Beneath The Blood Moon {TMT #2}

Chapter 14

At the motion, my eyelids fluttered and I struggled to hold in a sigh.

The sudden sensation that surged throughout my body at his cold touch had me more confused and frustrated than I'd ever been in my life. Especially at my reaction.

What the hell is happening to me?

My gaze locked onto his through half-opened lids as I studied his dilating pupils, which undoubtedly had flecks of red gradually dominating its grey colour.

That was when it once more occurred to me; Albus was fighting for control. Again.

"Stop." My command was weak, but it seemed to flicker a set of emotions within him so I tried again. "I said stop it."

I kept my eyes locked on his, mesmerized at how those two colours battled each other for dominance, and how his face hardened as he began to stare coldly at me as if I was the cause of his inner conflict. The little vicious smile I'd detected earlier gone.

His demeanour had suddenly changed. Oh no.

"Stop?" Kane mocked, though his voice held no humour. "I have not even started yet."

His claws, which I'd felt earlier protrude against my skin, dug into my flesh.

I let out a painful hiss, grinding my teeth together so hard that I was certain they would somehow merge. I winced before sucking in a sharp breath, and in the process, let out a short low cry when I felt the pressure deepen.

"You feel that, do you not?" I couldn't keep my eyelids open to see his expression anymore, but I had a distinct feeling that Albus had won the battle. "That does not come any close to what I felt like doing to you. What I feel like doing to you this very moment." He growled. "Look at me!"

It was hard, but I managed to pry my eyes open and look at him. Hate burning through my vision.

His fangs had bared and at that moment, he appeared every bit of the deadly monster I had perceived him to be the minute I first saw him.

"You say you are not my mate, but I know the truth." He snarled. "I want to tear you apart exactly the way your bastard son tore my first body to pieces."

I could hear my own harsh breathing pierce the air around us. My heart beating just as frantically. "You don't know what you're talking about," I forced the words out of my mouth through gritted teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am not your bloody mate!"

Before I could care to take back my words, more pressure was applied, making me hiss loudly and swear inwardly with my eyelids squeezed shut. Dammit! "You liar."

"I'm not lying! I'll prove it to you, dammit."

"Too late, my senses do not lie. I would recognize your scent anywhere, wretched she-wolf. It is all over this place." His lips brush against my cheek. "But I will expose you to your own self. Tonight."

A warm substance trickled down my skin from where his claws were burrowed in my flesh. I struggled to focus on this monster in an attempt to dispel the uneasy and searing throbbing in that spot. "What are you talking about?"

"Do not pretend you do not know what I am referring to."

I glared at him. "I'm not pretending!"

His crimson-stained eyes narrowed. "You really insist on keeping up with this false innocence?"

Unable to help it, I let out a choked laugh. My anger and frustration towards him increasing all the more. "Would I go through all this worthless pain just for the sake of pretending?"

He ran his tongue across his canines whilst watching me intently, as if thinking on what I had said. "It would be a waste of blood and time."

You think? I thought dryly and squeezed my eyes shut, right before giving up with a whisper, "Just believe me. Is that so hard?"

I received no reply.

The corridor went silent. And only my uneven breathing could be detected amidst the sudden stillness of the atmosphere enveloping us due to his claws still embedded in my flesh.

"Tonight is the blood moon." Kane's voice pierced the silence after a while, and I opened my eyes to see that his pupils had returned to their natural colour. "That is when the mating bond between Albus and Alba would be heightened, would be more alive. Alba left him bare all those years, left him yearning for his mate to claim. The night of the blood moon was the most relentless of all nights in the years he has been without a mate. He has suffered, going on runs for hours just to forget."

I kept quiet, but grimaced and bit down hard on my bottom lip when he suddenly withdrew his claws from my back. He then proceeded to pull his hand from beneath my shirt, let go of my hands and take a step back. "But tonight."

My heart leapt against my ribcage. "Tonight?" I repeated, rubbing my sore wrist from where his grip had been merciless. I could already feel the wound at my back healing.

"Tonight Albus would take you with a ferocity, as he has not done so in years."

My resolve hardened. "Over my dead body."

Kane's expression remained serious. "You are trapped in here, with no way out. And if you think that you would be able to escape, think again. Because not only would you not be able to leave this cabin, but you would not even want to leave."

Confusion sparked within me. "What the hell do you mean?"

A slight crooked, humourless smile marred the left corner of his lips. "When I touched you, I felt your wolf. I felt her loneliness, her want for companionship, her want to be loved by a mate. You may not have noticed but what I did, the little pleasure I gave, was to assure your wolf that I could give her all she wants and more."

"You can't know that through a mere touch that meant nothing," I reasoned. "And only I can communicate with her so you can't convince her to do anything nor assure her of anything without my consent."

"No?" Kane mocked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You would not know because you have not bonded with her. Yet."

I frowned. Yet? "What makes you think I ever will?"

"Oh, you will," he said boldly. Too boldly for my liking. "Tonight. Your wolf would force you to open the cage you have cowardly locked her in and will take over your body."

"No." I cut in quickly, not wanting to hear any of his false words. "That's not possible without-"

"You have deprived her of what she needs for all the time you have known she existed. You are selfish, self-centered, and will be forced to connect with her the very minute the blood moon rises."

"That has never happened before," I said truthfully, dismissing all the names he called me. Who did he think he was? He didn't even know a thing about me.

There was a tinge of a slight tremor evident in my voice as I spoke, but I chose to ignore it. "You're expecting me to believe that, just because you're here?" I questioned dubiously. "You're not even my mate, and you do not have any power over me."

"Believe what you will, but there is something about you that makes us suitable for mating," Kane replied with no emotion. "And I am going to take full advantage of that."

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