𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍✔️

SEVENTEEN|BESIDE

  YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING from me!" I screamed, banging my fists against his chest.

"— Don't you fucking dare!" The force of his heavy-handed slap sent me flying to the floor.

I tasted bile, as I wiped the blood from my cut lip. He was a vile man. A monster.

"Fuck you," I whispered, but my voice shook and broke. I would no longer be his submissive little pet. I would fight back as best I could. Even if it killed me.

"I will teach you respect!" He boomed as his foot met with my gut, leaving me gasping for air, coughing and spluttering on the floor.

"I will teach you to defy me!" His screams laced with the pungent scent of his enragement felt as though they were washing over me, a powerful wave, dragging me deep below its surface. I was suffocating in the scent of him, intoxicatingly so as he landed another blow to my stomach, one that knocked the air from my lungs, and for a second, I felt like I was drowning, clawing at my chest for air.

"I will teach you to love me!" My skull gave a sickening crack as it collided against the floor with the blow of his fist, crushing my last resolve.

The air around me felt too heavy like it was weighting me to the floor. Too heavy to move, too heavy to breathe. My head spun dangerously.

" — And you will learn to love me!"

His assault on me stopped momentarily, and the sound of a belt buckle being undone echoed against the cold walls.

"No! No! No, no — no!" I pleaded desperately trying to drag myself across the dank floor but he grabbed me by my waist and thrust himself towards me, his fingers finding the exposed skin under my shirt, making me recoil in disgust.

My broken screams echoed off the barren walls as his hips rolled into me, the pain was unbearable. I felt sick.

"Shh... I do this — because I love you." He said, running a single finger down my cheek as he finished, pulling out of me.

— And then suddenly, he vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. The door slammed behind him, leaving me alone.

To fester and rot in my own misery. No more.

  I THRASHED AGAINST the covers. The silk sheets sticking to my sweat-soaked skin and tangled around my limbs like snakes. I sat up, heart thrashing against my ribs, I felt the pounding everywhere; in my head, in my throat, in my fingertips.

My wolf whimpered, trying to reassure me that it was just a nightmare. Except it wasn't. It had happened. It was real. I whispered breathily for my mate, the first and only thought in my mind.

I freed myself from the clutch of the covers and slipped out of bed, pulling a large white t-shirt on as I headed the short distance across the hall. I paused, my hand gently resting against the cool metal of the door handle. Would he mind? Would he be mad if he woke to see me sleeping beside him?

My wolf bristled and hissed, urging me to hurry up and get in there. Even if she was wrong, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted my mate.

I pushed the door open gently, and the scent of pine and fresh linen filled my senses, the scent of Kaden. I let it envelop me into its calming embrace, soothing and pulling me silently towards the source.

In the far corner I could see Kaden lying asleep in a large white bed, the top half of his sculpted torso exposed, my eyes clinging to every dip and curve of his taut muscles, and how his lips were slightly parted and his hair tousled with sleep. He looked so peaceful, I thought.

I padded over to where he lay, hesitating before climbing in beside him, careful not to disturb him. He stirred but didn't wake. A soft groan escaped his lips as I pulled the covers over me, cocooning me in their warmth, and he instinctively rolled over, his strong arms wrapping around me, pulling my body into his chest, as I nuzzled myself closer to him. Then the gentle sparks I felt at his touch slowly pulled me into the darkness of sleep.