Chapter 7: Stranger With Blue Eyes
Rosalie:
The darkness didn’t disappear all at once. Instead, it loosened slowly, like cold fingers reluctantly slipping away from my body one by one.
At first, all I could feel was warmth... then softness.
Something smooth was beneath my fingertips and also around my aching body. It felt strange after the freezing rain and violent river currents that were still buried somewhere inside my memories like broken fragments of a nightmare.
For a long moment, I simply floated there between consciousness and sleep, unable to separate reality from dreams. Everything hurt. Even breathing felt difficult.
But the warmth surrounding me felt so gentle... so safe... that a dangerous part of me wanted to sink back into it and never wake up again.
Then pain struck harder. It was sharp, heavy, and very real. A weak sound escaped my throat as consciousness slowly dragged me upward, forcing me to finally open my eyes.
The light immediately blurred my vision, making me blink several times. My lashes fluttered weakly as I tried to adjust to the dim golden glow filling the space around me. It wasn’t bright like hospital lighting. It was softer. Warmer. Coming from elegant lamps placed around the large unfamiliar room.
Room.
The realization came slowly.
I wasn’t outside anymore. I wasn’t in the forest, and not in the river either. And I definitely wasn’t dead.
Confusion flooded through me as my vision gradually sharpened enough to make out my surroundings.
I was in a bedroom, that was the first thing I understood. And it was a large one.
Elegant dark wooden walls stretched around the space, softened by warm lighting and pale curtains swaying gently near floor-to-ceiling glass wall. The bed beneath me was unbelievably soft, layered with blankets far too expensive-looking for any ordinary place. Everything around me carried an odd balance of luxury and calmness.
It was beautiful, but completely unfamiliar.
Panic immediately surged through my chest.
Where was I? And who brought me here?
The last thing I remembered was... the cliff... falling... and the river.
My breath caught sharply as alarm shot through me and I instinctively tried to sit up. But the moment I moved, agony exploded through my body.
A cry tore from my throat before I could stop it as unbearable pain ripped across my abdomen, back, arms... everywhere. It felt like my entire body was being crushed apart from the inside.
I collapsed back against the pillows instantly, trembling violently.
"Ah-!"
Tears overwhelmed my eyes immediately, spilling from the corners of my eyes before I could stop them. My breathing turned uneven from the sheer intensity of the pain. I curled my fingers weakly against the blankets beneath me.
It hurt so much.
Every tiny movement sent another wave of agony through me until I genuinely thought I might pass out again.
And then, the door suddenly opened.
I flinched instinctively and my tear-blurred gaze snapped toward the sound just as someone hurried inside.
"Don’t move." The voice was deep, smooth, and calm despite the urgency in it. "You’ll reopen your injuries if you force yourself up right now-"
He kept speaking as he approached quickly, but my mind stopped processing his words almost immediately. Because I finally saw him and forgot how to breathe.
He was... beautiful.
No - that wasn’t enough. No single word felt enough.
The man crossing the room toward me looked unreal in the dim golden lighting, like someone who didn’t belong in ordinary reality at all. Long silver hair flowed down his back in smooth silken strands, half of it was pulled into an elegant half-bun while the rest remained loose behind him.
He was tall, easily over six feet, with broad shoulders and a lean, toned figure hidden beneath pale flowing clothes that somehow looked both luxurious and effortless at the same time. A pale blue silk shirt rested against his frame, collarless with a deep V-shaped neckline that exposed part of his collarbone, while white trousers disappeared beneath a long white outer robe that moved softly as he walked.
The style was unusual, nothing like what men in the packs usually wore. And yet somehow, it made him look even more breathtaking.
My gaze drifted higher without permission, to his sharp jawline, then those long dark eyelashes, and the smooth pale skin.
I found myself staring... completely. Shamelessly. Some distant part of my brain vaguely realized I was probably being rude, but I couldn’t stop. My exhausted, confused mind seemed entirely incapable of looking away from him.
His eyes were deep blue, like the ocean beneath moonlight, and they met mine directly.
I gasped softly like I had been caught committing a crime. And a faint smile curved the corners of his lips almost instantly.
"Well," he murmured smoothly, stopping beside the bed. "You must be feeling better than expected if you still have enough energy left to make me feel handsome that openly."
Heat rushed into my cheeks so fast it physically hurt.
Oh Moon Goddess.
I immediately looked away, mortified beyond belief. I opened my mouth to speak, to defend myself, but no words came out.
My embarrassment only seemed to amuse him further, though thankfully not in a cruel way. His smile softened slightly instead of deepening, and he spared me by changing the subject before I could completely die from humiliation.
"You suffered quite severe injuries," he said calmly as he reached for the tray resting on the bedside table. "Three broken ribs. A fractured arm. A fractured foot. Multiple deep bruises and lacerations across your back and shoulders."
My face slowly paled with every injury he listed.
He spoke clinically, matter-of-factly. But he didn’t need to explicitly say the words for me to understand how serious it was.
My body suddenly felt even heavier against the bed as I recalled the details of how I exactly I ended up like this. Memories surfaced of the cliff, and the rocks I hit on the way down, and the sharp tearing pain every time my body slammed against stone before I finally crashed into the river below.
A shiver ran through me at the memory alone.
I had genuinely thought I was going to die.
The silver-haired man picked up a syringe from the tray while speaking calmly, loading clear medicine into it with practiced ease.
Only then did I finally notice the equipment surrounding the bed, and my eyes widened slightly. There were monitors, medical machines, and an IV attached to my arm.
The steady beeping sound I had ignored earlier suddenly became noticeable in the quiet room.
Confusion twisted inside me again. This wasn’t a hospital. At least... it didn’t look like one. The room resembled something out of a luxury villa more than any medical facility I had ever seen. Yet at the same time, it clearly was functioning like one.
Who exactly was this man? And why was I here?
Fear slowly crept back into my chest beneath the confusion. Because suddenly I remembered something else - the men chasing me. Luxe. The push.
My breathing grew uneven again.
The silver-haired man seemed to notice immediately because his expression softened slightly as he stepped closer with the prepared injection.
"Relax," he said quietly. "Your body is under too much stress already."
Easy for him to say.
My fingers tightened weakly against the blanket as I watched him approach. Up close, he somehow looked even more unfairly handsome. And somehow... that made him even more dangerous.
I swallowed painfully, my throat dry and raw before finally forcing out the question that had been burning inside me since he stepped inside the room.
"Who..." My voice cracked badly, hoarse and weak from disuse. "Who are you...?"
He stopped beside the bed.
The filled syringe gleamed softly beneath the golden light as his deep blue eyes settled fully onto mine.
