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."

up, brushing the underside of my

That was it.

snapped through me like

tease me with.

flinched but didn’t yank away. He hissed a breath through his teeth and stared at me with wide, shocked delight. Like a man who’d

whispered,

could release him or clamp harder, a shadow loomed behind me, and a

Kael.

like I weighed nothing, jerking me backward until I was nearly off

His eyes burned.

and tight

from his finger with a lazy grin. "She’s got spirit, I’ll

grip on my neck tightening until I could barely breathe. His face was only

he whispered coldly. "But don’t bite the hand that owns

with a violent jerk, and

Not forward.

Sideways.

Right into Lucian.

from him before I could even recoil. His hands barely moved to steady me, but the moment I

his voice far too amused, "throwing yourself into my arms just after biting me? Is our little slave giving me some kind of

My entire body stiffened.

cruelty as he tilted his head and gave me the kind of

up, heat flooding my face. My hands slipped against the damp marble and the wet hem of my dress clung to my knees. I barely had time to curse under my

I didn’t fall on

time he caught

upright as if this were some kind of dance, not a scene