ROTTEN LOVE

BURST| 52

"You don't want to do this, Zain," I grit through my teeth as I struggle in his hold.

I face the front. My eyes instantly sought its safe space, attaching to the only light in the room, Maddox.

His posture stills. His hands come into view. He slightly hunches forward, readying to attack. My head shakes from left to right.

No.

His interference will only worsen the situation. I can handle this.

Zain is my mate. He is my problem to solve.

Hisses catch my attention. Marisa is in a similar hold by Adam but there is no real danger. He is making an effort to keep his promise.

We both know that he is only able to keep Marisa back because she is allowing it. I have no doubt Adam is using all his strength to currently restrain her. But if she truly wanted to be freed, there is nothing and no one that would be able to hold her back.

Strength is one of the things that separate the purebloods from normal vamps. It's unmatched.

Regardless, she doesn't want to hurt Adam. She curses, "Release me, Adam. I'll put a muzzle on that mutt."

I squint my eyes at her. I'm trying to tell her to calm down, and not to worry. Yet, she keeps thrashing. She zeros in on Zain, "Pick on someone your size."

Zain's chest picks up speed which is felt throughout my whole body. Being this close to Zain, entrapped in his arms, is both alarming and confusing.

My body mimics his pace as if pairing with Zain's is the obvious thing to do. His adrenaline feels like mine and it's maddening. During a time when he holds me for ransom and my disgust should be at an all-time high, the bond is attempting to sync me with Zain.

Solidifying everything that is wrong with us. I am not an individual with Zain. We are a unit and his wishes are mine. I feel lost despite being found by him.

His chuckle sends shock waves throughout my body. If he didn't speak with vile intent, I could have caved again to him.

"Sure. When you gain three feet, then I'll make time to give you the fight you're eager to have," Zain directs to her.

His words send her into a frenzy. She slams Adam's hands down and he loses his grip. Her tiny stature was perfect to maneuver around him.

Everything happens quickly.

Maddox's control snapping. The Malfattos rapid ascension toward me. Adam following his leaders.

My pleading eyes for them to stop but theirs had long transitioned at the sight of danger. They are out for blood. Zain's blood.

But at the same time they charge, Zain's pack enters the compound, and his hold on me gets stronger. He walks a few steps back and we are guarded by pack members.

It took seconds for the Malfattos and Adam to be surrounded, halting their run. They snarl at the roadblock. This is nothing but an inconvenience for them. Many will die here today at their hands.

"Fuck," I hear my brother curse as he holds Maddie's wrist to stay back.

She is angered but complies. Her eyes focused on the Malfattos. They are being caged in.

I study Jason and can see the conflict in his eyes. The desperation to run to Maddox and Marisa's aid but the reluctance to leave Maddie. He will have to decide who lies in his heart on his own.

It might not be the same for him and I can't blame him. No one knows better than me the hardship of this decision. Unlike me, he has no other passion.

Maddie is it. The real deal for him and expecting him to compromise that love is wishful thinking.

Zain speaks first, "This is how this is going to work out. You will leave. My mate will stay. You vamps will live until you all slowly die out into extinction. There is no need to fight the vamps anymore. The other packs have been notified. We will wait for the end of the vampire race and Helena, here, will stay at my side like how it was intended by the moon goddess, like how her mother had wished."

Staying a minute longer at his side has me repulsed.

"I will never remain at your side," I hiss.

"You will if you want them to walk out with life," Zain replies.

This time I laugh, "Now I know you are delusional. They will not lose and neither will I ever sit idly by while you condemn a whole race."

While he has been talking, and my body syncing with his, I have also been extracting. His blood was so hot he didn't feel as I kept taking from his essence.

It's a two-way streak. While I can't distinguish between us when we are together, neither can he. Each second I gained power. He took it as he was getting stronger.

I was right. Zain has lost himself in grief; the loss of a loved one, me, and has morphed into something hideous. Someone capable of hurting my treasured ones.

I cannot let that happen. I will never let that happen. Fueled by him, by the disillusion of his character, I will that rage forward, manifesting it into my skin. My body blazed with heat so potent that he hissed as the contact with me burned him.

But he does not let go. He grits through his teeth, "You forget I have the resilience to keep holding on."

I did forget. I forgot how he held tight while I cried and blamed him for the loss of my witches, scorching him. He didn't let go. I fizzled out.

His mouth closes in on my ear, "I've always wondered why I had thick skin. The goddess made me this way to endure you, mate."

The heat rises in me further. His words create treacherous feelings in me but there is a thin line between love and hate. All that love that my body might try to make me feel converts into more hatred my mind acknowledges.

I flare and flare. He grits and groans but his grip remains.

The thing about heat is that it does not only burn things it comes into contact with but the things fueling it as well.

As I try to cook him, my insides burn too. I fear that I will die out before he lets go, making me realize the awful truth he said. The goddess made us for each other. He was meant to hold on. I will keep blazing until his essence is completely gone.

But by that time that happens, I would have burned out. It will be both of our demise. An ending that I think would be appropriate.