The Rise of the Rejected Mate: The Scion Book 1

Chapter 7

Gia

____

I felt a little lighter as I walked into my apartment. Spending time with family always made me feel better, and confiding in Uncle Ted had helped too. Still, there were too many unknown factors for my liking. 

I put my bag and keys away and headed for the shower. The hot water relaxed my tense muscles, and I thought over everything that had happened under the stream of water. It had all started with the dream, the symbol, and the message. 

The symbol had looked vaguely familiar as if I had seen it before. The only symbols I had seen were some runes my grandfather had shown me when I was much younger. I dried off and threw on some short PJ pants and a shirt, and opened my laptop. As was my habit, I scanned for viruses and malware on startup, the dream replaying in my mind as I waited. The computer was clean. 

I selected the search engine and typed in runes, scrolling through the pictures that had popped up. There it was, the sunwheel. It seemed to have a few different permutations, and I had seen it in its simplest form. It was an ancient symbol of power, holiness, continuity, luck, and fire, the life force. It was sometimes used to increase the strength of other runes. 

I sat back. That was an auspicious symbol, the life force, but it didn’t clarify much. It was a Norse rune that was for sure, from the land of my ancestors. But why was it in my dream? Was it a clue? Did my grandmother send the symbol as part of the message too? I ran my hands through my hair; I had more questions than when I started, and I was no closer to any answers. 

I closed the laptop and decided I would revisit it after a good sleep. Things usually looked a little clearer in the morning. I sank into my bed and covered myself with the soft blanket relishing the feeling of finally allowing my muscles to rest. 

I squinted as I opened my eyes. The sun reflected off the ice as far as the eye could see. I knew this place, Greenland’s vast ice sheet. I frowned; what was I doing there? It was a dangerous place at the best of times, much less unprepared. The sheet itself spanned almost two thousand miles, so I could be ten or fifteen days from civilization. It had a desolate air, not a sign of life. 

I looked down, my feet were bare, yet I didn’t feel the biting cold. I was draped in only a white robe with a hood. My body temperature seemed normal, when in fact, I should have been trembling, hypothermia creeping in with every second, which would soon be followed by frostbite.

I looked around, trying to see if there was anyone in the distance and checking for animals too. I had no weapons, but I could still hold my own in a pinch. Something moved in the distance, a dark figure. It approached, and soon I could see that it was in human form. 

I took a subtle fighting stance. It could be anything; there were many species that could take a human form. The figure drew closer. It was a male dressed in black. He was tall and well-built with long dark hair, and by the way he moved, I could tell he was a warrior. His shape suggested he was a mountain of muscle, raw power simply oozing from him. Something stirred within me, I found him incredibly sexy, and I hadn’t even seen his face. 

He walked up to me with authority and stopped just a few feet away. We stood staring at each other, each sizing the other up for an uncomfortable minute, his hazel eyes roaming over my body and then returning to my face. I glared back in defiance, refusing to cow to his dominant presence. He was absurdly handsome. Thick eyebrows framed his almond-shaped eyes, his lashes were full and longer than most women’s, and his square jaw had a five-o’clock shadow. My heart stuttered, but I refused to show anything but disinterest.

Our stalemate was finally broken when a peregrine called, and our eyes lifted to the sky. The peregrine was far in the distance, but the sound carried so well it seemed that it was right above us. While I was distracted, he took a step closer to me and grabbed me by the arm. Pulling me into him, he kissed me deeply. I moaned involuntarily, the scent of cedar overwhelming my senses. His touch had lit a fire within me, and suddenly it was burning me up. 

He bit my bottom lip and slipped his tongue into my mouth, one hand grabbing my neck roughly. The other reached for the button of my robe. He undid it, and the robe fell to the ground, my fair skin on display to the stranger as he stepped back. Well, since we were here, I’d make good use of this male. I stood my ground proudly and looked into his eyes, my unspoken question quite obvious. What would he do now? I raised an eyebrow, challenging him, and he smiled. 

He stepped closer again and kissed me, pushing his fingers up into my hair. He grabbed it and gently tugged it to give him better access. His lips went from my mouth and trailed into my neck, sending shivers of delight to the tips of my toes. He wasn’t gentle; I liked that about him. I liked it rough; why pretend that it was anything more than carnal pleasure? It was just animal instinct. Soft and sweet love-making was for those in love, and I didn’t ever want to be. 

I trailed my fingers across his defined chest and stomach, then I cupped him and squeezed gently. I gasped as my mind registered his size. Heat pooled between my legs as I imagined what it would feel like to have him. He groaned as I withdrew my hand. 

I swung my arms around his neck and lifted myself, wrapping my legs around him. I kissed him fiercely; something about him encouraged my wild side. And I was wild at the best of times, I wasn’t the meek submissive type at all. I reveled in pleasure and took it as my due. Somehow I knew he had no limits, that he would take whatever I gave willingly. I stuck my fingers in his hair and clutched handfuls as I assaulted his mouth. My body ached for him as I rubbed against his rigid erection. 

