My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 182

Elara

The guard shoved me down. I hit the stone floor on my knees, the impact jarring my teeth. I stayed there, my head bowed, my hands trembling against the cold ground.

"The King is here!" the guard barked, his voice vibrating in my skull. "Pay attention, you brat!"

I looked up, the fear hitting me so hard it felt like a physical weight in my gut. Aldric was staring down at me. Up close, he was even more imposing. He didn't look like he belonged in this humid, stinking warehouse. He looked like he’d been carved out of something expensive and cold.

Aldric let out a slow, quiet sigh. He didn't look at me; he looked at the man who had dragged me out.

"Calm down," Aldric said. His voice was level, almost gentle. It was the most terrifying thing about him. "Why are you shouting?"

The man moved nervously, his shoulders hunching up to his ears. "My apologies, my Lord. She is... she is a handful. I didn't want her to disrespect—"

"Go," Aldric said. He didn't even look at him.

The man scurried away, his boots clicking frantically against the stone until the sound faded into the corners of the room.

Aldric brought his attention back to me. He stood there for a long moment, just watching me breathe. Then he leaned in. He didn't touch me yet. He just tilted his head and sniffed the air near my hair.

He smiled.

He crouched down, his movements slow and deliberate, until he was level with me.

He was so close I could feel the heat rolling off his skin. My body reacted instantly—a frantic, pulsing tingle that made the hair on my arms stand up. I felt goosebumps break out across my neck. My heart was slamming against my ribs, but it wasn't just terror anymore. There was something else. Something biological that I didn't have a name for.

"Hello," he said. His voice was a soft, textured purr.

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