Thank you guys for all the support! I WANNA HUG ALL OF YOU ❤❤
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*Aletha*
It was still dark when Aletha felt his presence flood into the air around her again. She stilled and almost stopped breathing. Involuntary terror pumped through her veins again. What did he want from her? Why was he coming to her again?
She thought he would at least leave her alone for the rest of the night. But he wouldn't even give her that pleasure. He was going to terrorize her for disobeying him.
She got up from the bed, still naked, and looked frantically for something to wear. If she would see him again, she would do it with a shred of dignity still intact. He would never catch her so vulnerable again.
She found another door in her room and assumed it was the closet. When she opened it, she gasped as her eyes went wide. There were rows and rows of dresses made for her. When she plucked one out, she knew it was undeniably her size. Not knowing what this meant, she cleared her head and slipped into the gown. Then she ran to the window and to her surprise found most of the pack still outside, wide awake. They seemed to be doing everything as if it was daytime. Like the night didn't matter to them.
Was it really true then? That the Night Pack lived in the night like nocturnal animals? Was it their custom? Tradition? Some strange way of life she wasn't aware of?
It unsettled her even more than before. What were these people?
Her door opened, and she snapped her head, knowing already who it was. Her heart stuttered and she watched him with wide eyes as he closed the door.
He had the decency to finally wear some clothes. There was a tray in his hand as he walked to her bed and set it on the sheets. He sat down, his large body causing the mattress to dip at his weight. "Come here. Sit down next to me."
His voice sounded deceptively gentle, and that made her suspicious. Very slowly, she set on the other side of the bed, her body rigid with awareness of him. She tried not to breathe hard and take in his scent, but it was hard when his smell wafted so heavily through the air. And it smelled like the ocean mixed with fresh blood.
"How are you going to eat if you're sitting so far away?"
"I'm not hungry," she said darkly. "I don't want to eat anything."
"You're going to lose a lot of energy and maybe even more of your sanity if you don't start eating," he said.
She glared at him. "Is that an order? That I have to eat or you're going to choke me to death or something? Then just try me, Alpha," she spat. "There. I said it. Happy now? You're my Alpha. Now go torment another innocent female who never did anything to you."
He took in a deep breath, and she knew she got under his skin. He regarded her coldly. "That's right, Aletha. I am your Alpha. And I don't torment just any female. I have many thoughts of tormenting you...all of which involve you naked."
"I can't take this anymore," she hissed. "Why are you so vulgar?"
He snickered. "Many people call me vulgar, dear. Do you have anything more inventive than that? I know you can do better."
"I know I can do better than being with someone like you," she snarled.
He started laughing in his deep, sinister voice. It sent chills through her body. "Love, I'm an upgrade from that filthy traitor you thought was your mate. Lucien is a pathetic little asshole, and I can kill him if I want to."
"Then why didn't you?" she asked. "You hate him. You and your men are stronger. What's stopping you?"
Something dark flashed in his eyes. "The night," came his cryptic response. He looked down at the soup and he took the spoon, stirring the warm, thick liquid before raising it to her lips. "Eat up."
She wanted to resist, but she knew if she had to deal with him, she needed energy. And maybe...maybe she could try escaping. Her lips parted and the warm liquid flooded into her mouth. It was creamy, rich, something she never had the luxury of tasting back when she grew up with her parents. Lucien had given her these rich, expensive foods. He'd given her pretty dresses, and a large bed. He'd given her his life to share.
The thought of Lucien made her heart lurch and tears stream out of her eyes. She missed him. She missed him so much. She didn't care if he lied to her. She loved him. To her, he was still her mate, her only one.
"What's wrong?" he inquired. "Too hot?"
She shook her head, wiping her tears away. These were not tears for him to see. She let him feed her the rest of the soup before he was finally satisfied.
He placed the tray outside her door for one of the maids to take away. Then he closed her door again. "Have you bathed?"
"No."
He came closer and brushed her hair away from her shoulders. He pulled the sleeve of her dress down and sniffed. "You smell like honey," he murmured, and her heart began to hammer against her chest. He pulled her sleeve back up. "But you also smell exhausted."
"I don't need you to be sniffing me," she said, inching away from him. She knew what he intended to do with her. It was the tradition of the Darklands to consummate the marking and bathe your mate on the first night together. He came back for a reason, and the thought made her skin crawl. "I'll bathe when you leave."
"I'm not leaving, Aletha," he said. "I want to see you taken care of."
"You can come back and check on me when I'm done," she said shakily, feeling his hand close in on her wrist. No no no. "Please leave me alone."
"I can't do that, love," he whispered, his mouth against her ear. She shivered at his voice, wanting his touch. She craved his touch. The pull was so strong that it made her weak, and she hated it. She hated how submissive he was making her already.
She took a deep breath. He was going against her will, and she wouldn't let her. Maybe the whores he was with were more than willing, but she wasn't. "You can't bathe me," she told him. "I'm not going to turn into a harlot in front of you! I don't care that you're used to females kissing your feet. I won't do it."
"You're not a fucking whore," he said, his jaw ticking with anger. "You're my--"
"Mate? Come on. Give me a break. I don't want you."
It took him less than a second to yank her out of her feet and storm into the washroom.
"Hey!" she screamed. "What are you--" Too late, she was thrown into the tub of water.
"You can't appreciate anything, can you?"
Her dress clung to her body and she covered her breasts with her arms. "Not with you I can't," she snarled, looking up at him through her wet, messy hair. "Admit it, you only want a whore to be your mate. You only want someone to willingly spread her legs for you without question for centuries. And when you're tired of her? You can just dispose of her, especially because she'll give you hundreds of heirs by then."
"I don't want a whore for a mate," he growled. "I want you!"
"I don't believe you," she said coldly, getting up to her feet. "You want me to be willing, but I am far from willing. I don't want you touching me. I don't want you talking to me. I don't even want you in front of me, because I don't want to see you!"
"Aletha, shut up," he warned. "You don't know what you're saying. You haven't even given me a chance."
"A chance?" she scoffed. "What chance? You never had a chance, Rush. Not when I had another male between my legs, an Alpha on top of that. That's the way you like to hear it, don't you? This is the only way you'll get it, because you can't take a hint. You want to know how he was in bed? He made me moan more than you can ever make any female moan. He's made me scream over and over...and over." Now she got out of the tub, and water pooled around her. "If it wasn't for you, I would have been happy. I would have been his Luna forever!"
He froze. She knew she said far too much. She knew from the strain in their bond that she'd broken something between them. That she hurt him.
And she didn't care.
"You will never amount to anything he makes me feel, Rush. You won't make me love you like the way I love him. You're not him. You'll never be him. I don't want you. I reject you."