novelraw Chapter 123: Her Call
Chapter 123: Her Call
Oliver’s POV
"I’m overwhelmed, Oliver," she whispered, her back turned against me. "I just... I want to go home."
The words felt like a knife twisting into my chest. But I didn’t push. I couldn’t. I just nodded and led her out of my apartment.
We drove in a silence so thick it felt like it was choking the air out of the cabin. When I finally pulled up in front of her apartment, I couldn’t let her just walk away.
"Did I do something wrong, Aurora?" I asked, my voice low and vulnerable.
She didn’t look at me. She just clutched her bag tighter. "No... no, Oliver. It’s just... everything. I’m just overwhelmed by all of this."
I knew she was lying. I could smell her anxiety, but beneath it, there was a restlessness I’d only ever felt from her when she was under my body as Raymond.
"Okay," I said, forcing a calmness I didn’t feel. "I’ll give you some space."
The relief that washed over her face was a knife to my gut. "Thank you," she breathed.
I leaned over and pressed a long, lingering kiss to her forehead. I wanted to growl into her ear that she was mine, to show her that the "King" had the same teeth as the "Dom." Instead, I stayed in character.
"I love you so much, Aurora. More than you know."
She gave a small, jerky nod and climbed out of the car. I watched her small frame disappear into the apartment building, and only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding. I slammed my fist against the steering wheel, the leather groaning under my strength.
Tell her, my wolf howled, a guttural roar in my skull. Tell her the truth, Oliver! She is drifting away because she thinks you are soft!
"I can’t," I hissed back, pulling away from the curb. "If I tell her I’m the man who bound her, who took her like a beast... she’ll hate me. She’ll see me as a liar. A manipulator."
She wants the monster, the wolf countered, his golden eyes flashing in my mind’s eye. You heard her. You felt her. She didn’t want the King. She wanted US.
"I’m scared," I muttered, my heart hammering. "I’m terrified of losing the only light I have left. If she finds out I’ve been playing with her head, she will never forgive me."
I made it back to the packhouse in a blur. I reached my private quarters and began to strip off the "Oliver" clothes—the soft cashmere, the expensive watch. As I threw my jeans onto the chair, I felt a sharp, rhythmic vibration in my pocket.
I froze.
It wasn’t my King’s phone. It was the burner—the one I had given her as Raymond. I pulled it out, my blood turning to ice and fire at the same time. The screen glowed in the dim light of the room, the caller ID flashing the only name that mattered.
Aurora.
She was calling Raymond. Less than twenty minutes after I had dropped her off as Oliver, she was reaching out to the man who had bruised her skin.
My wolf let out a triumphant snarl. Answer it.
I took a deep breath, my voice dropping back into that fake, gravelly rasp. I hit ’Accept’ and pressed the phone to my ear.
"It hasn’t even been twelve hours, Little Bird," I growled into the receiver. "Missing me already?"
"I woke up and you were gone," she whispered into the receiver. Her voice was trembling, different from the distant, polite woman I had just dropped off at her front door.
My grip tightened on the burner phone. Hearing her voice like this—reaching out for the shadow while the man who loved her was still pulling out of her driveway—made my wolf pace with a dark, restless satisfaction.
"Yes," I rasped, my voice a jagged edge that felt like a betrayal to the gentle words I’d given her as Oliver. "I had to leave. I don’t stay for the morning after, Little Bird. You knew the rules."
I waited for the click of the line, for her to feel the sting of my coldness and hang up. I expected her to be offended, to realize that Raymond was exactly the monster he claimed to be. But the silence stretched on, and she didn’t end the call.
"Where are you?" she asked softly.
"Home," I said shortly. My eyes flickered to the luxury of my penthouse suite, a place she would never associate with the man currently speaking to her.
"I know you probably don’t want me there," she started, her breath hitching, "but... can we see each other? Now?"
A sharp, twisted jolt hit my chest. I had just left her. I had watched her walk away from me in the car, looking exhausted and broken. And here she was, begging for more of the very thing that had drained her.
"Why?" I challenged, my voice dropping to a husky tone. "Why would you want to see a man like me again so soon? Didn’t I give you enough last night?"
I could hear her swallow hard over the line, the sound making my blood boil.
"Please... let’s just see each other," she pleaded, her voice cracking over the line.
"No. I’m busy, Aurora," I snapped. My heart was thundering against my ribs, but I forced the coldness into my tone. I had to maintain the distance. Raymond wasn’t a boyfriend figure; he was a ruthless Dom.
The silence on the other end stretched out, thick and heavy. I expected her to whimper, to apologize, or to simply hang up in defeat. Instead, I heard a sharp, sudden intake of breath—a spark of defiance I hadn’t prepared for.
"Fine," she said, her voice dropping into a low, dangerous chill that made my wolf’s ears prick up. "If you’re too busy for me, I’ll find someone who isn’t. I’m going to the club. If you aren’t there in the next hour, I’ll fuck the first Dom who approaches me."
The line went dead.
I stared at the burner phone, my vision blurring with a mix of white-hot possessiveness and sheer disbelief.
She didn’t just say that.