Eric looked at Emelia as if she had just struck him across the face. For a second, he didn't move. Then, slowly, the amused glint in his eyes faded, replaced by something colder… sharper.
"You really are going to shut the door in my face?" he asked, his voice quiet but unmistakably strained.
Emelia didn't flinch. "Yes."
She didn't raise her voice, didn't scowl. Her tone was calm—dispassionately firm—and somehow, that made it worse. Like she didn't even care enough to be angry at him.
Eric chuckled bitterly under his breath, the sound humorless.
"You didn't seem this cold last night. Or this morning when you were blushing so prettily."
He tried to lean in again, his shoulder brushing against the doorframe, as though proximity would grant him power.
But before he could step even an inch closer, Emelia lifted her hand and placed it flat against his chest—not roughly, not cruelly, just firmly enough to stop him.
"I'm tired, Eric. And I'm not interested in playing whatever game you think we're playing. Please leave."
Eric looked down at the hand pressed to him. For a moment, it looked like he might push past it—might force his way in through charm or pressure or pure arrogance.
But he didn't.
Instead, he stepped back. Only slightly. Just enough to let her shut the door if she wanted to.
And she did.
The click of the door closing sounded louder than it should have in the quiet hallway.
Eric stood there for a long second, unmoving, staring at the wood in front of him. He wasn't used to being refused—especially not by someone who had already shared a bed with another alpha under the same roof.
It stung. More than it should have.
He sighed and leaned against the wall next to her door, one hand shoved into his pocket, the other raking through his dark hair in frustration.
A deep frown formed on his face, his brows furrowed as if trying to make sense of how things had flipped so quickly. He didn't knock again, didn't call her name.
But he stayed.
Silent and scowling outside her door—waiting for something he wasn't even sure she would ever give.
Emelia had every intention of heading to her bed and falling asleep. There was no need for her to stay awake or feel as if she was missing something…
Other than the alpha she had left hanging outside her room.
Her sharp senses picked up the alpha pheromones in front of the door, and Emelia felt like she needed to help him out.
Maybe it was her sense of responsibility as the warden, or maybe it was her interest in this situation that caused her to feel like this. But her feet dragged her toward the door, and she opened it.
'I would rather not have anything to do with an alpha like Eric. But wouldn't it be better to allow him to get what he wants? It's not like I'm a virgin anymore, and letting Eric get his sexual needs out of his system would make things better for me.'
Not to mention, he would likely lose interest in Emelia soon.
Most male alphas wanted to sleep with a female beta at least once in their life. It was their way of 'experimenting' and 'trying something new.'
But no matter how good the sex was, or how much they liked the other, one experience with a beta was enough to shatter their fantasies and realize that it was much better to stick to an omega than to chase after a beta.
"Are you really not going to head back to your room now, even after you've been rejected by me? What are you? Some kind of masochistic alpha who finds pleasure in being humiliated?"
Emelia asked as she opened the door, only to see the alpha standing in front of her room with an almost lost expression on his face.
Eric did not answer her, but his darkening eyes told Emelia that she was in for a rough time.
Still, since she had made up her mind, she decided to open her door further and invite Eric inside.
"Come inside. Since you're so stubborn, I'll help you out this time. But this will be the last time I sleep with you. You need to find another way to keep yourself occupied from today onwards."
Emelia informed Eric, but his smile told her that he either didn't care or hadn't heard what she told him.
Instead of paying attention to her words, he looked around her room with an almost thoughtful look on his face.
"So this is the warden's room? I don't think I've ever been inside here before. The previous warden didn't like us being anywhere near her place since she had a mate she loved… not that we would've gotten along well, since she was an alpha. And a mated one."
Emelia made an understanding face.
It was likely that the warden didn't want the scent of foreign alphas near her room since she was mated. And it was also unlikely that an alpha would have an interest in another alpha.
"Did the previous warden quit because she was mated and wanted to spend more time with her lover? What a nice alpha she is…"
"Hehehehe. Sorry, I couldn't control myself when you said our previous warden was a good lover. Well, in some ways it can seem like that."
Eric spoke in a way that made Emelia question her own words. She wanted to ask him more, but Eric decided he was done answering and chose instead to corner her against the bed.
Emelia's knees brushed up against the mattress, and she fell back from the sudden impact. Eric wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity he had been given.
"Why don't we stop talking about others now and instead have some fun with each other? After all, that's why you invited me into your room, right? We can both let out our frustrations."