Winter Wolf - Chapter 10. Part 2

Chapter 10. Part 2

Her focus on his question caused her to forget her position, and she fell backward.  She jerked in an instant and fell backward. Gray barely caught her flailing arms.

She was already more than halfway down the stairs when she fell.

Their fall made a dull thud that echoed along the balcony and stairwell.

“Ah, ugh….”

“Oh no. Ma’am, are you okay?”

Lysithea’s heart raced. She felt dizzy from the sudden accident. Gray slowed her down by grabbing and holding her. She didn’t suffer any major injuries, just a slight ache that threatened to leave bruises and sore muscles all over her body.

“It’s okay. I’m not hurt, I’m…”

“Wait, please don’t stand up too quickly. Are you feeling dizzy?”

“A little….”

“Let me help you up, lean back.”

The two men on the floor were barely able to stand up, leaning on each other.

“What are you doing?”

Terrence, coming up from the first floor, spotted them and stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on Lysithea, who was breathing heavily and holding onto Gray’s arm.

“Mr. Kadas, your wife stumbled.”

Gray attempted to explain, but Terrence ignored him and stomped over with large strides. His expression was so chilling as he stared down at them both that Lysithea and Gray fell silent like guilty men.

“Liz, what happened?”

His voice was both cold and harsh. Lysithea answered quickly.

“I just tripped over my own feet,” Mr. Hoflander said.”

“Did you enjoy talking to this man so much that you lost your train of thought?”

‘What are you talking about?’

Lysithea was about to ask when she suddenly realized his intentions.

She stopped because she knew he had very bad intentions.

“Mr. Kadas, I think there’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t hit on your wife, or do anything terrible.”

“Easier said than done. Get out of the way.”

Terrence pushed Gray aside and hugged Lysithea, ignoring whatever was bothering him. Lysithea buried her face in Terrence’s shoulder. Her expression was one of remembrance.

She couldn’t bear to look at Grey.

“Mr. Hoflander, we don’t own this house.”

Terrence said, looking down at Gray, who was still lying on the floor.

“Whether or not you have a horse to ride, we would like you to leave this house. We will treat you like a person until tomorrow.”

“Stop it!”

Lysithea shouted impatiently. However, her outburst was useless. Terrence held her in his arms and turned towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

Gray’s laughter echoed behind her.

Lysithea turned, startled. Terrence turned, expressionless. Gray, still sitting on the floor, barely restrained himself from laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“I apologize. This is not the appropriate time.”

Terrence looked very serious. Gray stood up from his seat at Lysithea’s nervous glance, holding up a hand to signal that everything was okay.

“That’s it. Mrs. Kadas, I hope you can forgive me. I wanted to save you. However, if she says no, there is nothing I can do.”

He bowed politely.

I will be leaving tomorrow at noon. I hope you will see me off. It would be ungrateful of me not to say goodbye to my friends.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? You can reach Harmony at…”

“I will stay up all night to call her. Thank you.”

Lysithea felt sorry for Gray. She kept glancing in his direction as Terrence stomped up the stairs.

“…I’m sorry!”

Lysithea called after him, but Gray didn’t answer.

In frustration, she held on to Terrence as they made their way through the corridor. Finally, they reached her room at the end of the hall, and Lysithea muttered coldly.

“Put me down now, I can walk.”

Terrence opened the door and stepped inside without saying anything.

Lysithea was afraid of his silence. However, he surprised her by being very polite and seating her on the bed.

“Terrence, how could you do something so terrible?”

Lysithea trembled with disappointment and anger, but Terrence hissed and put a finger to her lips.

“Lysithea, please remove it so I can check if you’re injured.”

“I can’t let Mr. Hoflander leave like that!”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Take it off.”

Terrence’s voice was similar to the night he’d first gotten angry with her.

He was agitated once more. Lysithea gave him a challenging look.

“Why did you choose to put on such a terrible play? Why didn’t you make him run away or shoot him? It would have been easier.”

“We were already performing the play. The climax had arrived, and it was time to end it, right?”

“I am not an actress or a chess piece to be moved at your whim!”

“I know, and that’s why you can love me.”

“I can’t…!”

“Please.”

Terrence kneeled beside the bed, and their eyes met. Lysithea was shocked.

Last night, Terrence’s hand rested on her thigh as he burrowed between her legs.

His mouth tugged at a thin smile.

“Take it off, Lysithea, because it would break my heart to see you hurt.”

The sight of his handsome smile made her body and mind throb. Lysithea muttered in a wounded voice.

“That’s a lie. You do not care about me. If it weren’t for the contract, you would leave me alone, dead or alive. You tend to do so.

As she spoke, she felt dizzy.

Terrence was the man who haunted her dreams, but he also saved her life and brought her pleasure.

A man tried to kill an innocent castaway for being in the way. But he was the man she loved.

Amidst the deafening panic, she heard Terrence whisper.

“Yes, that’s who I am.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she could barely see his face.

She cried the entire time as he undressed her.

Terrence examined her body and said, ‘You’re going to have bruises.’ He then went outside and smashed icicles. Lysithea forced herself to go to sleep as the icy washcloth touched her skin. She kept her eyes tightly shut, unmoving like a hibernating animal.

She dreamed of dying in the tub with him. The tub would be filled with ice.

She woke up again. Terrence had fallen asleep while tending to her. Lysithea stared at his troubled face and snapped out of her dream, thinking with a clear mind.

She desired to do something unpredictable and

off-plan, something he could not undo.