Chosen By Ruin

Sore Wound

XADEN

The moment the silver touches my skin, it burns.

A sharp, vicious heat cuts through everything else that’s been messing with my mind all day.

Good.

I wrap it around my arm, watching the skin redden instantly. The pain bit deep into my skin. Then my other arm. My torso. Each coil is tighter than the last, each burn dragging a rough sound from my throat.

It hurts.

God, it hurts.

But it keeps my mind on the pain, rather than wanting to kill and destroy things I wouldn’t be able to mend later.

They already hate me. But I don’t care.

They are all corrupted beyond rots in this academy anyway.

This…I’m only doing it for myself.

I lean my head back against the cold stone, eyes closing as the silver tears through my skin, grounding me.

Until it directs my mind elsewhere.

Into the world where my father’s cold and disappointed voice called me useless and told me I would never be Alpha…

I see myself as a child, kneeling on stone, knees bruised and bleeding while I hold up stones far too heavy for my arms.

“Speak,” he had ordered.

I hadn’t.

Not because I couldn’t.

But because I wouldn’t.

Something inside me had broken long before that. Traumatized me and made me lose every desire to say a word to anyone.

The entirety of MoonBound pack had watched as their Alpha’s son failed to even form words. That was long before he joined the rulers of Supraveil academy.

They had called me weak. Cursed. They built this ‘me’. So they better deal with it.

I clench my jaw harder as the chain bit deeper into my skin. Any other wolf would be screaming uncontrollably by now, but I have high tolerance for pain.

I hate him. I hate Alpha Tali. My father.

I will always hate him.

The burn intensifies, pulling me back to the present, dragging me away from the past I don’t want.

And then, I hear the door opening.

My eyes snap open instantly, my mind silently cursing the unexpected intrusion. No one ever comes here again. It’s been declared off-limits.

I rip the chains off in one sharp motion, ignoring the way my skin protests, the scars already turning raw and red.

And then I see her. The last person I expect to see here.

Rhea Veyne.

Brown leather clings to her body, boots echoing softly against the stone as she steps inside, locking eyes with me. Her brown hair falls in long loose waves around her shoulders, her lips painted a pure shade of red, her expression… wanting. As usual.

I haven’t seen her in a year. Why the f**k did she come back?

I sneer with instant disapproval of her presence. “What are you doing here?”

She doesn’t answer. Instead, she walks toward me slowly, like she’s counting her steps.

“Stop.” I command.

She does, her high boots clicking shut.

But that desperate longing on her face doesn’t change.

“That’s the worst welcome I expected from you, Apex leader. I had my hopes up a little.” She murmurs sultrily.

My brows pinch, hating the idea of her being here. “You are interrupting something private, Rhea. I ask what you are doing here.” My teeth grit together. I am barely containing the pain I feel, the damning urge too. But I don’t just want any woman.

“We want Hannah.” Zyle says in my head.

“We will kill her.” I mentally clap back then pull my shield back up. This time around, totally.

Rhea’s gaze drifts over my body, lingering on the marks, the scars, the fresh burns from the silver. Then drops to the bulge in my shorts that refuses to soften.

She gasps.

I’ve almost forgotten how she’s always desperate for me.

“You look even better like this,” she says, voice too tender. Then she starts to stalk forward. “You never stopped hurting yourself, did you?”

I step back, putting space between us.

“Leave.”

She doesn’t. I can see she’s grown some audacity.

But then, Rhea has never known how to walk away.

She closes the distance anyway, stopping just in front of me. Her voice drops,

“Just let me touch you, Xaden. Even if I can’t have you. I’ve…I’ve missed you so much.” Her green eyes search mine frantically like she can’t think of anything else.

I stare at her. I might not like Rhea Veyne the way she wants, nothing near that, but damn, I remember how she touches. She almost had me.

But lost me when she involved Darian.

I still as her hands come up- carefully, then her fingers begin to trace along my arm, over the scars, over the fresh burns. I feel nothing. “So toned. So perfect.” She breathes.

“You’re not broken, Xaden,” she whispers. “Not even like this. You’re still the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.”

I catch her wrist before she can move further.

She gasps softly.

“How did you find me?” I ask, ignoring the scent of her arousal and her manipulative art of seduction.

Her eyes drop to where our hands meet, and she smiles.

“I just got here today,” she says. “Right in time to watch you tear that traitor apart in front of everyone. I stalked you when you headed up here.”

I release her immediately, stepping away.

“Go away, Rhea.”

I turn toward my clothes, grabbing them, needing distance.

Her voice follows me, her next words cutting into me.

“You still think about her, don’t you?”

I don’t turn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do,” she says quietly. “You still think about my sister.”

My hands still for a fraction of a second.

“You need to forget her, Xaden,” Rhea continues, not knowing when to stop. “Liliana died a long time ago.”

The name bites more painfully than any silver chain ever could.

I turn swiftly, rage flaring so fast it almost blinds me.

“Don’t.” I warn.

“You lost the right to say her name the moment she died. You didn’t care about her when she was alive. Don’t pretend now.”

Rhea flinches, but I don’t wait for her response.

I grab my bloody shirt, shove it on, and head for the door.

I just hope I don’t up destroying things tonight like I’ve avoided.