Chapter 186: Why won’t you want me?

Alyssa was just about to flip the page of her art book when a sudden, unnatural chill raced down her spine. Before she could turn around, a cold, calloused hand lightly stroked her cheek.

She bolted off the couch and whirled around, coming face-to-face with Joffrey. Disgust coiled low in her stomach, sharp and nauseating, and she staggered back a step in defense, sickened by the predatory, leering smile stretching across his face.

"Hello, Luna Alyssa," he drawled lazily.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded angrily. "How did you even get in here?"

"I believe it’s through something called a door," Joffrey sneered, taking another slow step toward her. "You know what a door is, don’t you?"

Alyssa was boiling. She didn’t have a single second to waste on his stupid, sick games. "What do you want? Dorian isn’t around, and you damn well know it."

"I’m not here to see my cousin," Joffrey maintained his unsettling smile, closing the distance between them. "I’m here to see you."

​"I’m busy," Alyssa shot back, holding her ground. "Explain why you’re here or get out. I don’t have time for you."

Joffrey stopped dead in his tracks, the smile instantly vanishing from his face. He glared at her, malice making his left eye twitch.

"You’ve certainly grown some wings, haven’t you?" he muttered, his tone dropping into something dark. "The last time you stood before me, you didn’t even have the boldness to look me in the eye."

"Did you lose some brain cells along with your memories?" Alyssa retorted, her chin lifting. "I recall the first time I saw you in the mall with your sister. I slapped you for putting your filthy hands on me."

Joffrey’s carefully controlled expression cracked. Infuriated, he lunged forward and grabbed her arm in a crushing grip, half expecting her to cower, to plead, or struggle in panic.

​She did none of those things.

Instead, she locked her eyes onto his, her gaze dead, eerie, and completely unblinking. "Take your hands off me."

"Or what?" he snarled, tightening his fingers until her bones ached. "Dorian isn’t here to save you. Are you going to run off crying to the nearest guard like the weak little Luna you are?"

He jerked her forward, pressing his face close to hers, so close she choked on the stale stench of cigarette smoke clinging to his breath.

"It seems you’re forgetting something, Alyssa," he hissed. "I am a Gamma now, protected by the laws of Wintercrest. Dorian will think twice before he dares lay a hand on me..."

"But you think you can put your hands on another man’s wife?" Alyssa cut him off sharply, her voice laced with ice. "I don’t need Dorian to protect me from the likes of you, Joffrey. Now, for the last time, take your hand off me!"

Joffrey let out a harsh, scornful laugh, shaking his head. "You really have grown some balls, haven’t you? You’ve settled right into that Luna throne. But you do know I could snap your neck and end you right here, don’t you? It would be as easy as snapping a toothpick."

Inside, Alyssa’s heart hammered against her ribs, but she forced every ounce of terror down, fighting to keep her expression hard. The wildness in Joffrey’s eyes told her everything: he had lost his mind. With the mansion empty, she was completely alone. She had to outsmart him.

"What is it you want?" she demanded, keeping her voice level. "Why are you here? You knew I would be alone here. So tell me what you want!"

"I want you," Joffrey muttered, his voice dropping to a gravelly rasp. "You’ve crawled right under my skin, Alyssa. I don’t know what fucking spell you cast over me, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop wanting you."

His bloodshot eyes roamed hungrily over her body, and drool pooled in the corners of his mouth. "I want to rip your clothes right off and take you."

Alyssa’s heart skipped a beat, a cold wave of dread washing over her. She swallowed hard, summoning every remaining thread of composure.

"Joffrey, let go of my arm," she whispered, forcing a fragile calm. "You’re hurting me."

"What’s so wrong with me?" Joffrey pressed on, completely ignoring her plea, his voice rising in desperation. "Why does Dorian get everything? The power? The crown? The women? Why him? Why can’t I be lucky like him?"

"Joffrey..."

"Why won’t you want me?" he hissed, burying his face inches from her jaw. "Just tell me. I can give you everything you ever wanted. Just be mine, Alyssa. Be fucking mine! Why am I cursed to spend my life craving everything Dorian has?"

"I... I don’t know..."

"He thinks he’s a god because he gets everything handed to him," Joffrey laughed suddenly, the sound sharp, grating, and manic. "Well, he’s wrong. When I wanted Elvira, I took her. And it’s only a matter of time before I have you, too."

Before she could react, he buried his face into the soft curve of her neck, inhaling her scent with the delirium of a madman.

Alyssa’s fragile bravery finally fractured. As his grip tightened into a bruising vise, hot tears of disgust and terror brimmed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

A thick lump blocked her throat, robbing her of her voice. Every inch of her skin prickled with revulsion and horror as his hand began to slide downward.

"Joffrey..." she choked out. "Stop..."

"Once I make you mine, the crown will be mine," Joffrey droned on, swaying slightly as if lost in a trance. "I will end Dorian. I will be Alpha King, and you will sit beside me as my Queen."

He lifted his free hand, dragging a finger down her tear-stained cheek. Catching a drop of moisture on his thumb, he sickeningly licked it away.

"If I can’t have you," he whispered, his eyes going pitch-black with malice. "No one else will. I’ll kill you before I let him keep you."

His fingers trailed down her chin, sliding past her collarbone and gripping viciously at the neckline of her shirt toward her chest.

That was her breaking point.

Overwhelmed by blinding disgust and righteous fury, Alyssa let out a savage scream and kicked her knee upward. It slammed with bone-crushing force directly into his groin, instantly shattering his trance.

Joffrey let out a high-pitched yowl of agony, his knees buckling beneath him as he instinctively released her arm to clutch himself. Blinded by rage and pain, he lashed out, grabbing the collar of her t-shirt and ripping the neckline wide open.

A psychotic laugh tore from his throat as his hand groped blindly at her exposed skin. At that exact second, a surge of raw power flooded Alyssa’s veins, blotting out the world in a flash of white-hot fury. She screamed again, her hand snapping up in a blinding arc.

Long, razor-sharp claws ripped through her fingernails, slicing through the air as she brought her hand down across Joffrey’s face. The force of the strike hurled him backward across the library, a spray of blood following the jagged claw marks slashed deep across his flesh.

Without wasting another, Alyssa clutched the torn fabric of her shirt against her chest and bolted for the door. She shoved the key into the lock, wrenched it open, and burst out into the hallway–straight into the path of Elvira, who was casually strolling toward her room.

Elvira froze dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in Alyssa’s ripped clothing, the tears streaming down her face, and the fresh blood staining her hands.

Before she could draw breath to speak, Alyssa spun around and raced blindly up the stairs toward safety.

Elvira stood rooted to the spot for a heartbeat, her gaze darting from the fleeing Luna back to the door of the library. Curiosity burning through her veins, she crept forward and peered inside.

A few feet away, Joffrey was struggling to his feet near the bookshelves, muttering vile, gutter-deep curses while desperately pressing both hands against his aching groin.

Elvira’s eyes dilated as her sharp mind instantly connected the scattered pieces; Alyssa’s destroyed shirt, her flushed, terrified expression, and Joffrey clutching his crotch.

Something forbidden had happened between them.

A slow, venomous smile curled across her lips. She quietly backed away before Joffrey could notice her standing there.

She couldn’t wait for Dorian to come home.