Chapter 6: Little Darkling

— Leia Steele —

In a matter of seconds, before I could even process what was going on, the Dark Alpha had me pinned to the wall.

But what was the most surprising part here wasn’t that. It was the fact that his hand was on my neck, but he wasn’t hurting me. No, it was as if he was just keeping me there while he… looked at me intensely.

His steely blue eyes looked much darker in his room without much light, but I could still see the intensity of his stare. Or rather, I could feel it.

Just like the time I was here hiding in his closet, I could once again feel this unusual magnetic force around him. Only this time, it was becoming stronger now that he was touching me.

I shouldn’t be liking this. Hell, I shouldn’t even be thinking about anything but killing him, but here I was, standing barely a few inches away from him while my friend laid lifeless on the floor and as hard as I tried not to, I just couldn’t get him out of my head.

What the hell was he doing to me and why was he so shocked by my presence? What the hell did he see?

“Answer my question,” he demanded as his breath snaked down my neck.

Fuck, I felt shivers down my spine, but it was a mix of both fear and something else I could not explain.

I didn’t know what to say. Mostly because I wasn’t even sure what answer he wanted. Was he asking me seriously or was this some kind of test? Is this what he did to all those other girls?

It made me think that maybe I wasn’t so special after all and thinking about it like that somehow made my heart ache a little. Why the fuck would that make me feel anything but hatred towards him?!

The Dark Alpha must have lost his patience trying to wait for me to say something because all of a sudden, he puts force on his grip and grabs me by my neck before slamming me against the wall.

“I said, answer my fucking question. Who the fuck are you?” He asked again, this time with a more threatening tone in his voice and in the way he looked at me, but still, if I looked deeper, there was no doubt there was something else lingering in his eyes.

“Le– Leia. Leia Steele.” I coughed up and right after, he released me from his grip.

I don’t know what had gotten into me then, but my body had somehow acted on its own when I used all my might to shove him away from me.

With both my hands, I pushed him on his chest and though I was expecting him to not move at all as if he was a brick wall, I was even more surprised when his feet took a few steps backwards.

What the hell? I did that? But how?

Whatever it was, I knew that I had some sort of power over him now, whether or not it was little or very little, it was something. I had to let him know that I could be in control of this situation, too.

“And don’t fucking push me against the wall again,” I said to him with as much persuasion I could muster.

I thought my bluff would work, but I had underestimated just how powerful the man in front of me was.

Well, how powerful and terrifying he was.

When his lips suddenly curved into an eerie grin, every part of me was overcome by fear. What the fuck was I thinking? There was no way in hell this man would be scared of me! He literally killed somebody without breaking a sweat! I have to get the hell out of here!

I was halfway ready to turn and run back the way I came from knowing full well my chances of getting out of here alive was very slim, but then he spoke.

“Is that so… Leia Steele?”

And hearing my name come out of his lips did things to me I did not know was even possible.

How did he make my name sound so… beautiful? So… enticing? As if I was not just some slave my whole life? Discarded by a man I once thought was my father and completely thrown away like a piece of trash?

“Leia... Steele…” He repeated it again and again as if he was trying to memorize it, memorize each word, each annotation.

And every time he did, I felt like I was being hypnotized by him. As if something deep in me was being… stirred.

I was so distracted that the next time I blinked open my eyes again, he was already towering over me and his fully tattooed arm was hovering behind my head.

What is he going to–

“Ow!”

I felt a surge of pain hit the back of my head because all of a sudden, he pulled my hair down and forced me to look up at him.

It felt like he was pulling my head off my damn neck. Asshole!

“Well what makes you think I would do what you tell me to, Leia Steele?” He asked with a satisfied grin on his face and all I wanted to do was punch him right then and there.

Though I couldn’t deny that at the same time, it was hard not to feel goosebumps at the way he was staring into me and continuously saying my name in that way.

Ah, snap out of it, Leia! He is a monster! An evil and asshole monster who doesn’t deserve to live!

