I gulped the moment those motherfuckers left the room, my eyes glued to Alfie, who was still lying on the floor.
This is driving me insane, to be honest. Just why is the universe playing this sick joke on me?
"I asked you what you did," Alfie said suddenly, his voice hard and sharp, dragging me out of the whirlpool of thoughts swirling in my head.
I blinked and noticed, with a jolt of alarm, that he had managed to stand. And in his hand was a pistol. It was pointed directly at me.
Although I'm now in Alfie's body, I still feel weak somehow from the earlier chaos, and I could tell Alfie wasn't in great shape either. I could tell he is exhausted from being inside my body. But despite the trembling of his fingers, there was something oddly magnetic about the way he held the gun. Fierce. Determined. Sexy.
Wait...sexy?
My eyes widened as I realized the absurdity of the thought. What the hell is wrong with me?!
"You really need to calm down," I said gently, raising both hands in surrender, hoping he wouldn't pull the trigger.
"Calm down?!" Alfie let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Who the hell are you to tell me to calm down? How dare a filthy whore like you tell me to calm down?!"
"Whore?!" I echoed, my temper flaring instantly. My hands shot to my waist as the insult burned through me. I knew I had a short fuse, and that was something I absolutely hated about myself, my inability to hold my anger in check.
That very temper was what made people disbelieve me when I tried to explain what happened to Ayra to the police, to my colleagues. As a top actor, I had a reputation: arrogant, rude, demeaning. I treated everyone like they were beneath me, threw coffee at staff, insulted fans. So when Ayra was found dead, bruised and strangled and it was discovered that I had made the last call to her, I became the prime suspect. My temper had finally gotten me into real, irreversible trouble.
"Why the hell would you call me a whore?!" I demanded, my voice shaking with fury. "Do you see me sleeping around? Do I look like someone who sells their body?!"
"Oh yeah, you're a whore," Alfie snapped back, his tone dripping with disgust. "And if it weren't for my brothers purchasing you, I wouldn't even be in this ridiculous mess. But here we are. Their idiocy dragged me into this."
His words hit me like a slap.
"Purchasing...? What are you saying?" I asked slowly, dread rising in my throat.
"Are you dumb now?!" he growled, "My brothers actually bought an Omega whore from a brothel. You. Out of every available Omega, he picked a prostitute. Pathetic."
I froze. My heart thudded painfully in my chest.
Brothel? Did he just say brothel?I thought I was being auctioned at an auction house.
Does that mean… I've been… claimed by other men?
No. No, that's not possible!
"I'm a virgin," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "I've never slept with anyone!"
I wasn't a virgin by choice, I'd just been too busy trying to figure out my sexuality, and my career hadn't allowed for much exploration either. I was twenty-three years old, still navigating what I liked, who I liked. And then there was Ayra, my best friend who had called me that night, suggesting something bold. She wanted me to come over and sleep with her. I was going to... I was prepared to. But then I got an important call, and I didn't go. The next day, she was dead.
My thoughts spiraled, spinning faster and faster until Alfie's voice crashed through them.
"Just what did you do to me, whore?!" he barked. The gun cocked with a loud, chilling click. "Was it a witch? What sick bastard cast a spell like this?!"
"You really need to calm down," I said again, my voice shaky as I instinctively began to back away from him. This guy could really kill me.
He moved closer, step by threatening step, until my back hit the cold wall. I had nowhere left to run. Alfie slammed one hand against the wall beside my head, then the other, caging me in.
"I told you not to say that again, didn't I?" he growled. "Tell me what went wrong or I swear, I'll kill you."
His hot breath brushed against my face. His voice was full of fury, his eyes burning with fire.
I swallowed hard, my gaze locking with his. This… this could be the end.
If I die here, will I go back to Earth? Or Heaven?
But if I go back to Earth, I'll be thrown into even more chaos. Still going to be a murderer suspect. But this one isn't any safer either not when I've just found out I've been bought, owned by not one.
What the hell kind of sick fate is this?
I have to focus as I need to survive though. I believe this world might still be safer than going back to Earth now.
I can deal with being bought or claimed later. But first, I need to get out of this mess alive. I need to stop Alfie from pulling that trigger.
"You see…" I began, swallowing hard, my throat painfully dry. "If you kill me now, then you'll lose this big, strong body of yours and you'll be trapped in that frail, ugly-looking body of mine."
Alfie scoffed, amusement flickering in his sharp gaze. "You must be joking," he muttered, though his voice had a dangerous edge. He raised the pistol higher, the cold steel now aimed directly at my forehead.
"I'm really not joking," I said, my voice low but firm, as serious as I could sound. "The person who cast the spell said so. If you kill me, you'll be stuck in that body. And once I'm gone... you'll follow me. Our souls are tied together now."
He didn't speak, but I saw the hesitation flicker behind his eyes.
Good. Keep going. Use what you've got.
I summoned every drop of my acting skill, the same craft that had once captured hearts on Earth, the same skill that won me the Best Actor award last year. My talent wasn't going to go to waste, not here, not now. If it could manipulate the emotions of millions, it could damn well save my life.
I glanced around the room subtly. Despite the unfamiliar atmosphere, I could see remnants of technology, a bulky, old-fashioned television in the corner, and a cracked phone lying on the nearby table. This world was different, but not completely backward. Still, I came from the future... and I could use that to my advantage. I could lie, bend the truth, spin it into something believable.
"When the witch I met did the spell," I continued, my voice trembling as tears welled in my eyes, "I thought it was just a joke. I didn't think it would actually work until it did. Now we've switched souls, and it's real. All of it. And she warned me... if either of us dies, the other will die too. Our fates are sealed together."
The tears flowed freely now, wetting my cheeks as I sniffled. "I didn't want things to be this way, Alpha Alfie. I never imagined this would happen. I swear, I just wanted to stay loyal to whatever Alpha I ended up with. I wanted to serve him, love him, give him everything I had for the rest of his life. That's why I agreed to the spell, to make sure he wouldn't abandon me the moment he got bored."
I let out a broken sob, shaking my head. "I never thought it would actually work."
Alfie didn't respond right away.
Then....
Cough.
The sound made me freeze mid-sob. I opened my eyes and gasped.
Blood was dripping from Alfie's mouth, staining his lips and chin.
"Oh my God! You're dying?!" I cried out, panic overtaking my act. "My precious body..."
He stumbled forward suddenly, and before I could react, his body fell, right into mine.
And just like that, our lips collided.
I didn't even have time to register the shock before I tasted it warm, coppery, bitter...
His blood or...was it mine?
"I'm really dying!"