Chapter 123: Personal interests.

July 25 2026, 12:59pm.

"Me or the table?" Rhys asked softly with amusement gleaming in his eyes as he watched her struggle to stand upright.

Her face had turned a bright shade of pink, and like this, she almost looked comical... almost seemed pitiful... but he’d seen enough these past few days to know that she was not exactly how she seemed at first glance.

She dragged in a breath, lifted her eyes to meet his gleaming mischievous ones, and snarled; "You and the table."

Her response made the corners of his lips rise a few inches upward. He crossed his arms over his chest, checked her over to see if she was really hurt— and when he decided that she was fine, he continued; "The table is innocent, and as for me, you don’t need to ask for permission to fuck me."

The hidden innuendo behind his words was not lost on Nyx’ara whose face instantly heated up. She rolled her eyes, discreetly pressed her finger into the back of her head, and braced herself for pain.

But there was none.

And then she lifted her gaze to meet him and seethed; "You wish."

Rhys, who only found her fascinating at the time, could only smile at her. But his smile barely lasted a few seconds before it dropped from his face, making it seem like it was almost never there in the first place.

He continued; "Even though I am very much interested in teasing you until you become as red as the blood in your veins, I have better things I want to talk to you about..."

"But I don’t have anything to say to you, Alpha Rhys." Nyx’ara hissed back, only to clamp her lips shut when his fingers wrapped lazily around her right wrist.

The action— and because she had not expected it to happen— made her body still as her eyes dropped to her held wrist. Sparks flew between them like wildfire, spreading across her veins and setting her soul on fire.

Her cheeks heated up just as her traitorous heart began to pound against her chest. And goddess, her mouth chose that very moment to go dry, so she stuck out her tongue, licked her dry lips, and then raised her eyes to find him watching her closely.

Like he wanted to devour her.

Hell, she wanted to do the same to him.

Since when?

Once again, her heart slammed against her chest.

"Who exactly are you, Nyx’ara?"

The seriousness in his tone made her take a tentative step back. She had no idea what to say to him, and was extremely stumped for this reason. She opened her mouth to speak but for some reason, no words would come.

"What do you mean?" She asked softly— too softly, it almost felt as though she had breathed the words not say them.

Her body thrummed with a gazillion emotions all at once when he flexed his fingers around her wrist but he still wouldn’t let her go. If anything, he inched even closer until he was so close, she could literally feel the heat from his skin burning through her garment.

And heavens, he was hottt.

The heat spread across her skin until the hairs at the nape of her neck stood on end, and until she was so flustered, she could feel her stomach dip.

Her body shook like a leaf in the wind when her eyes lazily trailed up his body to meet his gaze and she gulped thickly when she realized that all this time, his eyes had never left her face even once.

And he wasn’t even planning to.

Another thing that made her so flustered was the fact that he hadn’t responded to her question yet, and all he did was stare. Stare like there was something strange on her face.

Stare like she was the only thing he could see.

Stare like she was fascinating...

"You are beautifully fascinating," he said suddenly, causing her to flinch, and when his breath fanned her face, her body reacted in a way she was too embarrassed to put into words.

All she knew was that a weird sensation had shot straight to her core, and there was no way in hell she should be feeling that way towards a man who had been nothing but her tormentor from the moment they met.

"I do not need your help..." she finally said, turning him down. "I do not need your help with anything. I am perfectly fine, knowing that you and your brothers know that I am not the one responsible for your sister’s death."

"And do you not wish to take revenge on those who had sent you here, hoping that you would be condemned to die for a crime you did not commit?"

That got her attention and she quickly lifted her gaze. Her heart skipped several beats in one second and her palm instantly became sweaty as an ugly feeling twisted inside of her.

"I... do."

"Do you not wish to hurt them the way they have hurt you? Do you not wish to pay them back for locking you up for three years, even though you were completely innocent?"

"I do."

Now, her voice was firmer. The rage inside of her had grown to scary heights. Her body thrummed with excitement and her mouth was filled with the taste of victory— almost victory.

A beat of silence passed before a sudden thought struck her and before she could discard it, she found herself opening her mouth to ask; "Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I am very generous," Rhys answered then smiled when she rolled her eyes at him. "Well, believe it or not, it is because I am very interested in you."

His words made her gulp, and for some very strange reasons, she suddenly lost her voice, her courage, and her ability to meet his eyes. So she lowered her head just as a blush crept up both of her cheeks.

"And what is in it for you?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. I simply get to avenge my sister’s murder, help the girl who had been forced into taking the fall... then let you go."

"L-let me go?" She stuttered and Rhys smiled.

"I liked you without the stutter. I like you both ways but you’re hotter without the stutter."

Even though Nyx’ara knew that he was baiting her... that he was teasing her, she couldn’t help but lower her lashes and smile.

Something strange was happening and it was making her feel warm around him... comfortable even.

And she did not like it.

She pressed her lips together at the thought and lifted her eyes to meet his shiny golden ones one more time, then she hissed;

"What do you mean by letting me go?" She asked,

But Rhys did not want to talk about it. He did not even want to think about it, fearing that giving the thought another moment would make it feel like it had come into existence, so he pressed his lips together and glanced away.

He also remembered to let her wrist go.

"Can you just forget about that and focus instead on telling me exactly who you are?"

She frowned. "Why?"

"How else can I help you if I do not know who you are? And how do I explain that you fell off your window only yesterday and got better today? While I understand that it has happened before with your sister, Elara, I still need an explanation. Do you understand me?!" He spat, and Nyx’ara had no option but to nod her head.

However, she had no idea what to say to him so she ended up muttering;

"I have no idea either."