Chapter 6: The Golden Restraint

Amelia POV

My new private sanctuary in the West Wing was breathtakingly opulent.

A massive, plush four-poster bed dominated the sun-drenched room. Tristan, following his Alpha's strict orders, had directed the quiet staff to leave me completely alone. And they had miraculously left a silver tray piled with roasted meats, vibrant fresh fruits, and warm, crusty bread on my bedside table.

I ravenously devoured almost half of it in pure, animalistic panic, terrified someone would suddenly bust through my locked door and snatch it away.

But my deeply starved stomach severely rejected the rich feast twenty minutes later. I spent a grueling hour retching directly over the pristine porcelain toilet, sobbing quietly as the burning acid shredded my raw throat. My body was broken, unaccustomed to basic kindness.

Completely exhausted physically and drained mentally, I dragged my shivering body under the hot spray of the massive shower. When I finally crawled onto the unbelievably soft mattress wrapped only in a fluffy, slightly oversized white towel, the sheer exhaustion dragged me directly into darkness.

For the first time in years, I didn't dream of heavy fists or agonizing rejection. I dreamt of a massive, heavily protective dark wolf with brilliant golden eyes. The majestic beast gently curled his warm body around my shivering frame, purring like rolling thunder.

I was jolted awake by a sharp, impatient knock directly on my bedroom door.

Disoriented and panicking from years of ingrained trauma, I practically launched out of the warm bed and sprinted blindly to rip the heavy mahogany door wide open.

Alpha Leonardo stood frozen in the massive doorway.

The dark shadows of the dimly lit hallway clung to his impressively broad shoulders. But his piercing abyssal eyes immediately dropped sharply downward. The tiny, flimsy white bath towel was dangerously loosely wrapped around my trembling body, barely covering the upper curves of my heaving breasts.

An intense flush violently exploded across my face, burning ferociously hot down to cover my chest.

Leonardo’s sharp breath visibly hitched.

"Alpha?" I whispered, my voice trembling as I finally clutched the flimsy towel tightly across my chest. I was genuinely mortified.

The silence stretched incredibly thin between us. The heavy, paralyzing scent of dark pine flooded the quiet hallway.

Through a brutally tightened, fiercely clenched jaw, fighting a visible struggle as the muscles in his neck jumped, and his handsome face turned an unusual shade of furious crimson, he forcefully ground out, "Our marriage， is deferred. "