Sold To The Demon Alpha
Chapter 9

Aria’s POV

“Roma.” Raphael said, rising to his feet and inclining his head and I didn’t realize that I had turned completely to see who was at the door until the full force of Roma’s gaze fell on me.

Looking like a fallen angel, he wtas dressed in a black long sleeved shirt that had the first three buttons opened and black jeans that hugged his thighs. His hair looked like he had run his hands through it tirelessly.

As he gave me a lazy stare, I quickly bowed in greeting, my face heating up as I realized that he had caught me ogling him. He raised his thick full dark brows at me before Raphael cleared his throat, drawing Roma’s intense stare to him.

“Rafa, when did you return?” Roma said, his face becoming tender in a way that I didn’t think was possible at all. He was usually stone faced almost all the time. When he wasn’t looking like a gargoyle, he was wearing a strong frown or a sadistic smile that promised retribution.

It made me wonder what it would take for him to look at me like that.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Aria.

“This morning. The pack Alpha sends his regards.”

Roma nodded, putting his hands in his pockets and then his face went back to default stoicism as eyes of light blue fell on me again.

“Aria tells me that you granted her permission to leave the pack grounds.” Raphael nodded and Roma nodded, his eyes still on me which made me shift from one feet to the other.

“Yes.”

“She also says you asked me to take her. I was about to do that…”

Roma shook his head, halting Raphael mid speech and looked at him with a smile that sifted from amusement to almost sinister.

“This little woman here went to such great lengths to get my permission to leave pack grounds. Almost had her head torn off, in fact.”

I flinched, my hand instinctively going to my neck as I remembered how I’d almost been strangled to death or possibly been dismembered from the rest of my body minutes ago by a monster that lived in Roma’s skin. Looking at him now, with his long lashes, sculpted face and beard, I wondered if he ever looked in the mirror before he turned, just to see how different he looked. From man to beast.

Raphael’s eyes moved to where I touched my neck and his eyes widened before his expression turned grim.

The silence in the air was tense and charged with something I didn’t quite understand so I cleared my throat.

“If you don’t mind, Alpha, I would like Raphael to take me now so that we might be back early.”

“You’re coming with me. Go and get dressed. I’ll meet you outside.”

Roma was coming with me? I was sure a fly would enter my mouth from the way it fell open in surprise and when I looked at Raphael, he was watching Roma with a look of surprise too. It made me wonder why Roma had offered to drive me to town.

“Well? What are you waiting for, Ajello? Out! Now.”

I turned back to give Raphael a dazed smile, sidestepping Roma as I scurried out of the office and ran to my room.

Roma’s POV

“Well, are you going to tell me what happened? Or are you going to keep standing by the door like a sentinel?” Raphael asked with his brows raised, heading to the fridge and bringing out two cans of beer. He threw one at me almost immediately and when I caught it with one hand, he grinned.

“Since your reflexes are good, I take it that you heard my question.” He added and I growled, opening the can and taking two gulps before slumping into a couch.

“f**k off.” I replied, my tone weightless and he sat opposite me. Where would I start from? Even I didn’t know how to explain what had happened. Seeing the redness on Aria’ neck just now had made me realize how close I had come to killing her.

I cursed the goddess again for doing this to me. I didn’t care whether she thought this punishment was just. I would never apologize for what I did. Not when I was doing the world a huge service by getting rid of the man that sired me.

“Did you do that to her?” Raphael asked, his voice low and when I nodded, he sighed.

“What happened, Roma?”

“She entered the West wing.” I answered simply, waiting for him to process that information and I saw when he realized what I had said because his eyes widened.

“She did what? Did she see your bedroom?”

I nodded, almost laughing at how funny the situation would have been if I wasn’t hiding a mindless beast beneath my skin.

“Did she see the demon? Tell me you weren’t about to turn when she came in.” Raphael asked hesitantly and I merely smiled even though the smile was devoid of any form of life.

“I was mid-shift. And you know how these things are.” They were very unpredictable and I was nothing but a slave to when the beast materialized which made me keep an exceptionally tight lid on my emotions outside.

Anything could trigger the monster.

“How is she still alive?” Raphael looked as shocked as I was when I had been able to stop the beast long enough to have one rational thought.

I understood his inability to believe what I was telling him. He was the one who had cleaned up after the dead bodies I left in my wake the first time the beast made an appearance, shortly after I ripped out my father’s throat. Even Raphael did not dare stay in the vicinity when the beast was in control.

So I did not mind the look of disbelief he was giving me at the fact that Aria Ajello, a helpless human had somehow come face to face with the beast and had not only survived but had only escaped with a bruise, all her limbs and organs perfectly intact. I wanted to believe that in that moment, I had seemingly gained control of the beast and put a stop to our action before it was too late but that would be foolish.

Aria Ajello might have just been lucky this one time. It might have just happened that way because I was still in human form and had not made the complete shift.

“You’re not joking, are you?” Raphael breathed when he saw the look on my face and I rose to my feet.

“If I was, you would have had to pack her bloody remains from the floor of my bedroom today. But you saw for yourself. She stood in front of you, did she not?”

“Indeed.”

“We will discuss later.” I told him and headed for the door.

My hand was on the knob when I heard his question.

“What is she?”

Aria Ajello was certainly human that was for sure. And my mate, it seemed, even though that should be impossible.

But what I did not know was whether she was my salvation or my doom.

“I do not know, Rafa. I have no idea.”