Chapter 266: What the fuck happened

For a long, agonising beat, Killian genuinely had no idea what to do. His brilliant, strategic mind, usually occupied with board decisions, succession politics and the endless machinery of the Ravencourt empire, went completely blank. He simply lay there, staring down at the blonde curled up intimately against his side.

She was dressed in a silk top and tiny matching shorts, the smooth fabric clinging to her frame. To his absolute bewilderment, her half-wolf form was partially manifest. Two fluffy white wolf ears drooped softly atop her head, while her long, snowy tail was tightly, intricately tangled with his own black tail atop the heavy duvet.

Sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, washing her in a warm, ethereal glow that highlighted the delicate contour of her jaw and the long sweep of her lashes. She looked exquisite almost fragile, in a way that inexplicably made a man want to treasure and protect her.

Killian violently shook off the thought, his eyes widening in alarm. *What the hell am I thinking?*

Raking his free hand roughly through his dishevelled blonde hair, he tried to cautiously slide his body away from her. The moment he shifted, Yuki made a small, soft sound in her sleep and instinctively burrowed closer, resting her head comfortably on his broad bicep with a deeply satisfied smile spreading across her face.

This was the first time Killian was seeing her partial wolf form so clearly. Aside from the Spring Festival months ago, a hazy, chaotic memory he barely recalled because his own beast had usurped control, he had never seen her white ears or tail up close.

He stared in absolute horror at their two tails firmly knotted together, a cold dread washing over him. He had a strong, undeniable feeling that his own wolf was the root cause of this absurd nightmare. Even if it made zero logical sense, he could only blame that shameless rascal inside his mind, because he knew the guarded, stubborn little wolf would never enter his private wing voluntarily.

He knew he had to wake her immediately to figure out what kind of madness had taken place, but his hand froze inches above her face. He hesitated for a fleeting moment before reaching out, lightly patting her bare shoulder.

"Yuki," he called out, his deep voice heavy with sleep. "Wake up."

Yuki shrugged his hand off with an annoyed grunt, her delicate brows pulling together in a sharp scowl. He tapped her again, a bit firmer this time.

"Terry, buzz off..." she hissed softly, her face twisting in irritation as she buried her cheek deeper into his bicep.

Killian paused, his mind quickly retrieving the name. Terence. Terry for short. Her guardian’s son. The boy she grew up with.

When he attempted to forcefully yank his arm out from under her head, Yuki’s expression darkened completely. She snapped, her voice rising in sharp irritation without her eyes even opening.

"Terry, can you bloody stop?!" she hissed, stubbornly refusing to budge an inch.

Killian’s lips twitched upward. He leaned his head down, hovering just an inch from her small white wolf ear, his morning voice dropping into a low, velvet tempo.

"You have a lot of guts calling out another man’s name while sleeping in my bed, Snowflake. If you don’t open those eyes right now, I swear I will kiss you."

His warm, heavy breath fanned against her ear, and her drowsy brain finally processed that something was horribly wrong.

Yuki’s eyes popped wide open. Those bright emerald orbs looked petrified as they met his intense blue gaze hovering inches above her own.

"Killian?!" she shrieked, her voice cracking in pure panic.

Her instincts screamed at her to bolt, and she immediately scrambled sideways, trying to leap off the mattress, only to lose her momentum mid-air and face-plant squarely into the soft duvet with an embarrassing thud.

Killian’s lips twitched as he lay back, watching her struggle.

"Before you try to run, try untangling your tail first," he sneered dryly.

Yuki’s head snapped around, her eyes widening in sheer shock as she stared at their tails firmly wrapped around each other like a pair of braided ropes.

"How is that even possible?!" she demanded, her voice rising an octave as she furiously swiped at the white fur. "How did this happen?! What am I doing in your bed?!" Her pale face instantly twisted into an accusatory glare, her finger pointing violently at his chest. "Don’t tell me you’re some kind of sick psycho who kidnapped me from my own room!"

Killian’s face darkened in a flash. A heavy, suffocating Alpha pressure instantly flooded the master bedroom, the sheer weight of his aura making Yuki subconsciously shrink back against the pillows. *Goddess, he’s terrifying,* she thought, her breath catching.

Killian reached out with lightning speed, his large hand clamping firmly around her slender wrist and yanking her forward until her chest nearly bumped into his.

"Why the hell would I kidnap you?" he hissed, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "If anyone in this room should be asking questions, it’s me. I woke up to find you curled against my side like some needy koala, treating my bicep like your favourite pillow."

Yuki’s lips twitched, a sudden flare of defensive anger flushing her cheeks red. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, glaring right back into his face.

"Why are you acting like you suffered some massive injustice?!" she snapped, her emerald eyes blazing. "Do you have any idea how many people would kill to wake up next to someone as gorgeous as me?!"

Killian stared at her, utterly dumbfounded by her sheer audacity.

"I don’t know what kind of black magic is happening here," Yuki hissed, "but waking up to your grumpy face is the very last thing I wished for." She tried to swing her legs off the edge of the bed again, but the tension in their knotted tails yanked her backwards, causing her to stumble awkwardly onto the sheets. She glared down at the fur in utter frustration. "How do these damn things stop gripping?! I can’t stand a single second more of this!"

Killian clicked his tongue in deep annoyance. Using his own black tail, he gave a sharp, authoritative flick, wrenching her back toward the centre of the bed before grabbing her wrist once more. In the next breath, he forcefully retracted his partial wolf form, his black tail vanishing into thin air.

"You aren’t leaving this room until we get actual answers," Killian stated coldly, pulling her upright off the mattress.