Noah’s POV
"No...s-stop"
A soft whimper wakes me and I sit up quickly with my heart racing.
The man on the chair is sitting with his neck bent at an odd angle. His fingers twitch and grab on to the arm of the chair.
Curiosity and worry get the best of me, so I crawl out of the bed and walk over to him.
Elias Deus is whimpering.
His chest is rising and falling at an unsteady rhythm. I move closer to him and look into his face.
"Elias" I whisper his name.
"I don’t- I don’t want" he says in his sleep.
I can see his eyeballs rapidly moving behind his eyelids. He’s having a really bad dream. The alpha’s mouth falls open as if he’s about to scream.
"Elias" I call him in a firmer voice and his eyes snap open.
His brown eyes turn red as his alpha takes over. He bares his teeth at me, growling as he grabs me by the neck and forces me to my knees.
"What were you doing?" he asks.
"T-tight" I gasp, surprised by his grip on my neck.
He went from having a nightmare to choking me within seconds. I wasn’t even given two seconds to run.
"T-too tight" I wheeze again. The veins in my head are starting to stick out. Helplessly, I grab his wrists and try to pull them off.
Elias gets up from the seat, leaving me on my knees in front of him. This is the position I was in on that first day at my family’s dining room.
The day they burst into my home and turned everything upside down.
"Elias..."
His eyes search my face before he turns his head to look around the room, and even in the dark room, I can see the panic on his face.
"Elias?" I call, feeling my Adam’s apple bobbing against his hand, and his grip loosens slightly.
"Why are you here?" he asks, taking his hand off me and falling into the seat. It’s not intentional, but I fall forward, resting my head on his leg as I catch my breath.
I hate being like this, but at this point how easily I fall into him must be magnetic.
Blaming it on my heat can’t work because I’m in my right state of mind. Should I blame it on the shoes? They say gifts corrupt a man’s judgement.
"You were having a bad dream..." I say softly. My vocal cords are weak from being squeezed by the alpha.
"How much did you see?" he asks in a tone that doesn’t sound like the cold Elias I’ve been stuck with.
"I didn’t see much, the lights are off" I lie.
I saw him perfectly with the silver moonlight filtering into the room, but I can’t say that. He might choke me again, or worse, threaten to kill Freya and Zane.
"Go to bed, omega" he says as he brushes my hand off his leg.
When did my hand get there?
"It’s your bed, I can sleep on the couch if you want" I offer.
"Are you deaf?" he asks.
"What?" I ask.
The room is silent for a few moments. I can hear the sound of night creatures, there’s a noisy cricket near his window, and there’s also a hooting owl.
Elias sighs audibly.
"I’m taking you on a walk tomorrow" he says and I change my position from kneeling to sitting in front of him.
I keep my leg crossed as I stare at him. Just like that, the tender atmosphere of vulnerability has evaporated.
"I’m not a dog" I say.
Of course we’ll have a reason to argue about ’what’ I am in the middle of the night.
"No, you’re not" he says.
"Good--"
"You’re like a book that needs to be aired to avoid getting damaged" he says, killing every positive thought I was starting to have about.
Jerk.
A big, big jerk.
At least being called a book is better than being called a rock.
"Good night, Elias" I say, getting up and wincing at the way my thighs feel sore. It has to be from my heat, but during the day I didn’t feel it.
Fighting anxiety has a way of making you forget about physical pain.
I return to the bed and Elias gets up. I don’t shut my eyes, I just watch the alpha as he stands by the bed and looks down at me.
The way he’s staring at me feels like something from an horror movie.
"Are you going to kill me in my sleep?" I ask.
"No"
"Okay" I say softly, eyes growing heavy as the urge to fall sleep slowly takes over my limbs.
"The cherry blossoms, Noah, tell me about them" he says and I frown. He spoke about them in the morning too.
They’re just the flowers that has always been a part of my life. They’re also the reason my favorite color is pink.
"I don’t know what you want to know Elias, but the cherry blossoms are my favorite flowers. They’re Winslow’s official trees too, and if you’re looking for something to rub in my face for being you ’possession’, kindly wait till I’m awake" I say, turning my back to him.
He doesn’t respond.
The man doesn’t know how to hold conversations.
He watches like a creep, says you’re mine, you’re my possession, you’re a rock, and calls it a day.
The space of the bed behind me dips with the weight of someone climbing in. I don’t turn around, but I know he’s lying next to me.
I’m lying in bed with the man I hate, yet I’m not as tense as I should be. Instead, I melt into bed.
My body relaxes more into the sheets at a particular memory of him wiping me clean during my heat, my leg is raised and he’s wiping a damp cloth over my inner thigh.
Maybe he’s not bad...maybe he’s manipulating me...I really don’t know.
I’ve always had a bad sense of judgement, so I’ll wait to worry about it tomorrow on my...walk.
Morning comes quickly.
The ache in my thigh is still there, Elias is missing, and Lucas is banging on the door.
"Rise and shine golden prince, it’s time to go!" he says with an enthusiasm I’ve never seen on him before.
"Go where?" I complain into the pillow.
"Elias’s favorite place" he says and I sit up slowly.
It has to be a library, a graveyard, or a museum.
I reluctantly get dressed and follow Lucas to the car where Elias is already waiting. The alpha doesn’t acknowledge me, his face is towards the window, looking out of it as if yesterday and last night never happened.
I guess it’s better this way. I really don’t want his attention on me.
We arrive at the place in no time and I look around for an elaborate building, there’s none. I turn my head to look for gravestones, there are none.
"Do you see? Up that hill, it’s a whole field of Gotteigen rare trees" Lucas points.
They’re a small distance away but the moment I see them, my jaw drops. There are rows of cherry blossoms, white and pink.
There’s a small garden with a weeping angel statue.
The colors...the flower scented breeze..the beauty...it’s like being home again.