The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Fight-Or-Flight Said Bitch Goodnight

Serena sat bolt upright in bed, heart slamming against her ribs, drenched in sweat despite the room being frigid enough to see her breath.

"Just a dream," she whispered to no one.

"Boo."

One word. The High Emperor of Orosia crossed dimensional boundaries for one word, and sat at the foot of her bed like he’d been waiting for her to wake up.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Counted to three. Opened them.

Gone.

Her pulse was still jackhammering when she threw the covers off and crossed to the bathing chamber. Cold water from the basin hit her face, and she braced her hands on the stone rim, forcing her breathing to slow.

In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

She lifted her head to look in the mirror.

He was standing directly behind her.

"Miss me?"

A scream ripped out of her before she could stop it. She had never, at any point, in any timeline, missed him.

Fear fed the tether. Acknowledgment strengthened it. She knew the rules.

But Maelor’s books hadn’t included a Chapter titled "What To Do When He’s In Your Mirror." Oversight, frankly.

She moved back into her chambers and pulled on a bra under her silk camisole, refusing to give him a show. She slid into her boots next.

He clapped, slowly, the sound echoing against the stone walls."I thought wolves were supposed to be comfortable with nudity."

Serena didn’t answer, pulling on her cloak.

That was when a vase on the mantle exploded. Every torch in the chamber went out at once, plunging the room into absolute darkness.

The cold temperature dropped even more, so fast her exhale crystallized in front of her face.

He vanished.

The dramatic flair was unnecessary. Point taken. He was terrifying. Gold star.

Fight-or-flight chose flight unanimously and without discussion. She moved at Alpha speed to the door.

Just as her fingers closed around the handle, a hand locked around her neck.

He spun her, slamming her against the stone wall. His grip tightened around her throat, fingers digging into her windpipe with the weight of a body that should not have been able to touch her at all.

"You can’t run from me," he said in her ear, his voice layered. Two tones stacked slightly out of sync.

Serena mindlinked.

Serena: Hyran. Are you awake? Gav?

"Your mindlinks won’t work. Wolves are foolish to rely on them."

As if choking wasn’t enough, he needed to narrate. Evil monologuing at its finest.

She threw gold at him, a concussive wave that should have sent him through the wall, but her magic seemed to go around him.

"Your magic can’t tell the difference between me and you. Fickle."

She threw fire. Then ice. Both in rapid succession, the blasts cracking stone and sending smoke rolling across the ceiling.

If every Hidden Flame member wasn’t awake yet, they would be now and probably wondering what the hell was happening. She was cycling through her entire arsenal like a panicked mage flipping through a spellbook during finals.

She reached for pink. But the tank was still empty. Of course it was. The one color that might have actually done something.

Was this how she would go out? Literally anyone’s worst nightmare. Waking up and the person in your actual nightmare is in your actual room then they choke you? Fuck.

"Pass out," he hissed. "That’s all I’m looking for. I’ll take things from there."

His skin was cool against her throat. No heartbeat beneath his fingers. He was choking her to death with hands that didn’t technically exist, and the contradiction made her want to scream louder than the lack of oxygen.

She struggled against him, black spots dancing in her eyes, limbs growing heavy.

Her legs stopped fighting before her brain did. Her mind was still screaming move, move, move while the body signed its own surrender. She could feel herself leaving, the edges of consciousness peeling away, and the helplessness of it was worse than the pain.

If she died here, in this room, with his hands around her throat, Dex wouldn’t even know. When he came back from Orosia, she’d already be gone, and he wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye. The thought sat in her chest like a stone, heavier than the hands on her throat.

Serena: Don’t come any closer. I don’t know where he is. Don’t mindlink anything that I’m on either.

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