... Just name it!
A sudden creak broke the quiet, and my blood ran cold. Footsteps. Coming closer.
"Cory," I hissed, my voice barely audible. "He is coming." My hands trembled as I scrambled to think. My eyes darted to the room, searching for a place to hide the phone.
I usually hid it inside a box of sanitary pads and tossed it under the wardrobe. But right now, I didn't have the luxury of time for that.
The footsteps stopped just outside my door. The handle jiggled once, twice. My heart leaped into my throat.