Chapter 100: Focus On Me

(Hooray! So, we’ve reached such an amazing point. Thank you so much for reaching the first milestone of this novel. I hope you keep enjoying it.)

?Benjamin froze in his tracks. His purple eyes widened slightly, staring down at me in absolute, stunned silence. He had seen me smirk, deadpan, tease, mock and glare, but this was the first time he had ever heard—and seen—a real, unscripted laugh.

?"What?" I snapped quickly, my face warming as I instantly pulled my walls back up, clearing my throat. "I didn’t laugh. I just choked on air."

Wait, no. I was too quick to deny it.

?"You definitely laughed," Benjamin murmured, his lips curving into a soft, breathtakingly genuine smile that completely erased the lingering strain on his features. "And it sounded pretty good, little Ms. noisemaker."

?"Keep talking and I’ll choke you for real," I muttered, though I didn’t let go of his hand as he let out a low, amused huff and stepped onto the descending escalator with me.

?Below us, the gourmet night market was a sprawling carnival of lights, sizzling iron plates, and rich, mouth-watering aromas. Stalls stretched as far as the eye could see, packed with street food vendors, live seafood tanks, and artisanal treats from across the upper districts.

This was a place a high born Alpha would probably never look at before and yet, one was walking right next to me.

?The crowd down here was twice as dense as a normal market population. The sheer volume of voices, clattering cookware, and overlapping wolf instincts hit like a physical wave the moment we stepped off the glass steps.

I felt Benjamin’s posture go instantly rigid beside me. His shoulders shuddered, a small, suppressed gasp escaping his throat as his neural sensitivity took the brunt of the chaos.

He could just smoke his sedative cigarette to lessen the trouble. Why on earth was he trying to save face now? Ugh.

Without waiting for him to ask, I shifted closer, lacing my fingers even tighter through his and resting my other hand lightly on his forearm, letting my presence wash over his frayed senses.

?"Focus on me," I murmured softly over the noise.

?Right as the words left my lips, a hurried shopper carrying a stack of wooden crates came barreling through the narrow aisle, completely oblivious to us. My assassin instincts flared instantly—I smoothly side-stepped the collision, but in dodging the sudden impact, my foot caught the edge of the market stall’s wooden frame.

?I stumbled forward, throwing myself straight right into Benjamin’s chest.

?His arms instinctively wrapped tight around my waist to catch me, pulling my body flush against his. The sudden momentum brought our faces inches apart. His purple eyes darkened, his breath catching in his throat as his gaze dropped from my stunned eyes and straight to my lips.

"You..." he did not complete that sentence.

My hands were pinned flat against his broad chest, and for a fraction of a second, the overwhelming heat radiating between us made the entire chaotic market completely blur into background noise. I don’t know when he started inching closer, or if I was the one inching closer, but our lips were so close now that they were practically brushing.

?"Bri! Look at th—"

?Jayden yelled as he turned around, pointing frantically at a stall where a chef was searing massive seafood legs with a roaring flame.

?But the words instantly died in his throat. Jayden froze dead in his tracks, his jaw practically hitting the floor as he stared at the ridiculously intimate position Benjamin and I were locked in.

?I immediately snapped my head away, my face burning as I hastily pushed against Benjamin’s chest to create some space, though his fingers lingered on my waist for an extra beat before letting go.

"Look at what?" I asked smoothly, clearing my throat and desperately trying to act like nothing had just happened.

"Uh... the... the seafood..." Jayden squeaked out, his eyes darting frantically between Benjamin’s dark, completely unbothered expression and my flushed cheeks, his brain visibly short-circuiting.

"What about the seafood?" Benjamin asked lazily, his voice smooth, calm, and utterly devoid of embarrassment.

Jayden swallowed hard, taking half a step back. "Um, never mind."

I glanced sideways at the Alpha beside me. Was it just my imagination, or had there been a tiny trace of annoyance laced through his tone when Jayden interrupted us?

Benjamin noticed I was observing him and he quickly covered it up instantly with a light, indifferent tilt of his head, his hand seamlessly reclaiming mine with an unyielding, casual tightness.

"What is it?" He asked. "You’re staring,"

"It’s nothing," I responded and turned my gaze away. Yeah, I definitely imagined it.

Valerie laughed softly from behind him, her eyes bright as Bradford happily handed over Benjamin’s black card to the wide-eyed vendor.

An hour later, the massive matte-black Morningstar SUV and Benjamin’s sleek silver coupe pulled back through the heavy iron gates of the estate, their headlights cutting through the darkening dusk.

My family was practically floating on cloud nine, loaded down with dozens of high-end shopping bags and gourmet food crates from the market.

It looked like we weren’t going to be having homemade dinner this time. But it’s fine. As long as Valerie was alive, she could cook anytime she wanted.

Jayden and Jordan were already arguing over who would carry the massive seafood boxes inside, while Valerie and Bradford walked up the stone steps with a quiet, peaceful contentment they hadn’t felt in over a decade, clothes bags in hand.

Benjamin walked right beside me, his hand still holding mine, his thumb idly tracing the back of my knuckles as if sticking to my hip was the most natural thing in the world.

I didn’t think much of it.

The doors swung open automatically as we stepped into the grand foyer—and the atmosphere instantly plummeted below freezing.

Standing at the top of the sweeping marble staircase was Edgar Morningstar.

He was stripped of his usual formal blazer, wearing a crisp black dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

A crystal glass of dark amber liquor was held casually in his gloved fingers, but there was nothing casual about his aura.

The lethal, suffocating pressure radiating off him was heavy enough to make the air vibrate.

His sharp, golden eyes swept down the staircase, taking in the mountain of shopping bags, and my family’s stunned faces.

"I returned earlier hoping to check on how everyone was settling in, but found the entire house empty,"