Sold To The Demon Alpha
Chapter 17

Aria’s POV

I watched as Natalia’s face turned pale with fear and she moved away from me, bowing and trembling.

“Alpha.” She said and Roma’s stoic gaze turned into a one sided smile. The smile that I had come to associate with danger and nothing good.

“What is your name, girl?” He asked, still remaining in position and I winced as I tried to stand to my feet.

“Natalia, my Lord.” She whispered and it was almost comical to watch how she had suddenly become as calm as a newborn when minutes ago, she was acting like she was the Almighty herself.

It was because I was weak, I realized.

She had seen me as a weaker entity and didn’t mind trying to prey on me for it and I had stood there and taken all of her bullshit, forever the nice peacemaker.

As I finally rose to my feet, I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from howling in pain.

I was sure one or more of my ribs had cracked with the force of the throw.

I was surprised that I was not bleeding or unconscious from the way my head had hit the wall.

“Tell me, Natalia. If I were to throw you to the wall the way you have just thrown your fellow, how many ribs would you break? Would your spine survive the impact?”

Her eyes widened in terror and she fell to her knees.

“Forgive me my Lord, I didn’t mean to…”

His growl cut her short and I flinched as the sound echoed round the hall, leaning against the wall for support.

“Why do you apologize to me? Perhaps you think I wish to say ‘All is forgiven’ and absolve you of your crime when I was not the one you offended?”

He said every word so painfully slow, I wondered how Natalia was not already weeping at the intensity of his gaze, the smirk on his lips, the gravity of his tone and the promise of violence in his eyes.

I shook and he was not even looking at me. So, this was what it felt like when Roma unleashed the Alpha in him.

The air was tense and thick and it was as though the rage in him was a living breathing thing, moving around the hall looking for whom to devour.

Turning to face me on her knees, Natalia bowed low and her body continued to shake.

“I’m so sorry. I am truly sorry for hurting you.” She stuttered and I was speechless.

What was I supposed to say to her?

But I knew that if I said nothing, Roma would remain here and nothing good could come out if I left her punishment to him.

I didn’t like her but I feared what might be her punishment even more.

“It’s okay. You can stand.” I answered and when she nodded and didn’t stand, I raised my eyes in confusion.

“Stand. And leave us. Report what you have done to Raphael. Do not leave one word out. He will see to it that you are punished fairly.”

Natalia bowed again, giving me one last glance before she ran out of the room, the door slamming with a thud.

Inhaling, I turned to look at him and the intensity of his gaze finally rested on me.

I did not know how anyone ever got anything done when he was in the vicinity. He had a presence that could take up an entire room even without speaking and as he watched me silently, I wondered what I wanted to say now that he was finally in front of me after an entire week of being unable to be in the same room with him.

“Thank you. For saving me.”

His face hardened and he crossed the distance between us to stand in front of me.

He looked angry. Almost tortured even. His hands had formed fists beside him and he growled at me.

Why was he angry?

“You should do better than that, Ajello. You should not say it’s okay when people hurt you. Nothing is okay, damn it.” He yelled, punching the wall beside my head and I flinched, closing my eyes.

When I opened them, he was standing far away from me and looking at me with a pained expression.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered, tearing up and hating myself for being so weak.

His face softened and he cursed in a language that I didn’t understand, pacing the room before finally stopping and walking towards me to grab my chin.

“If anyone is giving you a hard time, do not ever be nice to them. Never. If I hadn’t gotten here, that girl would not have hesitated to harm you and she would do it again. You must never let anyone get away with hurting you again, do you understand me?”

I nodded because I knew why he was saying it.

Natalia was just the icing on the cake. I had let my father get away with hurting me for years and he was right. If he had not intervened, I would have probably let her hurt me and end up not saying anything about it to anyone.

“I need you to say that you understand, Aria.” He whispered, eyes falling to my lips and suddenly, my pain didn’t feel so terrible anymore as I looked at him.

“I understand.” I answered and he rested his forehead against mine, closing his eyes briefly before he took a step back.

“You need to get checked at the infirmary.”

“That happens to be where I live now, so it shouldn’t be a hassle.” I joked, my smile fading when I saw that he looked like he was going to wring my neck for saying a joke at this time.

I attempted to walk and tripped, suddenly feeling dizzy and as if the earth had been pulled from beneath my face.

Perhaps I had spoken too soon about not having a concussion.

Before my face could meet with the floor however, Roma was grabbing my waist and carrying me bridal style.

“I can walk.” I said, trying to protest even as I snuggled into his chest, secretly loving the fact that I was in his arms, butterflies dancing in my belly.

“Of course you can.” He answered with a growl, looking very unimpressed and I fought the urge to giggle, even though there was nothing that should have been funny about this situation.

Maybe I was running mad.

This was a suicidal feeling, my brain warned me.

Roma was not the kind of man that I was allowed to get butterflies for.

Even Sophia had said that he could never fall for someone like me.

Even I knew that the chances that he could be attracted to me was absolutely nothing.

But as we walked down the hall and I hid my face in his arms, avoiding the surprised gazes of the people that saw us, I felt a surge of pride that I was with him like this.

That for a moment, I could pretend that I was a damsel in distress and that Roma, the Alpha who scared even the scariest, was my prince charming.