You Wouldn't Dare

CHAPTER 9 - VIOLET

Khaos refused to enter any further conversation with me as he drove us back

home. I wanted to know more of his plan for his birth parents, how I could help

him. I wanted to comfort him as I continued to process the story of his horrific

upbringing, but he shut down every attempt I made.

I felt so much regret at the way I had treated him so far, believing every

wild story I had heard about him. Yet, with nothing else to do but reflect upon

our time together, I couldn’t help feeling that his own actions had already

poisoned our relationship.

He had suffered more than anyone should ever have to - especially a

defenceless child - but that pain and suffering had shaped him into a wolf that

was so different from my own, and I couldn’t stand by and watch him slaughter

innocent people in the name of revenge. Albeit, I didn’t know the full story

regarding his parents, but by all accounts, they had abandoned him not long after

he was born.

It was inexcusable, especially the way they had left him out in the cold,

but that did not mean they were responsible for what happened. The blame for

that lied solely at Ryssa and Drake’s feet, and he had already made them pay for

what they had done. Khaos had no way to even be sure it was his parents that

abandoned him – one second in his company and you could feel the powerful

wolf inside him. It stood to reason that his parents would be just as powerful as

him. Maybe I was being foolish and naïve, but it wasn’t unheard of for heirs to

be stolen away.

“Khaos...” I began, wetting my lips nervously.

“Violet...” he mimicked back at me.

“You know this doesn’t excuse what you did, right? I understand you

want to find your birth parents; I know there are parts of your upbringing

concerning them you’ve held back from me, but that does not mean you can

harm innocent packs.

You understand that, don’t you?” I was pleading with him, needing him

to agree with me in order for us to have any hope of a future. He might have

killed no one, but he couldn’t continue the way he was going. Attacking packs

left, right and centre, burning them to the ground. It was madness, and

eventually, he would find himself face to face with an enemy that he couldn’t

defeat. There was always someone stronger out there.

“This doesn’t concern you,” he growled, opening the car door, and

marching towards the packhouse. I sighed heavily and ran to catch up with him.

“How can it not concern me, Khaos? We’re mates! Everything you do

impacts me now! Are you listening to me?” I followed him as he made his way

towards the bedroom we had abandoned earlier.

“Mates?” He scoffed, shooting me a nasty look. “We’re not mates,

Violet. You’ve rejected me enough times to know that.”

“I won’t mate a beast,” I whispered back. “I did nothing to deserve your

treatment of me, I won’t be a part of such violence and brutality. Honestly, I’d

rather live my life alone than unhappy. I can’t sit awake every night wondering

if you will come to bed or you’re too busy murdering someone in the most

sadistic way. I can’t have nasty words thrown at me whenever you’re in a temper

again!”

“We’re fated to be together. I won’t let you go. It’s as simple as that, so

you best start getting used to it. Whether you decide to complete the mating is of

little consequence to me, your future is already decided. Your life is here, by my

side. Until I can trust you, you won’t be allowed out of my sight and that’s really

all I have to say on the matter. If you’ll excuse me...”

He tried to slide by me, aiming for the bathroom, but I grabbed his arm,

preventing him from moving any further.

“It looks like we’re both in for a very miserable, unsatisfied life then,

doesn’t it?” He looked me up and down as he gave me a smirk.

“You’re so transparent. Go on, do the usual female trick, and say you’ll

withhold sex.” I went to respond, but he clamped his hand over my mouth.

“Before you decide to take that path, think very carefully. Remember whose

pack you are living in. I had women long before I met you, and they’ve made no

secret of the fact that they’re willing to continue to share my bed. You can

withhold your body from me, and I’ll just get it elsewhere. The only person you

will make miserable is yourself. Life is what you make it, little one.”

I shoved him away, slapping his arm away from my face.

“How can you treat me like this? Especially after what your own mother

suffered, especially after Louisa!” I screamed as he went to walk away. “You’d

think you’d have learnt,” I muttered, but he only shrugged.

“I learnt. I learnt from the absolute best. I only ever had one example of

the way to treat women, and that was from my father. Remember that next time

you choose to piss me off.” And with that, he slammed the bathroom door

closed.

I hurled myself on to the bed and sobbed out my frustration. This

conversation hadn’t gone at all as I had planned. I hadn’t wanted to argue with

him, but it seemed we really brought out the worst in each other!

