003
1206 Words
RAVAYA
The weight of him knocked the breath from my lungs.
I didn't move. I couldn't. The pressure of his body held me there, but even if it hadn't, I don't think I'd have had the strength to rise. Not with the way he was staring at me like I was something that didn't make sense.
His eyes, those impossibly intense red eyes, bore into mine. They were cold and cautious. But there was something else there.
Confusion?
My pulse betrayed me, fluttering just a little faster.
“What?" I whispered before I could stop myself. "What are you staring at?"
My voice wasn't angry. It was strained because being this close to him was doing something to my insides.
He didn't answer. Instead, he studied me in silence, as if he was searching for answers on my face.
I tried not to shiver under the weight of his gaze.
I knew who he was. Kael Draven. The second son. The syndicate's weapon. The butcher of Omega's Howl. My mate.
It didn't matter that I hadn't known before. My soul did now.
The bond clawed at me from the inside, whispering things I couldn't afford to feel. Not here. Especially with him.
Finally, he asked the question I'd been expecting.
“Who are you?"
I didn't look at him when I answered.
“Ravaya."
It wasn’t a lie but the way he stared at me made me feel like it was.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't press. Instead, he stood and without a word, he hauled me over his shoulder like I was weightless.
I didn't scream.
I kicked, struggled, pushed against his back with what little strength I had, but he didn't falter. Not even a little.
I was dropped onto a bed moments later, and the click of a door sealed me in.
He was still standing there, like some immovable shadow, watching me.
“This is your room. You'll stay here until the mating ceremony," he said in a deadpan.
The words stung more than they should've.
I sat up slowly, my gaze scanning the clean lines and edges of the room. It wasn’t luxury or comfort. It was just another cage. A prettier one.
“Let me guess," I murmured. "This is to tame me? To make me easier to parade as the queen of your empire?"
His jaw twitched.
“You would've known, if you'd bothered to read the contract."
I didn't look away. "I heard what you did to Omega's Howl."
His eyes flashed. Just briefly. But I saw it.
I didn't say it to provoke him. I said it because I needed to remind myself that this man who was supposed to be my mate, was the reason I'd buried half my people in shallow graves.
Before he could respond, his eyes dropped to the side of my neck and landed on my ear.
I stilled.
He took a step closer. Then another. My muscles tensed, but I didn't move. I couldn't risk drawing attention to it.
To the mark.
But he saw.
“What are you doing?" I breathed.
His fingers reached for my face, and I slapped his wrist away, narrowing my eyes at him. "Don't touch me."
He didn't listen.
He spun me, pinned me against the bed, and before I could twist away, his fingers tugged at my earlobe.
He went so still, he was barely breathing. He must’ve seen it.
The mark.
The wolf's skull inside the crescent moon. The claw marks.
He stumbled back as if I'd burned him while I sat up, shaken. But I managed to masked it well.
“What?" I asked carefully. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
He didn't answer.
“Where did you get your ear tattoo from?" he rasped.
I blinked. "I don't know. I was very young."
That truth was safe enough.
But the way he looked at me then like I'd torn open a part of him that was never meant to be touched, it made my pulse stutter.
He left without another word, and when the door closed, I exhaled slowly.
For some strange reason, my brain remembered things I didn’t want to. Things like the pressure of his body. His scent. The way the bond screamed in my chest, demanding I feel something I didn't want to.
Not now. Not ever.
I curled my knees to my chest and pressed my forehead against them.
Kael Draven was my mate.
And I was going to kill him.
…
The white dress clung too tightly. It wasn't mine. Nothing in this place was.
The zipper had caught my skin earlier, and I hadn't bothered fixing it.
I sat at the dining table in silence, my hands resting in my lap. Evander, Kael's brother — the Prince — hadn't stopped talking for the past five minutes. His words were a string of noise which I had tuned out the moment he called me ‘sweetheart.’
I didn't respond. I didn't look at him.
He was waiting for any kind of reaction from me.
He'd get none of it.
I kept my gaze on the edge of the plate in front of me, tracing the silver rim with my eyes until I heard him say it again.
“She's ignoring me."
He sounded amused. Or maybe offended. It didn't matter.
I didn't flinch or move. I simply kept breathing.
“Ravaya."
My body tensed at the sound of the newcomer’s deep voice, goosebumps spreading across my skin. My name in Kael's mouth didn't sound like mine.
It scraped along my nerves and I hated the way my body reacted.
He was standing next to me now.
I heard the soft shift of fabric as he stepped closer. His fingers brushed my shoulder, and I...
I let out a sound. A low moan escaped my lips. Stars above. His scent was delicious. Has he always smelled this good? I wondered.
I felt my body betray me in real time. Sweat beaded at my temple. My thighs pressed together beneath the table.
I grabbed at his trousers.
Not because I wanted to. Because I needed to anchor myself and do anything except fall apart under that unbearable pull between us.
His eyes met mine, but I didn't dare look for too long. I didn't want him to see what was unraveling beneath the mask.
“It looks like she still needs to be set straight," he said coldly.
I didn't resist when he grabbed my arm. Didn't fight when he pulled me to my feet.
My legs felt weak. My skin burned.
Heat. Goddess, I was in heat.
No. No, not now. Not here.
My hair clung to my forehead. My body trembled with something I'd spent my entire life repressing. I kept my head bowed low as he dragged me away, past the staring eyes, past the guards who watched and said nothing.
“Get that unsightly thing out of here," Evander hissed.
A thing.
That's what I was to him.
But Kael didn't flinch.
He didn't smile either.
He just kept walking, his grip firm on my wrist.
I'm so screwed.
I can't be left with an alpha when I'm in heat!
- Writer
