Chapter 15: Stranger With Grey Eyes
Rosalie:
The nightmare came again.
Only this time, it felt different. There was no cliff, no rain, and no river swallowing me whole. Instead, I was standing alone in endless darkness while voices echoed around me from every direction.
Weak.
Unworthy.
Pathetic.
Plaything.
The whispers crawled beneath my skin like poison, growing louder and louder until I couldn’t breathe anymore. Then suddenly Alastor appeared in front of me, followed by Darien and Kaiser, and all three of them looked at me the same way strangers looked at dirt beneath their shoes.
They looked cold, detached, and done with me.
Charlotte stood beside them wearing white, beautiful enough to blind the world itself, her hand resting against her stomach while the three men surrounded her protectively.
The place beside them that I once thought belonged to me... had never existed at all.
Then Alastor looked directly at me and said the words that shattered something inside me completely. "You were never enough."
I woke up gasping.
Heat smothered me instantly. For one disoriented second, I thought I was still trapped inside the nightmare because my entire body felt like it was burning alive. My breathing came out uneven as sweat clung heavily against my skin and soaked through the thin fabric of my sleep clothes.
It was unbearably hot. No, I was actually burning up.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness around me, and recognition came quickly this time. It had been an entire week since I first woke up in this house, and the room had become somewhat familiar now.
I pushed myself upright slowly, wincing faintly as dizziness hit me almost immediately. By now, I had mostly healed. The fractures were nearly gone, the bruises had faded, and I could walk properly again without Aria hovering beside me every three seconds.
Or so I thought.
Because right now, I genuinely felt like I was dying. Maybe I had a fever. That had to be it.
I reached shakily toward the bedside table and grabbed the glass of water waiting there before drinking almost the entire thing desperately. Cold water slid down my throat, but it barely helped. If anything, the heat inside me seemed to intensify instead.
A soft sound escaped my lips as another wave of unbearable warmth rolled through my body.
What was happening to me?
My gaze drifted toward the small wall clock Aria had insisted on placing in my room a few days ago.
12:37 AM.
It was already past midnight.
I needed Eiden. The thought appeared instantly and firmly in my mind. He would know what was wrong and how to fix it.
With trembling legs, I carefully climbed out of bed. And the moment my feet touched the floor, dizziness hit me harder. The room tilted slightly. I grabbed the edge of the bedside table for balance and forced myself to breathe steadily.
Why was I feeling like this?
My skin felt hypersensitive. Every brush of fabric against my body made heat coil deeper inside me. Even the cool ocean breeze drifting through the slightly open glass door barely touched the burning sensation consuming me from the inside.
I needed something cold. Something... someone.
The thought startled me. But before I could dwell on it, I forced myself toward the bedroom door and stepped into the quiet hallway outside. The house was silent and dark. Only faint moonlight filtered through the large windows as I slowly made my way toward the staircase leading upstairs.
Toward Eiden’s room.
Each step felt harder than the last. My breathing became heavier while warmth pulsed violently beneath my skin, growing stronger and stranger with every passing second. My body felt weak, yet at the same time unbearably sensitive in ways I didn’t understand.
I gripped the staircase railing tightly while climbing upward. And halfway there, I nearly stumbled. A shaky breath escaped me.
Goddess! What was wrong with me?
By the time I finally reached the upper floor, I was trembling and not from cold.
The hallway upstairs was dimly lit by soft wall lights, and at the very end stood a large closed door - Eiden’s bedroom.
I somehow forced my weak legs forward until I finally reached it. Then I lifted my hand and knocked. Or tried to because the knock came out pitifully weak and barely audible.
I leaned heavily against the door afterward because standing on my own suddenly felt impossible.
Would he even hear that? I wondered. He was probably asleep since it’s so late. I swallowed hard and forced my arm upward again, preparing to knock properly this time, but before my hand could touch the door, it suddenly opened inward.
A startled sound escaped me as my already unstable body lurched forward. And then, I crashed directly into something solid and cold.
The sensation hit me instantly. I found something cold in the most heavenly way imaginable and I froze against it. No... against him.
The coolness surrounding his body felt incredible against my burning skin, and before I could even process what I was doing, I instinctively pressed closer with a soft relieved breath escaping my lips.
It felt good. Too good.
Something strange unfurled deep inside me immediately afterward - warmth, longing, and need. The emotions hit so suddenly and intensely that it stole my breath completely.
Strong hands settled carefully against my shoulders then, steadying me before gently pulling me back just enough to create space between us. Reluctantly and painfully, I lifted my head. And the moment my eyes met his, the world stopped.
Deep gray eyes stared back at me. While dark, wet strands fell loosely over an impossibly beautiful face I had never seen before, and yet somehow, every part of me recognized him instantly.
Air vanished from my lungs and the strange burning inside me exploded violently. Everything around us disappeared - the room, the house, the world. All I could hear was my heartbeat thundering wildly while the same single word left both our mouths at the exact same time.
"Mate."
