Chapter 94: What’s Their Purpose
"Adrian wait..." She tries to pull back to breathe, but Adrian doesn’t let her, using his big frame to press her deeper into the bed, panting heavily.
The scent of his pheromones has changed, territorial and hungry. His Engima wolf is agitated, clawing at the edge, eager to posses it’s mate and wipe of every trace of any other Alpha.
Nyra whimpers when Adrian’s hands shove impatiently beneath his hoodie she is wearing. His palms slide over the soft plane of her stomach, then higher, cupping and caressing her chest with urgency.
Her knees go weak, a wave of unwanted heat rising up her neck making her instinctively press her thighs together.
He pulls them back apart, cursing softly, thumbing her joggers urgently, pulling it lower and lower until her v-line is exposed. Then his hands run down the exposed skin. "You’re so damn pretty." He pants against her neck, pulling her closer until their chest to chest.
"T-thank you." She manages breathlessly. No matter how many times Adrian has slept with her, his touch still makes her feel nervous.
Especially now.
Nyra surrenders completely, arching into his touch, moaning softly as he continues to caress her skin. Gentle like she’s fragile, but with a sense of urgency as he drags her against the thick, throbbing length straining his sweats.
Adrian starts pulling at the drawstrings of his sweats, rutting against her thighs hard and relentless, the friction making both of them shudder. His silver eyes are almost completely dark with lust, every muscle in his arms and shoulders trembling with the effort of holding back as he frees himself.
He is right on the edge. One more second and he will be inside her, wolf fully in control.
Adrian lines up, the blunt head of him pressing hot and insistent against her. His grip on her hips is tight enough to bruise.
But just when Nyra thinks he’s going to go all the way, Adrian suddenly withdraws, ripping himself away from her body. He rolls onto his back beside her, one arm flung over his eyes, chest rising and falling like he has just run for miles.
His free hand fists the sheets tightly to hide his claws that had slipped out without him even realizing.
"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-" Adrian’s chest rises and falls harshly. "You’re not feeling well. I should’ve controlled myself better. I’m sorry."
That’s only half the truth.
The entire truth is that, while Nyra had been unconscious, he and his father finally held a serious meeting over his new abilities.
His father agreed to trust Julian and the girls on one condition--that Adrian took it seriously, trying to control his wolf.
Right now, he didn’t have absolute control yet. The moment he was angry enough, or the wolf was triggered enough, it would surface.
Just like it had done in the woods.
So his father had made it mandatory that Adrian read about his Engima abilities and practice how to control them.
During his reading, he realized that not only were Engima ruts much more violent than those of a regular Alpha, but that the first sexual intercourse after an Engima is unlocked was usually...crazy.
If he had sex with Nyra now, especially while she was still not fully recovered, she wouldn’t be able to take it.
He needed to have better control over the wolf first. At least. Then...they could talk about sex.
Too deep in thought, he doesn’t realize Nyra beside him has completely misunderstood.
After all her thoughts about how Adrian would stop desiring her if he found out the truth... Adrian pulling away like that was kerosene to the fire.
She struggles off the bed, sniffling hard. "Do you think I’m disgusting now? Is that it?"
Adrian blinks. "W-what?"
Disgusting? He can barely stop himself from devouring her right now, wolf or not.
"You think I’m disgusting!" Nyra repeats her accusation. "That’s why you pulled away from me like that."
Adrian struggles to tuck himself back in as he stands. "What the hell are you talking about?! What would I be-" He stops himself when he sees the broken look in her brown eyes. "Nyra, what’s wrong? Why would you think that?!"
Nyra’s tears are flowing freely now. "Forget it!" She pulls her shorts back over her hips, turning towards the door, but Adrian grabs her hand before she can go.
"I don’t find you disgusting, I swear!" He can barely understand the logic. Didn’t she see he was one second away from tearing her into pieces a few minutes ago? "You’re so beautiful. To me, you’re-"
"Save it, Adrian!" She puts her hand up to stop him. "I just want to be alone." She pulls the door open. "Don’t follow me!"
