Who the fuck is he?!
But I don't say it. Instead, I'm staring at him wide-eyed, steaming, yet cornered by his presence and the warm feel of him against my fingers.
The rage was dying down quickly—like coal embers doused in ice. I needed to stay angry... this time I needed my rage.
But none of it was happening, and he looked at me with that same curious, studious gaze—as if he were taking notes.
"Fenrir?" he called my name, then slowly and skillfully snatched my chin with slender fingers, tilting my head to the side. "Wow..." he murmured, another tilt, "which is the real color, ice blue or red? Both are pretty."
What?! Okay, what? WHAT? I just snatched up his hand—didn't he see that? Didn't he feel the strength pulsing through my veins? And why the hell was I blushing?
I quickly pulled my hands away from his, leaving my face in his grasp so he could continue studying me like some kind of lab experiment while I melted in a pool of my own embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, suddenly struggling to find my words. "I lost it and—"
But his fingers pressed into my cheeks, cutting off my words in an instant, his eyes knitting as if I had momentarily disturbed his focus. I blinked, apology and confusion filling my eyes.
"They fluctuate." A fascinated smile settled on his lips as he released my chin and walked toward the other room where the tests were carried out. "Interesting," I heard him mutter.
I stared at his back, then at my own hands—two deadly weapons of destruction—but at that moment, they never felt more like two slabs of ham, especially as I continued turning red.
'Oh Goddess, you're a fucking mess,' my wolf cringed.
I knew it. A small smile crept to my lips as I fell back against the bed, staring at the ceiling and embracing the silence in my head along with the comforting sense of his closeness—the lingering after-feel of his fingers still digging into my chin.
I could live with this.
I'd deal with the reason for the change in his scent later. Besides... it was never going to happen again.
***
THEODORE
If I thought I was fascinated by his eyes, then his medical record knocked me off my feet—every line revealed something new that made one ponder what sort of creature the Beta really was.
For instance, the room was warm and quiet because he reacted to anything less than thirty degrees and overwhelming noise. No wonder it was all soundproofed.
On the day of his first shift, he had destroyed a spacious part of the Pack and woken up beneath a cliff, eventually finding his way back to the Packhouse asking to be caged.
And when that failed, two days later the former Beta and his wife were found dead. No reason was given, just "a moment of madness."
Perhaps a mental hospital could help him better than I could, since I had absolutely no clue what I was doing here...
I never had a case like this dropped into my hands, and that was exactly what I needed to distract my mind from the throbbing pain spreading through every inch of my body.
Fucking Jordan—I knew he wasn't going to take it smoothly. How I managed to crawl out of his club and back to my hotel was still a mystery. The painkillers didn't help, but a long, hot soak did.
So did the turtleneck that was hiding the evidence of his assault on my body... though with the burning heat in the room, I was being tugged to remove it.
However, the last thing I wanted was to embarrass my patient, not when I could feel eyes digging into my back time and again.
Or was I just being self-conscious? Self-conscious? Funny—it was just Fenrir... the weird kid who was now Beta.
Except the Fenrir I knew wasn't the one standing here. If he weren't so crazy, he would be a serial heartbreaker.
A face carved to perfection, full kissable lips, and that crooked nose that screamed of all his escapades.
He grew up.
I heard him sigh and turned around to find him plopped on the bed, swinging his legs with boredom and counting the ceiling.
Okay, maybe not GROWN up.
The phone rang, and I walked over to it, pressing it to my ear. "Doctor Theodore."
"Doc, I'm at the front door." A gruff voice filtered into my ear. "The Alpha wants you."
Oh, already? I shut the record book and stepped out of the lab, finding him fast asleep. For a mad monster, he slept like a dreamy princess. Soon, I was out the door, walking behind the guard.
What did Alexei want? Perhaps to show me another mad Esper? If that was it, then I was prepared to tell him that one was already too much.
"This way," the soldier muttered, cutting through a dim corner.
My brows knitted when, after five minutes, we were still walking down dim corridors. The Parkhouse had never been this big—not even with the underground castle.
Something felt off... "Where did you say Alexei is?" I broke the silence.
He glanced at me from over his shoulder, said nothing, and returned his gaze forward.
Okay... I held my breath, hating the memories hitting me from all sides. "Hey, can't you hear me?"
Still silence... But then I listened carefully and caught it: footsteps trailing behind me, a few feet away.
I looked around at the wall I couldn't quite see, my heart thudding hard against my chest. Did Alexei even know I was out of the Parkhouse?
Who were they? What did they want that they had me surrounded?
I didn't speak anymore. A bright illumination peeking from an open door frame caught my eyes. If I could only race there before them...
I could make it...
The last time I thought this way... I almost didn't make it.
I took to my heels, dashing past the soldier—his stance almost knocking me down—but still I ran.
I could hear them yelling, their voices thundering against the walls.
I was going to make it. This time, I was going to make it.
But just as I stepped foot into what I thought was freedom, there was a loud bang.