Chapter 63: Keep Your Wolf Under Control

The quiet in the bathroom fell over me like a cold blanket, instantly muffling the suffocating clash of Alpha aura raging on the other side of the door.

​I leaned my back against the frosted glass panel and let out a long, slow exhale.

​Finally alone.

​My shoulders dropped as the tension I hadn’t realized I was holding began to bleed out of my muscles. I peeled off Benjamin’s heavy coat, tossing it over a marble bench, followed by my sweat-soaked, pheromone-stained top.

The bitter, suffocating tang of that rutting Alpha’s scent was still clinging to my skin, mixing with Edgar’s heavy metallic aura and Benjamin’s dark, lingering trace. It made my stomach turn.

Alphas were way too prideful for their own good. They were throwing about their ego for no reason, and arguing with their aura just because they could. So noisy.

​I stepped into the glass shower enclosure, turning the chrome handle until ice-cold water blasted down over my head.

​I gasped as the freezing spray hit my chest, but I didn’t turn the dial toward hot. Cold water was better for muscle recovery, better for numbing the dull, persistent ache in my weak wrists, and far better for cooling off the heating rising beneath my skin.

​I scrubbed my skin raw with the citrus-scented soap resting on the ledge, washing away every last trace of the day. The humiliation, the sensory overload, the pathetic high school politics, and the unhinged behavior of the Alphas—I scrubbed until my skin flushed pink and the water running down the drain was crystal clear.

​Once again, I stand by my word. This body is a mess, I thought, looking down at my pale, slender arms as the water cascaded off my collarbones. Thanks to this pathetic stamina, a single wave of rutting pheromones nearly made my knees buckle.

​I shut the water off, wrung out my dark hair, and grabbed a thick white towel from the warming rack. After drying off, I picked up the clothes Benjamin had brought.

​I raised an eyebrow as I unfolded them. They weren’t the cheap stuff I had bought just to save money. It was a tailored set of slate-grey compression gear topped with a sleek, black high-collared athletic jacket made from lightweight, tear-resistant fabric. Fits like a second skin, allowing full range of motion without a single loose thread to snag on.

But then I caught sight of the price tag. The number 5 and five zeros. The corner of my eye twitched. Wow, rich heirs really were on a different league. Well, what do I care? He bought it on his own. I never asked for an outfit with six digits. So I don’t have to repay anything.

​At least the bastard has good taste in gear, I conceded silently, pulling the athletic pants on and zipping up the jacket.

​I stepped up to the massive vanity mirror, wiping the fog off the glass with the back of my hand. My reflection stared back—sharp, cold, unblinking eyes set in a pale, delicate face.

​I reached up, pulling my wet hair back into a tight, low ponytail at the nape of my neck, ensuring not a single strand would fall into my eyes.

​Unlocking the bathroom door, I turned the handle with a quiet click and stepped back out into the suite.

Edgar was finally clothed, lounging back against the leather sofa in a tailored dark suit, though he was casually puffing on a real, heavy cigar. Benjamin sat across from him, lazily dragging on his specialized cigarette, looking thoroughly irritated by his uncle’s presence.

"Uncle, keep your wolf under control," Benjamin muttered, blowing out a cloud of grey smoke toward the high ceiling without bothering to look up. "You’re being so loud right now."

Edgar took a slow, deliberate pull from his cigar, a low, rumbling chuckle vibrating in his chest as his golden eyes flicked over to me standing near the bathroom door. "My aura is perfectly steady, kid. Your ears are just too sensitive."

I crossed my arms over the sleek black jacket, looking between the two of them with unbothered, razor-thin eyes. The air in the room was still thick with lingering Alpha tension, but with clean clothes and cold water flushing the heat from my skin, their posturing barely registered as background noise.

"Are you two done marking your territory?" I asked, my voice cutting through the smoke with ice-cold precision.

"What’s there to mark?" Edgar asked, taking a slow, unhurried pull from his cigar as a dangerous, amused smirk played on his lips. "This place is mine."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I looked down at him. "Then don’t stoop to your nephew’s level to be childish. You’re supposed to be more ruthless than that."

Edgar’s rumbling chuckle caught in his throat, his golden eyes flashing with a sudden, sharp glint at my sheer audacity. Across the room, Benjamin didn’t even blink, though the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed his quiet satisfaction at seeing his uncle called out.

"Careful, little cat," Edgar purred, leaning back into the leather cushion as his voice dropped into a low, metallic murmur. "Call me childish again, and I might just remind you how ruthless I actually can be."

"I’d love to see you try," I replied without a single second of hesitation, stepping past the sofa toward the velvet-draped lounge chair in the corner. "You wouldn’t want to see your precious investment broken before the results yield, right?"

"Oh, I’m already seeing results," Edgar said, his golden eyes sliding slowly toward Benjamin. "If you’ve already tamed Benjamin, then you’re definitely not something simple."

Tame?

I paused, sinking into the soft velvet cushion and leaning my head back against the dark fabric. How did I tame that arrogant heir?

I stared up at the ceiling, genuinely baffled by the conclusion Edgar had reached. Benjamin was as unhinged and unpredictable as they came. He didn’t listen to a word I said, he dragged me around like a backpack whenever he felt like it, and he used me as a walking buffer against the sensory hell of his own wolf.

According to him, I was just a convenient distraction that helped to keep the noise out. How in the hell was that ’taming’?

"You have a funny definition of taming, Edgar," I muttered, crossing my legs and closing my eyes. "He’s just an annoying pest who refuses to leave me alone."

A low, raspy scoff came from across the room as Benjamin took a slow drag of his specialized cigarette.

"Hmph, you know why I can’t not want to be around you, Ms. noisemaker," Benjamin drawled lazily, his voice dropping into a tired hum. "You’re just the only quiet thing in this whole damn territory. I’m just resting my eyes near someone who doesn’t give me a migraine. Don’t flatter yourself."

Of course, you arrogant prick.

Edgar let out a deep, rumbling laugh, the heavy amber smoke from his cigar drifting lazily toward the high ceiling. "Keep telling yourselves that. Just don’t wreck my suite while I’m gone."

He stood up, adjusting his suit jacket, and gave me one last, lingering look with those sharp golden eyes before turning on his heel and exiting through the double doors, leaving a sudden, blissful silence in his wake.