Alpha Alden ✔️

Chapter Fifteen

So he will grant them powers. Freedom.

I know that's a foolish notion. Time was always someone I feared. Until tonight, I had never left with the idea that he would appear. I knew something was wrong tonight, however, I was compelled to clamber out my window in the first place.

"I don't want your brand," I tell him quickly, glad I can push something out of my mouth. His eyebrows raise, questioning my authority. I have none. Not here. Not now.

"Well Kezziah," he purrs, tucking his hands in his pockets. "You don't have a choice.

"I'm not yours," I snap, coming out of my trance. "I don't belong to anyone. Especially not you."

My words are filled with toxic poison, letting him know I'm not going to let him push me around this time. He branded me, and now that I'm having it removed, against my will or not, he has no power over me. Not here, at least. And not if Avia was there, either. Once I escape and find her, we will be safe again. Free.

Something in those golden irises flash.

"I thought you were stronger than this, Kezziah," he says, motioning around the room. I swallow, suddenly uncomfortable in my thin white robe, my tracksuit folded up on the counter. "You got caught. After you promised you wouldn't."

"I don't have to promise anything. This is removing my brand after all," I snap.

A nerve is struck. I can tell, the way he sighs out of his nose. I used to be scared whenever I could feel his anger gather within him. He's unpredictable, yes. But now whatever he could do doesn't scare me. He has already branded me to him. And other things...Memories I don't want to remember.

The distance between myself and the immortal diminish. He stands so close, I can feel the tips of his shoes against my toes, his chest almost touching mine. I want to push him away, but I can't bring myself to. He will just come right back.

His hand comes up to brush my cheek. "Your brand isn't going anywhere. You belong to me."

I open my mouth to protest, to flick his hand away, but he reacts before me. Grabbing my hips, he flips me around, pressing my stomach into the counter. I growl, trying to push against him, but it's not use. Slipping his hands under my shirt, he lifts it, revealing the brand he created years ago.

"Hmm," he says his finger tracing along the pattern, not missing a single inch. "It's fading already. Not good."

Oh no.

All of a sudden, extreme pain consumed my entire neck, back and hips. It was so bad, I almost collapsed on the spot, however, Time's body trapping me in keeps me firmly pressed against the benchtop. I screamed, but it seemed fruitless, as if no one could hear me. Where is spying Sermon? Where is those behind the security cameras?

When he finally relents, my entire back ached and burnt. It felt raw, as if he had dug claws into my back and seeped all the blood from me.

"Much better," he breathes, stepping away.

I collapse on the bench, gasping for air. It hurts. Bad. Worse than any medication that I've ever taken here. It reminds me of when I was first branded. His powers lacing within my genes, becoming a pure part of me.

"What the hell did you do?" I snap, heaving myself to standing position. When I turn around, Time is staring at me. Like a conquest. A triumph of his own merit. He clasps my hand, and no because I wanted him to. Dragging me over to the mirror, he turns me around to show me what he had done to me.

I nearly throw up.

My entire back was now laced with that brand. That pattern. Utterly new, from my neck to my tailbone and across my hips. A shining ebony black, like a fresh tattoo. The pain was evidence enough that this is real.

Time meets my gaze in the mirror, smiling down at what he had created. I hate it him for it. The way he bites his lip, as if seeing this...gets him off.

"Just how I like it," he murmurs, squeezing my shoulder. I wince at the pain.

Leaning down, he place a kiss on my cheek. It's slow, pressing. When he pulls away, he's smiling still. He didn't do that as an apology. He didn't do it to ease the pain, or make me feel any better. It's a claim. A reminder that I belong to him, and no matter how hard I try to escape him, I won't succeed.

"I hate you," I say through gritted teeth. The pain is fading, but it is still there, as prominent as it was before.

"I know I know, and I'm sorry you feel that way," he says insincerely. "But this was necessary."

Did he obsess over his other Travellers like this? I mean, none of them spoke about random visits from the immortal, although perhaps they weren't going to share that with me out of the blue. I make a mental reminder to ask the girls about it if I survive this. To see if I am actually as important and special as he claims I am.

Time looks over my head into the mirror. Right into my eyes.

"You're mine, Kezziah," he breathes. "No one is going to take you away from me."

🖤••💖

If you guys want more of Alden, the rest of available now on Radish (:

Sinful's own story is up now on Radish! I wanted to make it apart of the Seven Sins series (which will have stories involving Cian and other characters you've seen before)

Hope you like (:

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~Midika 💜🐼