Alpha Noah

~Abella

I should have known he was going to take me here.

When I told him I wanted him to take me elsewhere, I didn’t expect him to arrive in a flurry of colour and cloth before whizzing me off the immortal realm. We arrived in the same small apartment I remember from the time he broke the news to me. We don’t stay for long though, as he takes me out onto the streets. According to him, this is his territory, which is just a city drenched in lights.

“Where are you taking me?” I question, wrapping my coat around me tightly. The wind here is bitter, but the sights, at least, are a good distraction. Cian has his arm tightly pressed around my waist, keeping me to his side as we walk down a main street, brushing past people.

As we walk, people whisper, point and stare. Cian is surely a legend here, as the leader of this territory. Thankfully, no one approaches us. I don’t think I’m in the mood to witness girls falling all over him.

Just thinking that makes me feel bad. Look what you’ve done with Noah.

“Telling you would ruin all the fun,” Cian murmurs, looking down to grin at me. Red and purple flashing lights from a nearby club reflect off his dark strands, making the gold close to his head turn another colour completely. He looks magical, otherworldly. I’ll never get used to the way he looks, and it’s not just his obvious features. Even the angular nature of his face his fascinating.

“Seriously Cian, I’m trying to trust you, but I didn’t have the immortal realm in mind,” I tell him, motioning around to all that happens around us.

This place is insane.

The music is unfamiliar, the people walking around with an air of confidence that you would never see back in the mortal realm. Their lifespan is marginally longer than a mortal. It’s not forever, but by the time their souls are finally released, they have lived a life with no fear of sickness of anything.

“You want me to take your mind off something, right?” he questions, raising a dark eyebrow at me. I swallow uncomfortably. Am I always so obvious with the way I feel? At least he hasn’t tug in to find out what it is. For once Cian is being perceptive. “I’m just assuming. Otherwise why else would you be so willing to be here.”

I sigh. “Fine. A surprise it is.”

“Perfect. You know just what I like.”

We didn’t have to walk so far for his plan to be revealed. We approach a line to talking people standing outside of a club, where low bass music arises, tempting to put my hands over my ears. Cian leads me right inside, regardless of the line, and into a mass of sweating, drunk people. Being thrown into this is immediately daunting.

I keep my eyes trained on Cian, not letting him out of my sight, despite his hand wrapped tightly around mine. I’m cursing him in my head, wondering why he would take me here. I need to have a serious talk to him about being mates, which is what I thought he wanted. This is not the most secluded place…

“What is this place?” I question, battling through limbs until we make it to a bar. Cian and I sit down on stools, which is a relief. At least we are kind of separate from the mess of dancing bodies.

“it’s a party,” Cian grins. “What, never been to a party?”

“This isn’t really my idea of a good time. Can we go somewhere private and talk for a bit?” I ask, rubbing the back of my neck. I feel foolish, sitting here in a room full of attractive, half-naked people. This isn’t my scene. Cian fits in here so well, like he was born for this lavish lifestyle. I suppose as Greed, he really is. Or this is what he’s made his life to be.

“Come on. Have a drink and take your mind off everything. We will dance, have fun and you’ll forget your problems for the night. You have the rest of your life to worry about whatever’s going on inside your pretty little head,” he tells me, motioning for the bartender to bring us a drink.

I roll my eyes. This is why I was apprehensive about talking to him. Just seeing him in this environment has my stomach churning. Is he ready to settle for a mate?

“Can you stop being an immortal for one second?” I snap.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Kyser doesn’t look offended, in fact he smiles at me lazily, like this is all just one big entertaining joke. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Stop acting like we have all the time in the world. I want to talk to you now,” I demand, basically having to shout over the thump of the music. He’s had an eternity to live his life like this, yet he still seems attached to it. I can see it, as he takes the drink from the bartender, putting it in front of me. It’s a clear liquid, that looks irritatingly tempting.

“Shh,” he tells me, raising the drink up to me. I sigh, taking up his offer, but only because I want to take the edge off the feelings for Noah that have been haunting me. It’s exactly what I wanted to talk about to him. “See that’s much better, isn’t it?”