He fumbled with his pants, and soon I felt his warm skin against mine. My body erupted with tingles as if spelled. He grabbed my a.ss cheeks and spread them, lining himself up at my entrance. I cried out in ecstasy as he plunged into me, bottoming out in one swift move. This male didn’t mess around but I was wet and ready despite the lack of foreplay. The feeling of him inside me was indescribable. I panted as he moved in and out of me just as roughly as he had kissed me, setting all my nerves alight. I was drowning in the sensation of him, his strokes feeling like pleasure personified. 

Gradually he increased the pace, his grip tightening, sinking into my flesh. He growled and grunted as he pounded into me, frenzied, and I felt the tell-tale tightening of my stomach. I rode the feeling of intoxication, climbing higher and higher, wanting, no, needing that inevitable fall. He pumped harder, and he roared as I reached the edge and tumbled over into my hedonistic heaven. His eyes turned black as he found his release inside of me. We stayed there, staring deeply into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then everything went dark. 

I gasped and sat upright in bed. I looked around in confusion; I was dazed, alone, and in my bed. My heart still pounded, and my vag still pulsed and ached slightly. My skin felt clammy. A light sheen of sweat covered me and had cooled in the night air. Warmth radiated from my chest. Automatically, my hand found the source, the ring. I looked at it, disorientated. A faint red glow emanated from it. What the hell was it? Had it caused that incredible dream? Was it even a dream? 

As my body cooled, I thought of the man. I could picture his muscular body in detail, but I couldn’t remember his face. I knew that I had seen him clearly in the dream state, but it was hazy when I tried to recall his features, just a blur. I frowned. Everything about the encounter was strange, intense, and surreal. Being with him had felt so natural; no words were spoken, yet we had come together as if drawn to each other, and it was more fulfilling than anything I had ever experienced before. He didn’t feel like a stranger, instead, like someone I had known all my life. I sighed. Dreams. 

The experience was so far from my usual s****l interactions, my usual preferences. I preferred to keep it strictly physical and I was always dominant. That was my comfort zone; being in control allowed me to take what I needed unapologetically and I’d found the perfect place to do that, the perfect club. There was no judgment and I avoided the awkward aftermath. I avoided needy men. I took what I wanted and they were only too happy to oblige. I needed to go back soon.

I rubbed the ring. It had become a habit at some point. I could still feel its warmth. I turned on the light, lifted the chain from my neck, and examined the ring closely. It was a flat disk with an engraving of something on it, but it was weathered, old, and I couldn’t see what it was. I grabbed my phone and took a picture, then enlarged it, hoping to see more detail that way. 

It couldn’t be. It was a sunwheel, albeit a different variation, one I had seen earlier that evening. This one looked a little like a snowflake. I hung the chain around my neck again and lay back in bed, clasping my hands behind my head and staring at the ceiling. My breathing had finally calmed. I tried going through the facts calmly and objectively, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the man in my dream, which led me right back to the ring. 

Suddenly I wished I could ask Thomas about it. He would have been able to tell me what it was, what power it held. But Thomas was gone, and I had taken his life. My eyes widened, and my pulse quickened as another thought occurred to me; maybe I could ask Noah Manson. I quickly discarded the idea, imagining how the conversation would go. 

‘Hi Noah, you don’t know me, but I am your assassin. Before I kill you, would you mind telling me what this ring is and or does? Yes, it’s the one I took from your friend after I killed him.’ Yeah, that would go down well. I chuckled. It was definitely out of the question. I would just have to hope that watching him would shed some light on the mysteries that were consuming me. 

I continued to look at the ceiling, lost in thought, and I must have dozed off at some point. The shrill sound of my phone woke me. It was still dark out, and my mind hadn’t fully awoken when I answered. 

“Yes?” I mumbled, trying to look at the clock on the wall. It was too dark to see the time. 

“Gia,” Uncle Ted’s voice sounded loud in my ear. 

“Uncle Ted?” I sat up and rubbed my eye with my free hand, the other holding the phone to my ear. 

“Yeah. I’m sorry to call you at such an ungodly hour,” he began, and somehow I knew it was not good news. 

“Is Mom okay?” I asked quickly, my muscles tensing and holding my breath. 

“She’s fine,” he answered, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I do have some bad news, though. It’s Sophia.” 

“What? What happened?” I had a sinking feeling. 

“She was attacked in her apartment tonight,” he explained quietly. 

“Oh God, tell me she’s okay? Please…” I begged. I hadn’t known Sofia very long and mostly just tolerated her, but at that moment I realized that I had come to care about her, a lot. My heart clenched. 

“I’m sorry, Gia, she’s in a coma,” he said. 

“No, no… Where is she? Which hospital? I’ll be right there,” I said, jumping out of bed and grabbing the closest clothes I could find. 

“I don’t know which hospital, Gia,” he said sadly. I stopped getting dressed. 

“What do you mean you don’t know? How did you find out then? Where are you?” I asked, confused. 

“I’m at the police station, in custody. They’ve arrested me for Sophia’s assault.”