Alpha's Rejected becomes the Lycan's Obsession-Chapter 44: I’ll kill you myself

The noise from the drama downstairs caught the attention of other people in the house, including Williams’, who had returned to the house that morning together with Roman and Trevor.

He had already gone into one of the rooms to rest his head, the weight of exhaustion pressing into his bones, when he heard the disturbance, loud crashes followed by muffled curses. He walked out, his shadow stretching long against the wall, to catch sight of Trevor and Daniel pushing themselves off the floor, their breaths coming hard.

Just one look at Cody, whose knuckles were white from clenching his fists, and the latter began to explain what had just happened to Williams.

Roman, on the other hand, was about to step inside his room after speaking with Tessy, the ghost of her scent still clinging to the air around him, when he heard the noise, a discordant interruption to the morning’s fragile calm.

Pausing his movement, his broad shoulders tensing beneath his shirt, he smelled the air and caught a familiar but unexpected scent, something darkly floral with an undercurrent of magic, which made him frown when he realized who it belonged to. What was she doing there so early in the morning?

Changing his mind, his jaw setting in a hard line, he headed out of his room and started toward the stairs, his footsteps silent but purposeful, with the intention of meeting her downstairs. However, she was faster than him, her presence announced by the whisper of silk against skin, as she showed up before he could completely descend the top floor.

"If it isn’t the one and only Roman Gavriel," Sephira spoke, her voice like honey laced with venom, one side of her lips lifting higher than the other as a wicked smirk settled on her face, her crimson-painted nails glinting like fresh blood in the light.

Roman stopped moving the moment he set his eyes on her, his body going statue-still, but she didn’t pause her movement. She continued to approach him, each step deliberate, her hips swaying like a predator circling prey, climbing step after step until she got to where he stood.

"What are you doing here, Sephira?" Roman asked in a serious tone, his voice roughened by barely leashed anger.

"Paying you a compulsory visit since you have decided to evade me," she answered with a tone that matched his, her smirk never wavering, as if she already knew she’d won.

"Evade you in what sense?" Roman probed, his fingers twitching at his sides, not sure what she was talking about.

"I see your boys have not been delivering my messages," she said, tilting her head like a bird of prey eyeing its next meal. "I have been coming here for days but I have continually met your absence."

"I didn’t send for you and I’m sure that Liam didn’t send for you either," Roman said, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "So enlighten me, Sephira, what have you been coming here for?"

"I received information that your curse has been broken," she said, her gaze raking over him as if inspecting a prized stallion, "and I came to confirm for myself. Seeing you now, I can tell it’s true. You don’t look disgusted by my presence and..." She moved closer, her hand trailing down his chest in a mockery of a caress, "...you are not repulsed by my touch. That can only mean one thing. You must have found your mate. Tell me. Where is she?"

Roman’s patience ran razor-thin, his control fraying like a rope pulled too tight, stretched taut by Sephira’s unyielding presence. Standing before him, she held his gaze, her confidence a living thing, pulsing between them like a second heartbeat.

"I will only ask you one more time," Roman said. "Why are you here?"

"Stop talking as if you’ve forgotten your debt," she murmured, her fingers curling possessively against his shirtfront. "I need you to fulfill your promise to me. That is why I’m here."

"I made you no promises."

"You owe me, Roman," she said softly, her breath warm against his jaw, running her hand down his chest in an intimate, deliberate gesture. Her voice was honeyed with a dark undertone, the kind that promised pain disguised as pleasure. "You promised to give me a child, an heir to your throne, whenever your curse finally breaks. It’s time to fulfill that promise." She tilted her head, her lips parting in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, studying his face with a maddening intensity.

Roman’s glare was lethal, but Sephira merely let out a silent laugh, the sound slithering through the air between them, as if his anger was amusing, nothing more than a trivial obstacle in her path.

Roman opened his mouth to say something, the words sharp on his tongue, but shut it instantly. He turned his head to look behind him when Tessy’s scent came at him stronger than it was earlier, and light footsteps reached his ears, soft but unmistakable in the heavy silence.

True to what he suspected, his eyes met with hers, the green of them wide and wounded, and he didn’t understand the emotion he saw in them. A moment later, he realized she was staring at Sephira’s hand, still splayed possessively over his chest, and he made to step away from the compromising position. But before he could do that, Tessy already turned around, her hair a fleeting curtain between them, and walked back to her room.

"It’s the human again," Sephira’s voice echoed, laced with surprise, then a frown appeared on her face as she wondered why Roman was acting strangely after Tessy made an appearance. "What’s a human doing in your house when you’re supposed to have found your mate? And why are you acting like—"

Before she could finish her question, Roman pushed her hand off his body, the motion sharp enough to border on violence. His hand moved to grab her neck, his fingers pressing just shy of bruising, and he pushed her to one side of the staircase.

"Keep your nose off my business," he snarled, his voice a whip-crack in the stillness, "and keep yourself away from this vicinity. I owe you nothing. You think I don’t know how you manipulated me with magic to make that promise? I don’t want to hurt you, so do well to save yourself from my wrath." Roman’s voice, although low, was filled with venom sufficient enough to send chills down the spine of anyone who heard him, the promise of violence humming beneath every syllable.

"You can’t hurt me, Roman," Sephira said. "I am a priestess, and your mate’s life is tied to mine. If I die by your hand... she dies too. Your precious mate will feel the sting of your choices. Can you really risk that?"

For a moment, Roman’s fingers slackened, the flicker in his eyes betraying his internal war. But just then, a new voice interrupted the tense silence, slicing through it like a knife through water.

"If he can’t hurt you, then I’ll kill you myself," Williams’s voice was calm yet chilling, each word measured and precise, as he appeared at the stairwell, his expression unreadable, his gaze fixed on Sephira with a cold certainty. "I gave you the opportunity of a lifetime. You mess it up by manipulating the one you were supposed to help. Yet you walk in here to make demands. What guts."

"This does not concern you, Williams," Sephira snapped, her composure cracking for the first time. "This is between—"

"One more word, Sephira," Williams cut her off, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried all the weight of a shout. "One more word and I’ll show you what it’s like to be at my mercy." His gaze darkened, the promise of retribution burning in their depths. "I don’t have a mate for you to threaten. Your leverage is useless with me. So think carefully before you make your next move."

Sephira’s confidence faltered, her lips pressing into a thin line, her eyes narrowing as she measured Williams, knowing the danger he posed.

It was no news that he had given away his right to receive a goddess given mate. Everyone knew that, so threatening him with his mate was useless.

She knew his strength, and knew he wasn’t bluffing. With a tight, reluctant sigh, she took a step to the side, slipping from Roman’s grasp, whose grip had slackened while Williams was talking.

"This isn’t over." She uttered in a whisper, then turned and made her way out without looking at any one of them, her exit a silent but chilling promise that her interference was far from finished.

As the silence settled over the stairwell, thick enough to choke on, Roman and Williams exchanged a long, weighted look.

Roman’s eyes held an accusation, but Williams’s face remained impassive, giving away nothing of his thoughts, his mask as unreadable as stone.

Finally, without a word, Roman turned and ascended the stairs, his mind already racing, his thoughts consumed by Tessy, wondering how he was going to explain what she’d witnessed.

He was, just now, celebrating how things were gradually becoming less tense between them, the fragile peace they’d built like spun glass. Who knew the priestess would show up and bring back all the tension?