I cough, the drink making my throat burn. “I give you an hour to make me forget.”

If it means for one moment I don’t have to think about Noah, then I’ll do it. I’ll drink this drink and I’ll for one night, allow myself to step into Cian’s world, as apprehensive as I am about it.

“Challenged accepted,” he breathes, grabbing my hand to lead me out onto the dancefloor. The drink has hit me square in the face already. My head spins slightly, my eyes burning. This isn’t alcohol. Maybe it’s a magic drink that is served only to immortals. Cian already proved from that one night a few weeks ago that he has a tolerance to alcohol that is otherworldly.

“This feels wrong,” I tell Cian, as he places his hands on my hips, moving me to the beat of the music. My hands find his chest, palming the muscle underneath his shirt firmly. I’m keeping a safe distance between us, giving me a chance to breathe and think.

“Why? Scared of being with me?” he asks.

His head is bowed down, to the point I can feel his breath against my lips. Never once does he release me from his gaze, as we sway back and forth. I can feel the bond between us pulling us closer, causing my heartrate to race and my skin to heat up. Those dark eyes, full of secrets he has yet to indulge, drift down to my lips.

For a moment, I swear he is going to kiss me. That is, until a frown flutters across his face. Suddenly, my heart jumps into my throat. He’s realised how foolish I am, and how easily I fell for his charms. Now I truly feel stupid.

“Wait, let me look at your eyes,” he demands, grabbing my chin to force my head up to look at him. In my gaze, he swirls back into forth like a moving painting. “Someone spiked your drink.”

I roll my eyes. “Look, I’m feeling great.”

“You won’t for long. Magic has been used on you. I have something back at my place that might help you,” he tells me, grabbing my forearm. He drags me firmly through the crowd until we emerge outside onto the street, where he leads me to a bench seat and sits me there. I’m not sure why he is acting to rash. I feel euphoric, regardless of his words.

“I’m going to kill the bartender. Someone must have paid him,” Cian mutters, raking his hand through his hair, those gold strands shimmering under the light. My vision, at this point, has turned into a melting pot of colours, blurring incoherently. I can still see his outline, and maybe his eyes, but a lot else is starting to leave.

Cian stands, turning around to walk back into the club. Presumably, he’s going to find out who did this.

“Bye then I guess,” I mutter.

Not even a second passes by, when someone comes to kneel in front of me. I can hardly see them in my wobbly vision. They place their hands on my knees, but the cue to be scared isn’t there. They have a bigger frame then Cian, wearing what may be a suit. It’s a man, with darker, maybe brown hair. His eyes are dark, like obsidian, and maybe there are tattoos on his face…it hurts my head trying to establish what he looks like.

“Open your mouth,” I hear him say, his accent thick and otherworldly.

“Excuse me. Take me on a date first at least,” I hear myself to say, although it feels detached from my body. He grabs my chin with velvet gloves, just like Cian had done earlier, but this is much firmer, and even hurts. “Ow what the hell?”

He places something on my tongue, which tastes sour in the form of a tablet. “Swallow.”

“Who do you think you are?” I demand, after he holds my mouth shut until I’m compelled to swallow it. It goes down dry and painful, causing me to cough violently. My mind feels as though it is slowly falling out of touch with world around me, but at least I’m aware this is wrong.

“My name is Stace. You’ll get to know me later. For now, this is goodbye?” he tells me, pulling back up to his feet.

I frown. “You’re leaving?”

“No, you’re dying.”

At least I’m coherent enough to realise that this sentence isn’t right. My heart rate accelerates, as I reach out to him. Where I think his shoulder is isn’t actually where it is, so when I make a move to grab it, I stumble, nearly falling off the bench completely. Stace, this enigmatic stranger quickly guides me back down onto the bench by my waist.

“Then save me,” I breathe, looking down at him.

“It’s too late. I’ve just killed you,” he tells me, before he gets up, and walks away, like he never actually existed.