Elaris's POV
Alex tried to make a move for Karl. But that was a disaster, whose end I could predict quite well.
I threw up my hand and held him back. I signaled for him to move away and leave us.
All the while, Karl's face never left mine, not even to follow Alex's reluctant departure. The heat of his stare burned hot into my face.
I looked up at him, at the fury in his eyes. He was really serious about this. "Tell me who you are before the Fame." He demanded, his voice grating and loud against the quiet in the corridor.
There was no chance to stall now. "And why should that be important. What should matter is my skills. That's what you are paying for, not my background."
"Your background matters because it determines if you are a spy or not, and it fucking matters because I say it does."
He'd made it clear that there was no more stalling. But I had a good backstory at the ready, one Darius and I had worked all our plan over, and I'd memorized and come to know by heart.
"Do you really want to know about me, Alpha Karl?"
He licked his teeth from suppressed rage. "Yeah." He grated. "If I don't, I won't be questioning you about it, will I?"
"Okay, I'll tell you," I mumbled, and I shrugged off from under him. The slight pull in his brows told me he didn't completely like that I wasn't still sandwiched between him and the wall. But he had no reason to box me to the wall after that.
I began slowly, staring directly into his eyes. "I am an omega from the extinct Westbrook Pack. One of the few pack members that survived after an epidemic outbreak wiped most of the pack from the face of the earth, and then, by virtue of living on the beach, a tsunami finished us off." I said. I made sure to wear a sad, grim, and almost tearful look that should sell the story.
I kept staring right into his eyes, so he could feel the weight of the story. That way, the narration feels personal to me as it would to him. "You have no idea how hard it is trying to survive alone, all by yourself, after watching everyone you know and love dying so cruelly from an ordinary disease outbreak, and then the rest die from an avoidable tsunami. You have no fucking idea."
"I—" I tried to continue. But then I decided that's all for now. The trick wasn't to land everything on him all at once. It was to make it feel real and true, no matter the little I said. "Thank you, then, Alpha Karl. Thank you for making me remember details I have wanted to bury so hard into my subconscious like they never existed. Thank you for making me remember everything, their screams and wails as the water dragged them away, threw them against the shaft of woods that impaled them. Thank…" I let my voice break again.
The tension in his face tightened just enough to glimpse the guilt bubbling beneath. Perfect. I grinned in my head. It worked. Darius wasn't wrong after all.
The Westbrook incident was truly enough to shut him down. The Dravens were connected to the Westbrook maternally, so he knew the story of their demise, down to every detail, just like I do.
"I—" he began, for the first time since I have known him, he stammered. "I am sorry," he muttered.
"I am sorry, Doctor Elara." He repeated, and he reached for me.
I dropped back and away from his reach. "Yes, you are sorry," I responded. "You should be," and with that, I spun around for my room again.
"Doctor Elara." He called after me. "Doctor Elara."
I didn't stop, I didn't turn, even as the crunch of his boots grew louder behind me. I wore on the false sorrow, not just as a mask, but as a blanket.
His voice grew heavier as he continued to yell out my name. "Doctor Elara."
I grabbed the doorknob and was about to enter my room when he finally got to me. He snatched my wrists and pulled me to him gently.
For a reason, all I did was stare at his fingers on my wrists, as he held me tenderly, like I was a piece of porcelain he didn't want to break. But that wasn't the reason I was staring. Something seemed to snake through my body at his touch, a feeling that I couldn't explain, a feeling that caused a surge in my heart as I raised my face to him.
I snatched my hand from his. It was impossible for me to feel such for him. There was absolutely no way in hell I would desire a bastard like him, no way.
"What again now, Alpha Karl. You want the full graphic version of the story now, hmmm." I tipped my chin high, tone grudging as ever.
He looked down first at his fingers, touching them gently as if reminiscing about the feel of my skin on them before I pulled away. He shrugged his shoulders and finally broke off the thought. He forced a tight smile in my direction. "I am sorry for everything you have endured, Doctor Elara. And I would love for your forgiveness—"
"There is no reason for me to forgive you, Alpha Karl. You didn't offend me, you just pushed me to answer a question I didn't want to answer."
That should push him for a second apology if he were any man, but he was Karl fucking Draven.
"Okay then, Doctor Elara." He said. The next words came rather unexpected. "But I notice you are sort of getting closer to my brother Darius."
I folded my arms over my breasts. "What if I am?" I made sure not to outright deny or admit to that. Those details could be important in the future.
The frown on his face deepened now. I thought the slight crunch of his brows inward hinted at a concerned, heavy one, for me, but I couldn't be sure that he would feel that for me.
"I believe it will be in your best interest to stay away from Darius. He is not the kind you want to make friends with. And he is not as friendly as he seems."
"But he is the most honest and kindest of you three." I challenged. I realized I was playing the devil's advocate, and I shut off the rest of my rebuttal in my throat.
Karl scoffed, a loud huff of air bursting off his nostrils, exaggerating just how ludicrous he thought my words were. "Darius is far from being honest and kind, Doctor Elara. And for your sake, I'll warn you to keep clear of him. He never does anything for anyone but himself. Everyone is a pawn in his games."
The way he said it, the inflection in his tone, the genuineness in his eyes, all scared me, because for some damning reason, a part of my mind believed it might be true. Darius never really let's me in on his true plans, even with how close we were, and how much we have endured together.
My mind wanted to spiral to some thoughts I'd pushed down to the back of my mind, but I quickly held back. No. I screamed in my head. I shouldn't think about Darius like that. I owe everything I am today to him. I am alive today because of him, my family is alive today, all because of him. It doesn't matter that he doesn't tell me his plans.
"Says the man who is trying to seduce me for his ends too." I shot back at Karl, staring daringly up at him.
He grinned, partly amused, partly pained. He drew closer, brushing his thumb over his lips, his amber eyes sizing me up. "At least I make it obvious that I am seducing you, and for some Goddamned reason, I desire you just as much." He said. He didn't let me or even himself process those words before he continued. "But Darius, no one, not even himself, knows how his mind works."
My mind trailed back to his mention of him desiring me. "What do you mean by you desire me just as much?"
He grinned. "I mean this, Doctor Elara." He claimed my waist and pulled me into his big, broad body.
The warmth of his big body and the abomination we were about to orchestrate caused me to gasp both in terror and want. I should push him away, but I couldn't. My arms were like jelly right now. I could barely move them.
I just watched cruelly as he leaned closer and closer, and fucking closer towards my lips, my heart hammering wildly against my chest.