Hekate’s Bride

Darian pulls back, eyes wide and face flustered. He takes a step back, and another with his hand in front of me. “Don’t…” He groans, hands dropping to his midsection to hide the bulge in his pants that I have already noted. “Don’t fucking do that.”

I feel hot and ashamed, but I’d be damned if I let him see that. I smirk instead. It is my go-to. “Why? Scared?”

He doesn’t smile back. He glances at me warily. “What do you want?”

My hand is suddenly in my hair and I am twirling a strand around my finger shyly. Or at least, I try to look shy. “I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

“Which part?” He says, walking to the drawn blinds and pulling tightly on them, unleashing rays of sunlight and a cool, pleasant breeze into the room that discards the faint scent of arousal oozing off of him.

I watch him work, familiarizing my sight with his broad back and tight ass. He isn’t Rune, but he wants me. I’m not going to pine after a man who won’t decide that I am worth the chase, and though it feels wrong to use Darian like this, I can’t think of any other way to get over Rune.

I can’t do this. I know I can.

“Everything, and I’ve come to a conclusion,” I say, plopping down on his mattress.

He turns to me, eyes taking me in as I make myself comfortable on his bed. His eyes flare and I know he likes it. Seeing me here, in his room.

Males. Territorial. Possessive. Wolves and lycans alike. The tiniest things like… wearing their clothes, sniffing them, wearing their scent, having any of their belongings, it just appeals to the beasts within us. Makes it happy enough to come out to play.

I look at him beneath lowered eyelashes and I let my tongue dart out of my mouth to lick my full bottom lip. His eyes catch every movement, and though my eyes don’t drop down, I can hear the tightening in his pants, as well as his erratic heartbeats.

It only makes me feel worse, but I’m already here. I’ve never been a woman to back out of a game already begun.

Not that this is a game to me. It means far more to me. It’s my life here. If I don’t pull this off, if I don’t start now, I’ll never be able to live with it. His rejection.

“Court me, Dar. For real, no charades.”

He observes me for a moment. “He told you, didn’t he?”

I straighten, surprised. How he pieced that together in mere seconds has me wondering just how much Darian knows about my relationship with Rune. How much he knows of us that I remain unaware of.

He scoffs, turning away from me. “I will not be a rebound for you, princess.”

“I don’t need a rebound,” I say quickly, standing. “And this has nothing to do with Rune–”

“Liar,” Darian mutters softly, sitting and resting his head against his pillows. He takes out his tablet and starts tapping the surface, frowning at things I cannot see from where I stand. “I have genuine feelings for you, Astrid, and you know exactly where I stand; what I want, but I won’t have that with you while you think of another. Don’t ask me to.”

How do I convince him, I think to myself. I have never had to ask a man to be with me before. How do I ask him without seeming… desperate?

I’m not much for words. I act.

So, I do, and it’s the silliest thing ever. I walk to the side of Darian’s bed and pull out the tab from his grasp. Slowly, I put it away on the bed stand, and in a smooth maneuver that could only come from expertise, I straddle him.

Darian starts to move but I clutch his shoulders tightly, pinning his back to the headboard.

Of course, he can get me off him if he wants to, but I suspect he likes where I am. If his hands rising to brace my hips gently are any indication.

“Help me then, Dar,” I whisper, studying his face as intently as he studies mine. “I wish to forget.”

I lean in, kissing the corner of his lips. He jerks, gripping my hips harder. I feel claws dig into my skin as my lips find his. The kiss is tentative–soft. An offer to which I know he won’t decline.

I slide my arms around his shoulders, opening my mouth to him and his tongue slips in as he deepens the kiss, growling into my mouth.

He hardens against me and his arms band around my waist gently. He shifts us so fast, the next moment, I’m under him and his body is pressed against mine in all the right places. “I will mark you, princess.”

He says, as if in warning as he nuzzles my neck, and though heat begins to pool between my legs, Sloan is completely silent. There is no excitement on her part. Reaching for her is like running into a wall.

She hates this, I can tell. She was like this when I was with Orion the first time.

*I’m sorry, Sloan. I tried.*RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

There is no reply, but I know she understands. She always does.

My legs hook around Darian’s calves, pulling him closer, and my breaths are harsh as I feel his teeth graze my neck. My chest heaves and I start to panic when his sharp canines settle on that spot. The one that already tingles with surreal sensation.

The spot Hekate bit me. I know it was a dream but it tingles a lot. Every now and then, reminding me of him every damned time.

My chest tightens and my fists curl in his shirt as I try to breathe, get in more air, but I can’t. My body won’t let me do this, or have this. It’s become a sentient thing that knows I am not in the hands of the man who’s already laid a claim to me.

Tears spring to my eyes and I start to push Darian off me when the door opens and Darian peels away from me instantly, breathing hard.

I push up from the bed and my gaze meets Maya’s. Her eyes have anger in them, and betrayal. Her thin lips quiver and her brown eyes begin to darken. Veins begin to spread from them and it takes me a moment to understand that she’s shifting.

She realizes it too because she flees from the room, bouquet of lilies dropping to the floor.

My gaze meets Darian’s confused ones for a heartbeat before I dash after her, straightening my dress.

She is a blur of colours as she runs down the hallway and I can faintly make out the sound of her sobs. Goddess, I am so confused. What just happened? Why is she mad? I get that she’s mad that I didn’t tell her about this but…

“Maya! Wait!” I yell, turning down the hallways that lead out to the complex. There are not many people around, only a couple of sentinels doing their rounds. The complex and fields are off limits until Chancellor Vesper says so, but Maya seems to have forgotten.

Widening my pace, I catch up with her after running hard enough to burst my lungs. I grab her arm, panting. “What’s wrong, Maya?”

She yanks my hand off her arm and squeezes so hard, I yelp. “YOU SAID THERE WAS NOTHING GOING ON!”

Her eyes have turned wholly black now and the hand that holds mine has claws sticking out and in my skin. I struggle against her hold and though I succeed, I hurts. “Well, I changed my mind! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Her face squeezes with rage and she bares her teeth fiercely at me. “What is wrong with me? You don’t even see it! All you see is yourself, all you care about is yourself! You don’t give a shit about me or Dar! You’re using him, and hurting his feelings, and you know this and it doesn’t stop you!”

Her eyes are blazing with fury, and though it takes a while for me to piece it together, I do, eventually and a light bulb comes on in my head. My eyes widen and I stare at her, aghast. “You… have a thing for Darian?”

Her answering snarl is all the answer I need. “I didn’t know,” I whisper, reaching for her. “I swear, I didn’t know–”

She brushes me off. “Because you are blind to everything that doesn’t concern you and the stupid prince you’re in love with!”

“I am not in love with Rune,” I say, but there is a resignation in my voice that even I despise. “And you have it all wrong. Had I known, I would have backed the fuck up, believe me–”

She laughs bitterly, cutting me off. “Liar. My feelings don’t matter to you, and I am sure as hell that the only reason you’re making out with Darian is to make Rune jealous!”

My lips part and close. “That is not true, Maya,” I say, hating the way her words ring true in my head.

She has that incredulous look on her face and the pitch black peels back from her eyes as she observes me. “If it makes you feel better to think so.” She pauses, brown eyes brimming with tears. “You will hurt him, Astrid, and I won’t forgive you for it. You don’t love him. You never will. Leave him be.”

Her eyes are earnest and wistful, and I swallow. “I can’t do that. I already agreed. I can’t just… take it back.”

She sniffs, dropping her graze to the ground, and then she laughs. “Of course.”

She turns, whipping my face with her hair and walks off tightly, hands twitching by her side.