Dedicating this chapter to @EgonK1113. Thank you for all your comments!!

CHARLOTTE

I stare wide-eyed at the two arguing men, panic-stricken as Alexander insists that Gray take me now. I'm sure that they can all hear my fluttering heart and choppy breathing from where I stand, but they ignore it, pretending that I am not even here despite the fact that the entire conversation revolves around me.

Am I going to have no say in this? Is Gray going to give in and take me in front of both of these men? The thought fills me with horror, and I instinctively take a step away from the three of them. Gray's arm slides down my body before dropping and hanging limply by his side, and I take his easy release of me as a good sign as I take another step back.

"I am not going to fuck her." Gray refuses, eyes narrowing at Alexander.

Alexander blinks slowly, making no attempts to hide his frustration.

"What was the point of buying you a female if you have no intentions to use her?"

At that Silas steps forward, his hand raising to rest on Alexander's shoulder in an attempt to settle him. Despite his calm facade, I see what appears to be a bit of pity in his expression as he turns his head and looks at me.

"Alexander, give her time to get adjusted." He speaks up.

My eyes widen at the sound of his voice, shocked at the intensity of it. Given the quiet and reserved vibes he gives off I anticipated that he would speak quietly too, but instead the deep timbre vibrates loudly throughout the room.

"We will not be those men who abuse their female just because we can." Gray pipes in, sounding more confident now that Silas has chosen his side in this argument.

I can't hold back my sigh of relief as they say this, grateful that both are on my side. At the end of the day Gray is an incubus, and I doubt it would take much to change his mind. Silas, on the other hand, seems to be the more level-headed of the three, leading me to believe that he will not so easily turn back on his decisions.

Alexander looks infuriated, his lips flattening into a straight line as he looks between Gray and me. My body tenses as I wait for his response, scared that he will push the issue even further. I know that he is the son of Wrath, and while that particular original might be more secretive, it's easy to tell what his curse is.

I'd do well not to trust him.

"You made a promise. I don't want you feeding off of me." He eventually speaks up.

Gray shrugs, his head turning to look at me for a brief moment before leveling his stare with Alexander once more.

"She's still a virgin. I promised that I wouldn't use my lure and would wait until she wants it on her own." He states.

Alexander lets out an abrupt laugh at Gray's words, his torso pivoting forward at the force of it.

"That's never stopped you before." He scoffs. "You love fucking virgins."

I try to hide my shock at those words, but know that I've failed as Alexander snaps his gaze to me and laughs once more. Was Gray lying when he said that he couldn't take me with his persuasion? Given Alexander's words it sure sounds that way.

My fingers continue to fiddle with the hem of the shirt I'm wearing, worrying the fabric between my fingertips as I watch the argument unfold in front of me.

"I'm only going to feed off her dreams, and that's that." Gray finally states, leaving no room for argument.

Alexander scoffs. "You'll starve."

"I'll be fine." Gray snaps. "Besides, I doubt it will even go that far. She's desperate for me."

All eyes turn to me at that, my cheeks immediately reddening under their stare. I can feel my bottom lip twitching as I try to hold in my tears, the stress of the day finally catching up to me as my eyes grow wet. I don't want to be some pawn for Gray, and I don't want to be here.

I'd kill to go back and be with my family once more, even if that means that I spend the rest of my life in hiding. I've been here for less than an hour and I can already tell that that's a better alternative.

These men are going to be the death of me, intentionally or not.

Gray drops the argument with Alexander as he notices my silent crying, his cold expression softening as he takes a few steps towards me. I step back just as quickly, desperate to keep my distance from him. The last thing I want right now is him confusing me with his touch, forcing my body to feel things that it shouldn't.

Alexander watches us for a moment before sighing and leaving. The room feels lighter with him gone, and muscles that I didn't even realize were tensed relax at his lack of presence. Both Silas and Gray's proximity still has me on edge, though, and I watch the two of them through narrowed eyes.

Gray takes another step towards me before pausing as I scurry backward, the back of my legs meeting the edge of the bed. I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter as he pursues me, his black eyes wide and his stare intense.