I have to put an end to this once and for all. It’s what Katja and Jane would have wanted.

With that resolve getting stronger and stronger in my mind, I did what I thought I couldn’t do – I defied the Dark Alpha.

It started with me kicking him in a place where I knew all males had their weakness, wolf or not. With all the force I could muster, I used my free leg to knee him straight on his balls and he immediately released me from his hold.

I dropped on the ground with a loud thud and although I felt a pang of pain directly on my neck from the whiplash, I didn’t let this stop me.

I ran to get the steel rod the Dark Alpha threw earlier and fortunately managed to get a hold of it in seconds.

Unfortunately for me, I miscalculated the time it would take for my enemy to recover because as soon as I turned, he was already looking at me.

This time, with anger in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Leia Steele.” He stated, right before licking his lips and biting them as if he was somehow taunting and analyzing me from head to toe at the same time.

“Stop fucking saying my name!” I shouted at him without thinking much of it.

He had been calling me so many times that it was either pissing me off or messing with my head. I had no idea which one was worse among the two.

“Why is that, Leia Steele? Do you not like your name? Or maybe, you don’t like me saying your name?” He said rhetorically, as if he already didn’t know the answer to his own questions.

Was he distracting me or was he trying to buy more time? But why? What could he possibly want from me? To torture me before killing me? Goddess, I really shouldn’t wait around to find out.

“Yes! That’s exactly why so just stop it! Stop and leave me alone, you monster!” I pulled up the steel rod and threatened him with it.

He was so close that just one movement and I could stab him with it easily, but… why wasn’t I doing exactly that? Why was I suddenly… frozen?

“Monster? Do you think I’m a monster, Leia?” He asked and the tone of his voice made me shiver.

It was so… raw.

“I– I do, yes. You– you’re a monster.”

I almost jumped out of my own skin when he managed to get a hold of the steel rod, but this time instead of throwing it away, he held it in place, right by his chest, giving me more chance to just pierce it through him.

“So kill me, Leia. Kill the monster.”

What… the… hell? Did he just say what I think he said?

He tightened his grip on the rod and placed it closer to his chest. One small movement, that was all I needed to do to get him.

But how come I couldn’t do it? How come I was just shaking on the ground and trembling as I held on to the rod?

“What the fuck are you waiting for, Leia Steele? I said, do it! Kill me!”

His shouts made me panic and before I knew it, I had pushed the rod straight into his chest with so much force that the other end had passed through clean.

Blood was dripping on the other side of his body, on his back, and my eyes were as wide as saucers.

I let out a yelp when I pulled out the rod and there was a hole right in the middle of him.

“Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. What did I– Oh, goddess, did I do that? Did I kill–”

The sound of laughter filled the room out of nowhere and when I looked up at the Dark Alpha, I was shocked to my core to see that he was… smiling.

The man I had just pierced right into his chest was laughing and smiling.

He spat out blood and bits of it dripped while he looked at me with the most terrifying smile of all.

“One thing about monsters, silly girl, is that we don’t die that easily. You should know that, too.”

I blinked at him confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He wiped the blood on his mouth with the back of his hand before taking a few wobbly steps, and by the last step he took, it was as if he was already halfway healed.

He raised his bloodied hand up to cup my chin and he looked down at me with a frightening grin. “I’m not the only monster in this room. Look at your eyes, Leia Steele. It’s the same as mine.”

And then he blinked and I almost fell to the ground when his eyes suddenly turned completely black. Nothing… but darkness.

He smeared some of his blood on my cheeks before leaning forward, his lips merely half an inch away, and then he spoke.

“I didn’t think it was possible, but now I do, and I’m sure of it. You, Leia Steele, have the Dark Shadow, too.”

My chest tightened at his words and at the same time, his closeness was making me dizzy.

He let his tongue out and licked the bits of his blood on my cheek, making me shiver.

“I’ve finally found you… my little Darkling.”