Chapter 111: A Negotiation

She leaned her back against the cool slate tiles, looking up at him. Water beaded across the wide expanse of his shoulders, his dark hair slicked back against his forehead.

The sculpted line of his torso stood out pale and defined against the dark grey stone, and a quiet, treacherous part of her wanted to reach out, press her mouth to his chest, and pull him right back into her. She forced her hands to remain at her sides.

“Yes, I still don’t understand what is happening to my body when I’m with you, because I am not a supernatural,” she said, her tone steady despite her rapid pulse. “That is precisely why I asked for baby steps, Alexander. Because I didn’t want to rush into a world I don’t understand… and suddenly have it swallow me whole.”

“I understand—”

“No, you don’t, Alexander.” She reached out, placing her palm flat against his bare chest, right over his heart. Beneath her skin, his pulse was still hammering, too fast and too hard for a man who claimed absolute control over everything around him.

She stared at the spot beneath her hand for a moment before lifting her eyes to his.

“That’s why I stepped away from you this morning and ran in here. Because I hoped a little distance would let me catch my breath. But you chased me right into the water.”

The admission seemed to strike him harder than she had intended. His expression shifted, the rigid line of his mouth softening slightly as he studied her face, searching for something she wasn’t sure she knew how to explain.

Iris let out a quiet, trembling sigh, her thumb brushing against his wet collarbone.

“I’m not going to pretend I didn’t want you to touch me. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t beg for it, because I did, and I’m not ashamed to admit that. But I need you to be clear about something, and I need you on board with this.”

His blue eyes held hers. The crimson fringe was slowly receding into his irises, retreating like a tide, but he didn’t speak. It was his silence that told her he was genuinely listening. Yet she needed more than a silent listener.

She needed a commitment from a king who was used to taking whatever he desired and a man who had spent the morning making her forget that she was allowed to say no to things she wasn’t ready for.

Seeing her gaze fixed on him, demanding an answer, Alexander exhaled heavily. A subtle shadow crossed his face; he already knew what she was going to ask, and he dreaded the words before they even left her lips.

“Go on,” he said softly.

“I asked for space because I don’t know what I want… or what any of this actually means for my life,” she said, holding his gaze fiercely. “So until I figure it out, until I get used to this… to your world… and everything that comes with being your mate, I want your word that you won’t try to have sex with me again.”

Alexander stared down at her, his dark brows drawing together in a sharp, rigid line. The quiet warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by an unyielding resistance.

Alexander stared down at her, his dark brows drawing together in a sharp, rigid line. The quiet warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by an unyielding, stony resistance.

He hated it—every single syllable of it. To him, distance wasn’t a boundary; it was a physical tearing of his soul. He had waited three thousand years to feel her pulse against his, and now she was asking him to stand on the other side of a glass wall.

“No,” he said, the word cold and absolute. “I am not going to promise you such a thing.”

“Alexander…”

“No, Iris. You have no idea what you are asking of me.” He dragged a wet hand through his hair, slicking it away from his face as his jaw clenched. “I told you before: it is physically impossible for me to stay away from you. It goes against every instinct I possess. You are my mate. You have no concept of what that bond demands of a Lycan.”

“Then explain it to me!” Her voice echoed against the tiled walls before she could stop it. “Explain what it demands, what it means, and why every time I ask you a question about this bond, you look at me as though I’m supposed to understand something simply because you feel it.”

His expression tightened, but she continued before he could interrupt.

“You’ve had three thousand years to understand what you are, Alexander. Three thousand years to learn how your kind thinks, how your instincts work, and what being a Lycan means. I’ve had barely enough time to accept that the man I thought was an arrogant billionaire with an unhealthy interest in my life is actually an immortal creature who claims I’m his fated mate. You cannot expect me to catch up with you overnight.”

For several seconds, he said nothing.

The water continued to fall around them, its steady patter filling the silence.

“I have waited three thousand years to find you,” he said at last, his voice lower now. “Do you understand what that means? I have watched empires rise and collapse, buried people whose names the world no longer remembers, and spent centuries believing the curse would never end. Then you walked into my life, and for the first time in all those years, something inside me finally made sense. You are not simply someone I desire, Iris. You are the one person my entire existence has been leading me toward.”

His hand lifted, stopping just short of her cheek, as though even he had begun to understand that reaching for her without permission was no longer something he could take for granted.

“And now you are asking me to pretend that none of it exists.”

“I’m asking you to give me time to understand it.”

“And what if time changes nothing?”

“Then we’ll deal with that when we get there.” Her eyes searched his face. “But I cannot promise you a future when I’m still trying to understand my present.”

The words settled between them, leaving his expression darker than before. Alexander looked away briefly, his gaze falling to the hand she still had pressed against his chest.

He could feel every point of contact between them, every small movement of her fingers, every shift in her breathing. The bond was a living thing beneath his skin, relentless in its insistence that she belonged beside him.

But belonging to him was not the same as being ready for him. He seemed to recognize the distinction, even if he hated it.

She held his gaze, refusing to back down, though a stray droplet of water dripped from her chin onto the back of his hand. When the silence stretched so thin it threatened to break, she looked away, her chest rising and falling as she drew in a deep, steadying breath.

“I want to go back to my apartment,” she stated quietly.

Alexander’s eyes narrowed instantly. “Why?”

“I can’t go to campus wearing the clothes you stockpiled for me in that wardrobe,” she explained, gesturing vaguely toward the bedroom beyond the glass door.

“It’s all haute couture, Alexander. My friends and coursemates know me. They know I work part-time, live on a budget, and struggle to pay for my textbooks. If I walk into the business administration building wearing a four-thousand-dollar blazer while the rumors about you being our guest professor are still blowing up the campus app… someone is going to connect the dots within twenty-four hours.”

She folded her arms, then immediately unfolded them when she remembered she was standing in a shower with nothing between them but a thin layer of water.

“I don’t want to spend my final semester explaining my life to people who have no business knowing anything about it. I have worked too hard to get this far, and I’m not going to let the fact that I’m your mate become the only interesting thing about me.”

She looked back up at him, her dark eyes filled with a quiet, pleading honesty. “I just want a peaceful final semester at Emerald Heights. That’s all.”

Alexander watched her for a long moment, processing the practical logic behind her fear. The last thing he wanted was for rival packs or hidden eyes to target her before his court had secured every perimeter.

“Fine,” Alexander said smoothly. “I will send Oliver over to your apartment with a security detail to retrieve your personal belongings.”

“I want to go by myself,” Iris countered immediately. “With Zoey.”

“That is not up for debate, Iris.” Alexander’s voice left zero room for negotiation, the CEO and the Alpha aligning seamlessly. “You will not step outside the warding of this estate without proper escort.”

Before she could argue, he stepped closer, reaching out to gently tuck a wet strand of hair behind her ear. His long fingers lingered at the curve of her jaw, his palm warm and steady against her cool, damp skin.

“Come,” he murmured, his tone softening just a fraction. “Let us get you dry. The air in here is growing cold.”

He reached for a plush, heavy towel hanging near the glass door, wrapping it carefully around her shoulders to shield her from the chill. “And you need nourishment. We will discuss the logistics of your semester over breakfast.”

Iris let out a soft sigh, leaning her head briefly against his hand. She knew when to pick her battles, and arguing with an immortal monarch about security protocols while standing dripping wet in his shower was a battle she was bound to lose.

For now, at least.