The Alpha Behind The Mask-Chapter 68: He is Real

Alpha Oliver POV

My brow furrowed, but I wasn’t a fool. I knew she was rage-baiting me.

"Really? You love that prick?"

Aurora’s face twisted into a deep, furious frown.

She slammed her fork down on the plate, the metal clattering loudly in the quiet room.

"Yes... because at least he’s real!" she shouted, standing up so fast she nearly knocked the chair over. "He might be arrogant, and he might be wrong, but I can see his eyes! I can see his face! You? You’re just a shadow in a leather mask, Raymond. You come into my house, you act like you own me, and you don’t even have the courage to show me who you are!"

She stepped into my space, her chest heaving with anger. She poked a finger into my chest, right over my thudding heart.

"You talk about him being a prick? You’re the one playing games! You’re the one who only shows up when it suits you! So don’t you dare judge him when you’re just as much of a coward!"

Her words stung more than any silver blade. The irony was a bitter pill to swallow. I reached out, grabbing her wrist before she could poke me again, my grip firm but not hurting her.

"You want to talk about courage?" I growled, my wolf surging to the surface. "You want to talk about being real? You’re vibrating under my touch, Aurora. You’re angry because you want me just as much as you want him, and it’s killing you that you can’t have both."

"I don’t want either of you!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "I want to be left alone! I just want my normal life back."

She tried to wrench her arm away, but I pulled her closer instead, my body a solid wall against hers. The anger between us was thick, a physical thing that made the air hum.

"Liar," I hissed.

"I hate you," she sobbed, though she wasn’t pulling away anymore. She was clutching the front of my shirt. "I hate both of you."

"Then show me," I challenged, my head dipping down until my mask was brushing against her forehead. "Show me how much you hate me."

She didn’t hesitate. She lunged forward, her hands flying to the sides of my mask—not to pull it off, but to pull my head down to hers. When our lips met, it wasn’t soft. It was a collision. A war between anger and hunger. She bit my lower lip, tasting the salt of my skin, and I groaned into her mouth, my hands sliding down to her waist to crush her against me.

The kiss was angry, desperate, and full of all the things we couldn’t say. I wanted to devour her. I wanted to prove to her that it didn’t matter if I was the King or Raymond—she belonged only to me.

The kiss was a battleground. Every time her teeth grazed my lip or her nails dug into my shoulders, my wolf howled with a dark, twisted satisfaction. She thought she was hurting me, but she was only fueling the fire.

I broke the kiss just enough to look at her through the slits of my mask, our breaths coming in jagged, synchronized gasps. Her lips were swollen, her eyes bright with a mix of fury and desire.

"You like him, do you?" I growled, my voice vibrating against her skin. "You want the King because he’s ’real’? Because you can see his face?"

I gripped her waist tighter, lifting her effortlessly and slamming her back against the kitchen counter. The plates rattled, but I didn’t care. I leaned in, my body pinning hers so she couldn’t move an inch.

"You need to be punished for that, Aurora," I whispered, my breath hot against her ear. "For lying to yourself. For daring to say you want another man while you’re trembling in my arms."

I didn’t give her a chance to argue. My hands moved quickly, grabbing the silk scarf she had left on the counter. Before she could process what I was doing, I wrapped it around her eyes, tying it firmly behind her head.

She gasped, her small hands flying up to touch the fabric. "Raymond? What are you doing?"

"Shh," I whispered, my voice a deep, vibrating command. "Since you complain that you can’t see me, we’ll make sure you can’t see anything at all. Now, you’ll have to feel everything."

I began to undress her, my fingers working with a steady, dominant pace. She trembled, her breath coming in short, panicked bursts.

"Raymond, wait... what are you doing?"

"Trust me, Aurora," I growled, my hands sliding her clothes off until she stood before me, completely exposed in the dim light of the kitchen.

I stopped for a moment, my breath catching in my throat. My wolf let out a long, low howl of approval. She was a goddess. Her skin was like cream in the moonlight, and even though she couldn’t see me, she seemed shy, her shoulders curling inward. I wanted to mark every inch of her. I wanted to make her forget that the King—who was me—even existed.

"Stay right there," I commanded. "Don’t move, or your punishment will be double."

She nodded, her lips parted as she waited in the dark. I moved through her kitchen, my eyes landing on a decorative candle on the shelf. I lit it, the small flame dancing in the shadows. Then I reached into the freezer and pulled out a handful of ice cubes, the cold stinging my palms.

I walked back to her, picked her up effortlessly, and carried her to the bed. I laid her on her back, her hair spreading across the pillows. She looked so vulnerable, so perfect, and so completely mine.

"Raymond?" she whispered, her voice shaking.

I didn’t answer with words. Instead, I tilted the candle. The first drop of warm wax fell, landing right on the sensitive skin of her stomach.

She gasped, her back arching off the bed. "Oh!"

"Does that feel real enough for you, Aurora?" I hissed, watching the wax harden against her skin.

Before she could recover from the heat, I took an ice cube and pressed it right next to the warm wax. The shock of the freezing cold made her cry out, her hands clutching the bedsheets.

"You want to talk about the King?" I whispered, moving the ice up to her collarbone while the warm wax dripped onto her inner thigh. "Tell me... does he make you feel like this? Does he make your blood sing and your skin burn at the same time?"

"No," she breathed, her head thrashing from side to side. "Raymond, please..."

"Please what?" I asked, teasing her. "Please stop? Or please show you who really owns your soul?"

I set the candle aside and leaned over her, my weight pinning her into the mattress. I replaced the ice with my warm mouth, sucking on the spot I had just chilled until I knew a dark mark would form.