The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Bite Back

Selene’s POV ~

The sound of footsteps snapped me out of the numbing rhythm of scrubbing tile.

I didn’t turn at first. I was too tired. Too angry. Too aware of how exposed I was, kneeling on wet marble with a bell chiming from my throat like I was some docile pet waiting for scraps.

But then I heard the low and amused laugh behind me.

"Well, well," came the voice, playful and deep, "I didn’t expect to see this so soon."

I turned my head just enough to see him.

Lucian.

The young of the four Alphas. Sharp where Kael was cold. Grey-eyed, handsome, and dangerous in a different way—like a man who’d smile as he cut you open, just to see how you bled.

His gaze locked on the bell around my neck, and something gleamed in his eyes. Pleasure and dark amusement.

He crouched slowly, picked up the leash from the floor, and gave it an experimental tug.

I choked slightly at the pressure on my throat, my body jerking forward on instinct. He didn’t let go. Instead, he wrapped the leather around his hand, coiling it tight until my face was only inches from his.

"Look at you," he murmured. "Pretty little pet. I see Kael’s been busy."

His breath brushed my skin, warm and taunting. My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms, but I didn’t move.

Lucian tilted his head as if studying me. His grey eyes roamed over my face, pausing on my lips, my throat, the trembling rise of my shoulders.

"You always looked untouchable," he said, voice soft and cruel. "I used to wonder if anything could ever bring you low. But look at you now."

reached up, brushing the underside of my

That was it.

through me like

hard on the finger he dared to tease me

at me with wide, shocked delight. Like a man who’d found a spark in

he whispered,

I could release him or clamp harder, a shadow loomed behind me, and a hand gripped the

Kael.

my skin, rough and merciless. My breath hitched as he hauled me up by the neck like I weighed nothing, jerking me backward until I was nearly off my knees. My back arched from the pull, and

His eyes burned.

voice low and tight with fury.

the blood from his finger with a lazy

could barely breathe. His face was only inches from mine, every

he whispered coldly. "But don’t bite the

the back of my neck with a violent jerk, and before I could

Not forward.

Sideways.

Right into Lucian.

and a low, rich laugh rumbled up from him before I could even recoil. His hands barely moved to steady me, but the moment I felt his heat, the moment I realized what had just happened,

too amused, "throwing yourself into my arms just after biting me? Is our

My entire body stiffened.

His eyes gleamed with playful cruelty as he tilted his head

marble and the wet hem of my dress clung to my knees. I barely had time to curse under my breath before my balance gave out

time I didn’t fall on

time he

as if