Chapter 4

Dean:

My heart dropped as my wolf called ‘Mate’ at the woman who was sitting, choking, in front of me.

Her heartbeat slowed down, and I wrapped my arms around her before opening the antidote and forcing it down her throat.

Her breathing evened in a minute, but she slept in my arms as I looked at her with keen and careful eyes. My body aching with the need to figure out how I wasn’t able to sense her.

I lifted her in my arms and got out of the pool, carrying her inside, heading to my suite. There was no way that I was going to leave now that I knew that my mate was here, and all this time, for months, she was working for me.

She laid her head on my chest, her wolf purring despite her being asleep and I couldn’t help but return the purrs as I ran my finger over her bare shoulder gently.

“Boss?” Viktor asked, frowning in confusion as he took sight of me, processing what he was seeing. I had to fight back a growl, reminding myself that there were humans around, as I grew protective over the small woman who lay in my arms, my instincts hitting me harder than I thought they would as I knew that she was in a vulnerable state.

“Delay the flight, we aren’t leaving in the morning,” I said, heading toward the elevator. One of the receptionists ran toward the elevator, pressing the button for me and scanning his card, leading toward my executive floor, and I nodded as I got inside. I looked down at the woman for a few seconds before looking up at Viktor who was frowning in confusion, trying to process what was going on. 

Then again, even I didn’t know what was going on to give him an answer to it. And that alone was enough to make my mind race with a number of thoughts that I didn’t understand.

The elevator door closed and I watched the numbers as it went up, and it was a few seconds before it opened again, revealing my living room.

I walked toward my bedroom, my maid, who was cleaning the room, frowned in confusion before masking her expression with a smile as she rushed toward my room, opening the door. I walked inside and lay the woman who was in my arms on my bed. Her chest rose and fell with each breath that she took, and I ran my finger over her forehead, my touch gentle as I removed her hair from her face, wanting to see her face clearly.

"Boss, is there anything that you need me to get for you?” The maid asked, standing by the door, waiting for further instructions from me.

“You can leave,” I said, looking at her over my shoulder and she nodded before walking out and closing the door, leaving the two of us alone. I kept my eyes on the woman, my mate, my heart racing against my ribcage as my body burned with anticipation and I needed to understand what was going on. 

“Who are you, Arianna?” I asked, my voice dropping to above a whisper as I ran my finger over her cheekbone for a second, studying her face. “And how the fucking hell didn’t I feel you or your wolf for this entire time?”

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I watched as my mate opened her eyes, gasping for air before she sat up in a rush, clearly processing what happened as she recalled the fact that she could have died. And the fact that it could have happened had I not found out that she was my mate was something that I wouldn’t deny, but then again, she didn’t even know that she was barely saved because she was. 

Her being a woman was the one reason why I was forced to use the poison to begin with. I didn’t hurt women, but when I needed to, a few drops were enough to finish the task without tormenting them as much as I would to a man who was my own size and could fight back. 

Her eyes met mine and she frowned before curling back on the bed, her heart racing against her chest as she looked at me with wide eyes. 

She looked down at her body, frowning when she saw that she was wearing a shirt, my shirt, and I stayed still, sitting on my chair, watching her as I studied her expression. Her heart raced against her ribcage and I was quiet, watching her as I waited for her to speak. 

However, she didn’t. Not that it should have surprised me anyway.

She looked up at me for a second before taking a deep breath and raising an eyebrow. “I take it that you chose not to kill me.” 

“I did not choose not to,” I said, getting up from my chair before throwing my phone on her lap. I had to ignore the clench that I felt in my chest as I looked at her, studying her expression for a few seconds, reading her body language as she looked down at the video. 

If she was masking the fact that she was my mate, then I was going to do the same thing. Regardless of my wolf, I knew to resist the urge, and that was something that I could tell she was doing. 

She looked up at me and crossed her arms over her chest, taking a deep breath as she clearly put up a challenge. “I believe that you know very well what I can and will do without hesitation; therefore, I do suggest that you look down at the video this time.” 

She frowned in confusion and looked at my phone, watching the scene before her eyes before they widened. She let out a low growl and looked at me, making me smirk as I got the reaction that I wanted.

“You have one minute to answer, because if you have no value for your life, I will choose to believe that the heroic act of yours earlier was not just an act…”