Oliver's POV
I couldn't explain the raw, jagged panic that had sliced through me when I heard her scream from behind those steel doors. As Alpha King, I was supposed to be able to control my emotions, but for those few minutes, I was just a man seconds away from tearing the elevator doors off their hinges with my bare hands. The sound of her fear had triggered something primal in my wolf—a protective instinct so violent it nearly choked me.
When the doors finally opened and she threw herself into my arms, the world narrowed down to just her. The way she clung to me, trembling and small, made me want to burn down anything that had ever caused her a second of fear.
The drive to her home was silent, thick with the memory of her trembling body in my arms. I tried to break the silence once. "How long have you been scared of the dark?" I asked softly.
She looked out the window, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to talk about it. Please."
