Beastworld Bride: My Seven SSS-Rank Alpha Mates

Elara’s POV

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, my fingertips barely grazing my skin, and I caught Barrett already looking like a complete wreck.

This guy. Really knew how to make things obvious.

When I reached his meal slot, Barrett wasn’t standing tall and impressive like I’d expected. Instead, he was in wolf form, legs crossed, lounging back in a vintage leather armchair... clearly trying to look casual when something was definitely off.

I’d noticed how different all their room setups were. Kaelen in Chamber One kept things super minimalist—high ceilings, open space, nothing cluttered.

Julian in Chamber Two had a pool downstairs and what looked like a lounge upstairs, though I couldn’t see the upper level from where I stood.

Dorian in Chamber Three had soft cream carpet, tiny snowflake decorations hanging from the ceiling, and this weird bunk bed setup—hospital bed on bottom, regular bedding up top.

Barrett in Chamber Four kept it simple too: gym equipment everywhere, strict black-and-white color scheme, a huge treatment pod, that vintage leather sofa. Books lined both walls, and like some of the others, his space had two floors, but I couldn’t see what was upstairs.

Alistair in Chamber Five? Complete darkness. Guy was probably doing whatever creepy things he did in there.

Finnian in Chamber Six had this whole starry sky theme going—minimalist but expensive-looking. Everything perfectly organized, books mixed with LEGO sets scattered on the floor.

Silas in Chamber Seven also had two floors. The rabbit kept everything spotless: books, plants, a dining table, little decorative pieces on the ground level. Couldn’t see the second floor either.

Every single room had the same medical setup though—treatment pod and assigned med-bot.

I could tell Barrett thought his crossed-leg pose was supposed to look impressive. Alpha energy or whatever. But I could practically feel his eyes tracking me through the meal slot, and when I glanced around, I noticed his attention kept drifting to Dorian across the way.

Something was eating at him. The big wolf kept burying his face in his paws like he was having some kind of internal crisis.

After I finished setting down the meals, I headed toward Chamber Five. The second I moved away, I caught Dorian immediately looking over at Barrett with this smug expression.

The old man hadn’t gotten any chocolate today.

Dorian instantly puffed up his chest, head held high like he’d won something.

Chamber Five—Alistair. Complete darkness as usual. I made a face watching the bot slowly collect his meal. "Hurry it up," I told the machine.

I could sense Alistair somewhere in that black void, probably brooding about something.

I was definitely eager to get past his ward. The guy gave me serious creeps. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Finnian caught everything as I approached Chamber Six, and I saw his tail swishing, clearly in an excellent mood. When I reached his meal slot, he looked like he was about to say something important but held himself back.

"Thank you, Ms. Sterling, for going to all this trouble preparing our meals. I have a small gift I’d like to give you. I hope you’ll accept it."

His voice was perfectly controlled—not too loud, not too soft. He kept his tail moving in this gentle, hypnotic way.

He pulled out a ring. I immediately waved my hands. No way I could just accept jewelry like that!

"Please don’t misunderstand, Ms. Sterling. This isn’t an engagement ring. It’s actually a small aircraft. Just press this button, and it expands. You can set routes from the main cabin. You’re already working so hard cooking for us here, so if there’s anywhere you’d like to go, you can use this to get there."

I had to admit, Finnian’s gift was actually pretty thoughtful.

Dead silence from the other wards. I could practically feel the tension radiating from Barrett’s direction, and something told me Alistair was having his own reaction in that dark room.

Why was Finnian being so chatty today?

Seeing me hesitate, he quickly added, "Ms. Sterling, please don’t worry. I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just... grateful. I won’t be using this while I’m here recovering anyway, just... wanted to thank you..."

His voice got softer as he spoke, almost trembling toward the end.