Chapter 0094

Alexander.

Athena couldn't look away from the dead Lycan. A faint smile touched her lips. Each day, her darkness seemed to bleed through a little more.

"Did you know him?" I asked.

"He was one of them." Her gaze lingered on the belt buckle around his waist. His pants had begun to tear during the shift. But he'd been killed before completing it. The buckle remained intact. She stared at it with recognition.

"He used to hit me with that." Her voice was low, her focus entirely on the corpse. I wondered if she'd looked at Caleb the same way when she ended him.

"Do you know his name?"

She shook her head. Her eyes barely flickered toward me. I saw how dark they'd become. The blue was almost gone. Nyx was right there, straining at the edges. "Just his face," Athena murmured.

"Any others?" I asked Theodore.

"No. He appears to have come alone." Theodore muttered. "A reckless move."

"Unless it was deliberate. Maybe Dominic thought one could slip through." Caleb had been alone when we found him.

"He just wandered in?" Athena whispered. She knew the guards were posted. But concern still tightened her features.

Theodore pointed toward the trees marking the pack's boundary. Less than two meters from where we stood. "He didn't get far, Athena. That's our territory line."

Her shoulders relaxed slightly at his words.

It made me question if we were being watched. Of all the forest, this spot was closest to the house. And something Athena had said about Caleb. That he would call for Dominic, meaning he must be nearby. I tried to keep my worries hidden, but she was starting to notice.

"Dispose of the body," I ordered. "I don't care how. Just make it disappear."

The two men with Theodore dragged the Lycan toward the boundary line. I turned Athena away, guiding her back toward the house.

"It feels satisfying, doesn't it?" I murmured.

"What do you mean?" She asked, carefully stepping over a fallen log. Her balance was improving.

"Seeing someone who hurt you... dead."

She didn't answer, pretending to focus on the uneven ground.

"You judge me when I kill. But I see the pleasure on your face. You try to hide it. But the curve of your lips gives you away."

She remained silent. I didn't need to read her mind to sense her embarrassment. The pink flush on her cheeks betrayed her. It made me want to take her right there in the open forest.

"They creep in," she muttered, staring at her feet. "I don't... I don't always think like that."

"I know. We all have a part that craves revenge for the past."

"I'm not..." She tried to deny it.

"I saw the look when we first met. The glance at Marcus. The flash of rage on your face. Like I said, you hide it well. But now, your Lycan makes it harder to conceal. How deep does the darkness go, Athena?" I pulled her hips against mine. I wanted her.

She stared at me, her eyes completely pure blue. Her lips parted slightly.

"Or have you just needed someone to tell you it's okay?" I brushed the back of my fingers down her cheek.

Her lavender scent mixed quickly with her arousal. A soft gasp escaped her as I ran a finger along her waistband. Her eyes darted around the forest. This was too exposed for her. The risk of being seen or heard was intimidating.

I leaned close to her ear, my voice dropping to a husky whisper. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything. I want you here. Now."

The air caught in her throat. She gasped as I pushed my hand down the front of her jeans. Just as I expected, she was already wet and dripping for me.