Before he can respond, she slams the door behind her, running off to goddess knows where.
He palms the obvious strain in his sweats, groaning loudly. Space, yes, he could give her space. It’s maybe...an hour tops.
Another thing he’d forgotten: Engimas are even more territorial than Alphas. And right now, Adrian is losing his damn mind.
The door opens again, and the excitement that was brewing dies when he sees it’s his father standing there instead.
"Where is Nyra?" he questions, looking around.
"She wanted some air." That’s the only reasonable explanation he could come up with.
His father hums, eyes strict as he settles into the bed. "Caius is furious at you," he starts.
Adrian rolls his eyes. Of course he is.
"Have you figured out why he came back?"
"No." Darius shakes his head. "But he’s planning to enroll Dorian back into Moon-Crest Academy."
The expression on Adrian’s face would kill Dorian if he were present.
"What exactly is going on, Dad?!" he sneers. "You know exactly how I feel about him. Why aren’t you stopping them?!"
Darius just sighs. "Keep your enemies closer."
"Huh?!"
"I’m saying, I’m keeping them here so I can find out exactly what their intentions are." His father meets his eyes. "If I send them away, it’ll be harder to watch them."
Adrian is practically fuming. He wants to dig his claws into both their necks and snap them.
But...his father is right. It’s no coincidence that they came here right after Nyra’s kidnapping.
And a small part of him assumes the child Anna was carrying belongs to Dorian. Maybe he had something to do with the kidnapping after all.
It’s not the first time one of Anna’s men has tried to hurt Nyra to please her.
And as embarrassing as it sounds, he had once done the same thing.
"Okay...let’s say we find out. What next?!"
"Depending on what I find out," his father says squarely. "What matters is that you try to keep it civil with them until then."
Civil? He should be telling Dorian that.
Adrian has been pretty clear from the moment they came...stay away from me, stay away from my girl, and there would be no issues.
But Dorian has been orbiting around Nyra since she woke up like a bee to honey. It irks him deeply.
"I’ll try." His jaw clenches. "But if he gets on my nerves again, no promises."
His father stands. "I heard Caius is already...teaching Dorian a few lessons on boundaries. Don’t worry about it."
He ignores Adrian’s confused look, pats his back, then steps out the door.
---
Nyra walks aimlessly through the mansion, still wiping the tears from her cheeks. She doesn’t really have a direction until she realizes she’s at Luna Selene’s private garden near the eastern wing.
The beautiful flowers help. They remind her of the calm from the dream state.
For a while, it’s calm, peaceful, until she hears a loud cracking sound. Like a whip.
Wait...
The sound is coming from the window overlooking the garden. She frowns and looks up, flinching slightly when the sound repeats.
Her brows knit together. What exactly is happening up there?! And who on earth uses a whip these days?
Her confusion quickly fades when she hears that familiar deep, rumbling voice that sends chills down her spine.
"You are a fucking disappointment, Dorian!"
There’s no other person it can be....Caius.
Their room is apparently right above her, and she can hear his bellowing loud and clear.
"We come back to Moon-Crest after all these years," Caius snarls, "and this is what you choose to do?"
Another whipping sound, stronger this time.
Okay...what the fuck!?
Dorian, so far, hasn’t made a sound.
"Good-for-nothing child," Caius continues bitterly. "Have you forgotten why we’re here?"
She finally hears his voice. This time, he is not trying to be cocky or playful. It just sounds like he is in pain. Not just physically, but emotionally too.
"No, Father."
"Then start acting like it!" Caius sneers. "I don’t care about whatever petty grudge you have with Adrian. I don’t care about your little games with that girl."
Nyra’s stomach drops as he finishes.
"Your only concern should be the reason we came back to Moon-Crest."