"You don't need to be so afraid of me." He assures me.

I nod, not at all believing a word that comes out of his mouth. Despite not knowing him for long, I can already tell that he will never love me as my father loved my mother, and because of that I will never not be afraid of him.

Men that treat women like property are to be feared, and this man treats me like property.

Gray huffs and runs a hand through his hair as he watches my fearful reactions to him. His fingers catch in his messy curls, causing him to flinch as he tries to remove his hand.

I step to the side, moving around the bed as Gray takes another step towards me. Hiding my shaking hands behind my back, I watch him hesitate before turning and leaving the room altogether.

My eyes narrow as I watch him leave, my attention immediately moving to the remaining man. Silas continues to watch me with furrowed eyebrows, his lips pursed as he seems to be looking through me.

I don't know what I expected a fate to look like, but he fits the bill. His face seems to hold a thousand answers to questions that I don't even know I have, and he watches everything around him with a nerve-wracking intensity.

To my utter relief he makes no moves to approach me, his shoulder leaning against the doorway as he looks me over. I remain still as I watch him push off the wall, moving backward until he stands just beyond the entrance.

"Despite what I'm sure you think, Alex and Gray will not force themselves on you." He murmurs, sighing quietly as he turns his head to look down the hallway that Alexander disappeared into when he left. "I shouldn't do this, but I will share with you information that I believe will bring you some comfort."

My lips threaten to turn upwards into a smile, happy that he seems to be taking my side in this. I don't know what it is about him, but Silas doesn't give me the same fearful vibes that the others do. It might be his disinterest in me, his attention curious but not sexual.

Alexander, and especially Gray, look at me as if I am prey and they are the predator just waiting for the opportunity to strike. I don't doubt that they would go straight for the throat, too, sinking their teeth into my jugular while their claws rip open my underbelly.

Silas looks at me like I am a person. Admittedly one that annoys him, but a person nonetheless.

"Alexander has never had sex, and he cannot without creating a life bond. It's his curse and will keep him away from you. Gray, well, he pushes boundaries but won't do anything that you truly do not want. If he grows too hungry, I will see that he purchases a woman for the night." He assures me.

Despite the doubts that still linger in my mind, I find my body relaxing at his words. I can't think of why he would lie about Alexander being a virgin unable to have sex, and I have to admit that hearing it does comfort me.

I still don't know how I feel about Gray, or if I believe that he won't use me when he gets hungry. It seems insane to think that he would resort to purchasing another female for the night when I am here.

It's a waste of money, and I'd have to be stupid not to recognize that.

Silas's head tilts to the side as he watches me, looking at me head to toe before moving his attention to the furniture in the room. He hums as he evaluates it, his eyes lingering on the closet before shifting over to the bathroom door.

"Lock the door leading to Gray's bedroom when you are in the bathroom, and if you are going to masturbate do not do it in there. He'll be able to smell it at that distance." Silas murmurs, sucking on his teeth before continuing. "You are free to move around the house all you want, but I would recommend you stay out of Alexander's wing. I'm not going to sit here and threaten you to stay away from mine, but I would prefer if did."

I nod eagerly, glad that he is finally giving me helpful advice rather than trying to offer me assurances.

Silas hums as he continues to think, his shoulder once more connecting with the doorway as he leans against it.

"We have no intentions to share you with guests, and any who come will be told who you are and that you are off-limits. With that being said, should anybody ask, you are to say that you belong to Alexander. If it gets out that you belong to Gray, it will be expected that he share you." Silas calmly states.

I gulp, nodding.

Silas slides his gaze to me one last time before pushing off the wall once more.

"You look tired. Get some sleep; Gray will send somebody to wake you for dinner." He orders before spinning on his heel and leaving.

I remain still as I wait to make sure that he isn't going to come back before rushing to the door and closing it. I move slowly so it doesn't make too much noise as it shuts, my hand shaking as I find and switch the lock.

I'm sure that if they wanted to enter this room that they could do so with ease, but I'll take whatever fake security I can get at this moment.

