My Rival, My Mate

004: PAYNE BLACKTHORN

NOVA



No. No. NO. This didn’t make sense. It couldn’t make sense.

Payne Blackthorn—PAYNE BLACKTHORN—had his fingers inside me. At my family’s own yearly masked ball.

How in the ever-loving hell did I end up with Payne Blackthorn’s fingers inside me, here of all places and at this time?

He was dead. We were both dead. Damn it. DAMN IT.

My head spun, my stomach twisting violently. If I had anything more than bubbles to throw up, I would have.

“How the hell did you get in here?” I demanded, my voice shaking with anger and confusion. But even as I spoke, amidst the chaos swirling around me like the deadliest storm, my body didn’t care about his answer.

And now, Nineveh—my wolf—had clawed her way out of hiding. She was fully awake. Fully alert.

Now, both my body and Nineveh only cared about one thing: Him.

Even through the spinning in my head and the churning in my gut, my body betrayed me. It moved on its own, leaning into him, aching for more. Nineveh surged inside me, desperate, clawing for him.

For someone who would finally take what was hers. Finally.

But it couldn’t be him. It shouldn’t be him. Payne Blackthorn. Of all people, him.

He shoved my thighs apart, hitching me higher against the wall, his strength effortless. And yet, not a single trace of fear crossed his face. Not here, not now, even surrounded by security with senses sharper than blades.

He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t care about anything I said.

Payne Blackthorn feared nothing. He was pure dominance, the devil incarnate, and I’d been a fool to forget. He wasn’t just any Alpha; he was the Alpha. BloodMoon Crescent Park bowed to him.

“I go where I want, when I want,” he said, voice smooth and commanding, as if it was a fact carved into stone. And I didn’t doubt him for a second.

I forced steel into my voice, even though I felt anything but strong. “If I tell anyone you’re here, you’ll never make it out alive. Do you know how reckless you are? You're a fool.”

His response was instant. “If I thought for one second you’d tell a soul, you’d already be dead, little wolf.” And I believed him.

He would have snapped my neck right then and there with his fingers still inside me, and no one would’ve noticed until it was too late. He’d be long gone by then. Vanished without a trace.

Not that anyone would care. Father wouldn’t grieve. If anything, he’d quietly celebrate, raising a glass to my death with the same cold indifference he always had, just so long as no one saw him do it.

If I hadn’t been dosed up on Earth Dust Weed and Blood Champagne, I’d have been frozen in terror like a helpless mouse caught in the claws of Payne Blackthorn.

The man who had ruled the Blackthorn Clan with an iron fist ever since he took his father’s head at the age of twelve, unwilling to wait for the reins of power to be handed over.

Payne wasn’t just a brute; he was a nightmare. A relentless force hellbent on tearing my family apart piece by piece. Maybe it was a vendetta sworn in blood. Or maybe it was just who he was: a destroyer, a conqueror, a freak driven by some twisted need to take what wasn’t his.

Father always said Payne was like a traveller, an adventurer who set his sights on a pack or clan and claimed it for his own, dragging it into his orbit like a trophy.

Maybe that’s why he was here now. Maybe I was just another sad little victim in his endless crusade.

And maybe I didn’t care.

Maybe it would be easier this way.

So long, world.

I was trapped between the instinct to scream for help and the dark pull of surrender, caught in a moment that teetered between fear and inevitability. Maybe, just maybe, I wanted to know, just once, what it felt like to be truly claimed before my story ended.

That’s when the Earth Dust Weed started to take over, drowning out every rational thought. That’s when my wolf, Nineveh, joined in, her mocking laughter echoing in my mind, urging me to give in. And the heat, that unbearable heat coursing through me, whispered the same thing.

Payne Blackthorn. My mate. At least, that’s what Nineveh and the fate-reading witches believed.

So, I let go.

I let them win.

I opened my legs wide to him completely, giving in to the devil standing before me.

Then, I kissed him hard, raw, and unrelenting. I kissed him like I craved the pain, like I wanted him to leave a mark on me that nothing could ever erase.

If my time was running out, if this was my final chapter, I wanted it to be unforgettable.

He’d end me soon enough, and I knew it.

The Alpha secured my wrists above my head. I felt the thrill surge through me, daring him to push further.

A grin tugged at my swollen lips, a reminder of his bite still lingering. I felt raw, stripped of dignity, and I leaned into it.

“Take me,” I challenged. “Prove to me just how dangerous you are, Blackthorn. Show me what you’re capable of. f**k me.”

He tightened his grip, a smirk playing on his lips that could have scorched the sky. “f*****g blood moon,” he exclaimed, his voice dripping with dark amusement. “I never expected Nova Wiseheart to be a pleading virgin at 20.”

A wave of nausea hit me.

How did he know? How could he possibly know? Was it that obvious that I was just a naive girl who’d never been manhandled?

Maybe it was. Maybe I was that inept at everything. But one thing was certain: if he hadn’t known for sure, the heat spreading across my face would have given me away.

I had never had s*x.

A frantic virgin who craves to be touched. To be utilised. To get f****d hard enough to feel pain.

Unfortunately, finding my mate to do it for me was the only way to keep from hurting myself. If it were anyone else, it would hurt more than your p***y being lit on fire.

“Do it,” I said, hissing. “Blackthorn, show me what a bad boy you are and f**k me. f**k me hard, please.”

He'd have done it. I am certain he would. His eyes were filled with raw hunger as he dragged my panties down my thighs.

I would have lost my virginity behind a toilet wall with my dress tied around my waist. I would have loved that, painful or not.

But Payne Blackthorn did not get the chance.

The bang of the bathroom door startled us both, as did the sound of footsteps. Masculine’ smell. Getting closer.