Chapter 88
Ellie POV
The door slams shut behind me.
Metal on metal. Loud. Final.
“You assholes!” I snarled slamming a hand on the door.
It had been late, my class ending deep into the night then I want. There was a chill in the air, enough to see my breath when suddenly I was swiped from the path and thrown into a dark the gym storage unit.
Recognizing those laughs. Dominc’s friends.
I react on instinct, spinning, throwing my shoulder into the door, fingers scrabbling for the handle. The door doesn’t even rattle.
“Seriously?” I hiss, bracing my palm flatl.
The closet is dim, lit only by a single emergency light pulsing low and tired above the shelves. Concrete walls sweat with the chill of night, the air smelling faintly of dust, rubber mats, and old chalk.
I pull back, breath sharp, already irritated.
This is not happening. Ugh, why?!
I try the handle again. Nothing.
I swallow, forcing myself to slow down. Panicking won’t help. This is just a room.
Then a voice comes from the shadows.
I nearly jump ou my skin.
It’s dry. Calm. Amused in that infuriating way that always feels like he knows something I don’t.
“They got you, too?”
I freeze.
My heart does something traitorous and stupid before my brain catches up.
“Dominic?” I say flatly.
He shifts, the movement soft but unmistakable, close. The emergency light catches him sitting on one of the mats, long langs
stretched out so close I’m practically between his legs-his arms braced behind him like he’s been there a while
“You’re kidding,” I mutter. “You planned this.”
He lifts a brow. “Are you dull? If I had planned it, I wouldn’t be sitting on gym mats in the dark. I’d be hunter buy he Sleeping”
I turn back to the door, rattling it once more, harder this time “Your friends are drað “
“Join the line,” he says mildly
1 whin on him “How long have you been in here?”
He considers “Long enough to finish a few chapteta”
I blink “You were reading?”
“What else is there to do?”
+25 Bonus
I let out a sharp laugh. “Break the door down? You’re an Alpha?”
He waves a hand. “They charmed the door. Simply, I can’t.”
I push off the shelf, wanting to pace, but there was no room. The space forces us closer than I’d like. Every nervous twitch reminds me of how aware I am of his presence without trying to be.
If I sit, I’m between his legs. If I stay standing, my chest is at his head height—
Ugh.
I face the door.
Then my hands move protect my bum.
His voice comes stiff. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t-” My voice snaps. “Those no way for me to just stand comfortably!”
“Do you want to sit-”
“No!” But my anger ebs, breathing soft into the metal. “Just don’t look at me.”
He was quiet after that. Which didn’t help.
“So how do we get out?” I ask.
“We wait,” he says. “Or we shout. Depends how dramatic you want to be.”
“This is setup,” I say. “Again.”
“I told you they were trying to mess with us.”
“You didn’t,” I snap automatically-then pause, because the anger doesn’t land the way it should.
“I tried to tell you.” He corrected smooth, going back to this book.
I glare back. “You’re enjoying this.”
“No,” he replies, honest enough to disarm me. “I’m enduring it.”
The silence settles in after that, shadows stretch and shift, making the space feel smaller than it is.
I cross my arms, leaning against the shelving, careful not to touch him.
Minutes pass. Maybe more. Time stretches oddly in the dark. The cold seeps through the soles of my boots, through the this fabric of my sleeves and skirt.
Without asking, Dominic shrugs off his jacket, the sudden shuffle of fabric in the silence making me stiffen Held 18
I stare. “Absolutely not.”
“You’re shivering”
“I’m fine ”
“You’re lying.”
I glare at him “I don’t accept gifts from Alphias who can’t keep thurit trustchur
“Then accept it from a person who doesn’t want you getting was he say even
The silence stretches agaiti
+25 Bonus
I take the jacket.
Our fingers brush.
It’s nothing. Barely a touch. And yet heat skates up my arm like lightnin. I pull back too fast.
Dominic notices..
He doesn’t comment. Just looks at me with that quiet intensity that makes me feel seen in a way I don’t always want.
I slip the jacket on. It smells like him-clean, faintly metallic, something dark underneath. It settles over my shoulders like it belongs there.
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