Spinning around, I rush towards the bathroom door and do the same thing, shutting it with a quiet click before locking myself in.

My heart feels like it's pounding out of my chest as I turn to face the room. If you asked me what I wanted five minutes ago, I would have happily said that it was to be left alone, but now that I am I want nothing more than to have the distraction back.

I struggle to wrap my mind around what's happening as I search around the space, ripping open drawers in a desperate attempt to find something of use. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but in my crazed state I convince myself that I will know when I find it.

Just my luck that the place is completely bare, the entire room void of any personal belongings. Not even a speck of dust is found, making me wonder if all this furniture is new. There's no way that somebody would take the care to clean the tight corners inside of the dresser drawers or the tiny screws inside of the vanity stool.

My vision goes blurry as I begin to cry once more, and I angrily wipe away my tears with a huff. The last thing I need is to be crying right now.

After continuing to search through every drawer and crevice in the room, I sink down on the bed with a tired sigh. I eye the bathroom door wearily for a moment, debating whether or not I should snoop around in there, but decide against it.

I don't know if Grey is inside his room right now and don't want to risk him catching me searching through his personal belongings.

Laying back on the mattress, I sink into the soft sheets and stare up at the ceiling. The beginnings of a headache are already building inside my head, the dull pain radiating from my temples towards my eye sockets.

My hand lifts to my face as I rub at my forehead, Gray's shirt riding up my legs at the action and exposing the very tops of my thighs. I completely forgot that I was wearing only his shirt and wonder if he will give me another one to wear for dinner or if I will remain in this the rest of the day.

I'd like to at least have some bottoms to wear, feeling uncomfortably exposed in only the top. Gray has made a couple of comments about smelling my arousal too, and I hope that wearing something to cover my privates will help with that.

I gnaw my bottom lip as I think about him, the distance giving me a clearer mind into our intimate actions earlier this day. I practically threw myself at him on multiple occasions, probably looking horribly desperate and giving off the impression that I am going to be an easy lay.

If I were him I would think the same thing, and probably wouldn't hold much respect for me at this moment.

Despite my shameful actions, though, he doesn't seem too bad. I'm petrified that his essence will consume me, but if he continues to keep it hidden I imagine that I would be fine. Although even as I think it, I know that it would never happen. It is foolish to ask a Demon to permanently hide his strength, especially when that directly correlates to their status.

He might have hidden it today, but I doubt that will last for long. Probably just until I give myself over to him and he no longer has to carry the guilt of me being a virgin. That thought alone brings goosebumps to my skin, my body shivering as I imagine the horror of being trapped by my addiction to him.

Shaking those thoughts away, I allow my eyes to slip shut as I think about Alexander. He's hard to read, but from his cruel and demeaning words towards me I know that he will be one to stay away from. I am slightly comforted though by the knowledge that he cannot have sex with me.

All Demon breeds have a curse, but I'm surprised that that's his. I would expect that from the Weres or Elves, those breeds notorious for placing large importance on sex and bonding.

Either way, I'm not going to question it.

Holding back a yawn, I scootch back on the bed and rest my head on the pillow. It won't kill me to get a couple hours of sleep. I hardly got any last night; my anxiety over what today would bring was so high that it kept me up. Now that I finally have a moment to decompress, I feel that exhaustion creeping up on me.

I worry that Gray is going to sneak into my dreams as he has mentioned multiple times now, but with defeat note that there isn't anything I can do about it. I rarely remember my dreams anyway, though, and soothe myself with the knowledge that even if he does, I won't remember it.

Silas seems to be the kindest of the three, and I wonder if he would be willing to teach me more about the Demon culture so I can be better equipped in this world. He seemed at ease as he spoke to me earlier, and at this point he is the only one of the three that I trust.

Burying my face in the pillow, I curl up into a ball on top of the covers and allow sleep to take me away from my thoughts.

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What are your initial thoughts on all the characters? At this point in the story Silas is my favorite, but that opinion changes every chapter haha

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