Chapter 14: A Battle in the Shadows

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The feast stretched into the late hours, but I barely touched my wine. My mind was elsewhere—on the Alpha sitting across the hall, watching me with an intensity that set my nerves on edge.

I had made my move, played my hand.

Yet, Virendra sat there, exuding confidence as if nothing had changed. As if I hadn't just declared war.

The tension between us crackled, invisible to the court but suffocating to me.

I needed to leave.

I rose from my seat, nodding at Udayveer before stepping away from the gathering. I didn’t care if Virendra saw—I hoped he did. Let him believe I was retreating.

I made it to the darkened corridors of the palace before I felt it.

A presence.

The scent of steel and spice wrapped around me, overwhelming, familiar.

I didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

"You’re running," Virendra’s voice was low, smooth, dangerous.

I exhaled sharply, keeping my back to him. "And you’re following."

A pause. Then, the sound of boots against stone as he closed the distance between us.

"You started this," he said. "And yet, you're the one leaving the feast early?"

His breath ghosted against my ear, and I stiffened.

I turned sharply, meeting his gaze in the dimly lit hallway. "What do you want, Virendra?"

His lips curled into a smirk, but there was something beneath it—something restless.

"You already know the answer to that," he murmured.

My heart pounded, but I refused to let him see the effect he had on me. "Then let me make something clear," I said, my voice steady. "I won’t be owned. Not by you. Not by anyone."

Something flickered in his gaze—something unreadable.

Then, to my shock, he chuckled.

"Such fire," he said, stepping closer, forcing me back against the cold stone wall. "Do you know what drives me insane, Jayant?"

I swallowed but refused to break eye contact.

His hand lifted—not touching, but close enough that my skin burned with awareness.

"It’s the way you fight," he said, voice softer now. "You push me away, but every time I step closer, your body betrays you."

A shiver ran down my spine, and I hated him for it.

"You want to win this war against me?" His voice dropped lower, taunting. "Then stop reacting to me like this."

I clenched my fists. "You’re arrogant if you think—"

Virendra moved faster than I expected.

One moment, I was speaking, the next, his hand was gripping my chin, tilting my face up.

His touch wasn’t rough. It was maddeningly gentle.

"Then prove it," he challenged, his breath warm against my lips. "Tell me you feel nothing. Look me in the eye and lie to me."

The words lodged in my throat.

Because I couldn't.

And we both knew it.

The silence stretched, heavy and thick.

Virendra’s fingers tightened just slightly, his own breathing uneven.

And for the first time, I saw it—his restraint.

The mask of control he wore so well had a crack.

"Let me go," I finally whispered, hating the way my voice wavered.

His jaw tensed, but slowly, his grip loosened.

For a moment, I thought he would step back.

But instead, he did something far more dangerous.

He lifted my hand—the one still trembling from his touch—and pressed it against his own chest, right over his heart.

"You think I have control over this?" he murmured, voice raw. "You think I wanted this?"

I felt it.

The erratic, uneven beat beneath my palm.

His heart was racing as wildly as mine.

Something inside me twisted painfully.

I wrenched my hand away.

"This—whatever you think this is—ends here," I said, forcing steel into my voice.

Virendra’s expression darkened. "You can say that all you want."

His gaze dropped to my lips before meeting my eyes again, burning with something dangerous.

"But we both know it’s a lie."

I turned and walked away before he could see just how much he was right.

I spent the night in restless silence.

Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it—the weight of his touch, the heat of his breath, the reckless pounding of his heart beneath my palm.

Virendra’s touch lingered on my skin like a phantom, his words looping in my mind.

"Tell me you feel nothing. Look me in the eye and lie to me."

I had wanted to.

I had needed to.

But I couldn’t.

And that was my greatest weakness.

I needed to put an end to this.

To him.

Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be the one breaking him—he would be the one breaking me.

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