Just as my last tear had fallen, and I was drifting off, completely spent and exhausted, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Khaos muttered in a whisper. It was so quiet I barely heard

the words. “I’m sorry,” he repeated louder when he noticed my frown. “You’re

right. You don’t deserve this life, but as you well know, we don’t choose our

mates. I didn’t want to find you, but now that I have, I can’t let you go. Call me

selfish, call me a bastard, but that’s just the way it is. I can’t promise you a life

of romance and happiness beyond your wildest dreams, I’m too damaged for

that, but with your help, I can promise to at least try to be better. To not repeat

the mistakes of my parents. Let me know when you’re not happy and I’ll do

what I can to fix it.”

I knew I should take what he was offering, that I shouldn’t push my luck,

but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to know that life would be different. “Will

you leave the past in the past? You got revenge on your adoptive parents, leave

your birth parents alone. Don’t ruin the last of yourself with hatred for them.

They weren’t there for your upbringing, Khaos. Change your aim, make a new

future with me.” I pleaded, knowing he would reject the idea, but I was clutching

at straws to find a way to make us work.

“I can’t do that, Violet.” My heart sank as he confirmed what I already

knew. His vengeance came before anything else.

“Then I want to go back home. Have enough respect for me to let me

go.”

“I can’t do that either.” My anger grew as he refused any sort of

compromise with me.

“Unfortunately, we can’t always get our own way! Meet me halfway at

least - let me go and come back to me when you’ve finished your task, when

you’re ready to commit to a relationship. Don’t drag me along with you when

you know how much I’ll hate it.”

“What about your heat? That will hit you in a matter of days. Do you

honestly expect me to let you go back to your parents’ pack knowing that you

have Logan there just waiting to take what’s mine? Don’t tell me you’ll avoid

him,” he muttered as I went to deny his accusation, “I’ve seen how responsive

you are first-hand. I know how much you enjoy being touched. Add the haze

from the heat on top of this and you’ll be ripping his clothes off within seconds.

It’s not happening, you’re staying here, and that’s final.”

“You’re a monster!” I sobbed.

He shrugged his shoulders, completely unfazed, “I’ve been called

worse.”

“Who’s saying when my heat hits that I’ll come to you anyway? I saw

the way those warriors looked at me, I’ll have my f*****g pick of whoever I want! You think you can control me; you have no idea of the lengths I will go to

in order to make your life difficult.”

“Ditto,” he snarled, cutting off the rest of my rant. I got up on my knees

on the bed, kneeling directly in front of him as he stood clutching the bedpost.

We were eye to eye as I prodded him in the chest.

“You don’t scare me, Khaos. You can pretend you’re the big, bad,

unfeeling wolf, traumatised by your childhood and completely out of control, but

I know better. It’s because of your childhood that I know you won’t hurt me.

You attack males, warriors, you wouldn’t lay a hand on a woman and so I know

I’m safe. Growl at me all you want; you know I’m right.”

“You sound so sure, so confident, but really you have no idea what I’m

capable of.”

“You’re not capable of hurting me, I know this for a fact. You’ve had

ample opportunity, but you’ve never laid a finger on me. How long until my heat

arrives do you think? Enough time for me to get talking to people, get my scent

out there so every unmated wolf in a ten-mile radius can detect when it changes.

A wolf in heat, with the added bonus of being a virgin, I’ll have my pick of the

best wolves out there.”

“You wouldn’t f*****g dare.”

“What was it you said to me? Oh yes, ‘try me’, wasn’t it?”

We both stared at each other, breathing heavily, each refusing to be the

first to break eye contact. A knock at the door saved us from the worst in each

other, calming the meltdown that was fast getting out of hand. When I was hurt,

I lashed out, but Khaos had been hurt his entire life. He knew how to slice me

down with minimal effort.

“Alpha. There’s a situation that needs your attention.”

“I’ll be right there,” he called back, shoving me away from him so I fell

back on the bed.

“Think what you want of me and my pack, but apart from the warriors,

every wolf here is a family man, looking for their mate or already happily settled

down. No one would be interested in a slut throwing themselves around. They’re

going to know there’s something seriously wrong with you if your own mate

can’t be bothered to satisfy you during the heat. Especially when your mate has a

reputation for his s****l appetite.”

He went to leave me and before I could stop myself, I called out: “Like

father, like son!”

He turned to look at me and the utter disgust written on his face made my

stomach flip. I had expected his anger at the cheap insult but seeing the

disappointment and pain in his eyes almost had me running to apologise, to get on my knees and beg him to forget I had said it. It hadn’t even been an hour

since he told me his story, and here I was throwing it in his face.

His lip curled in distaste as his eyes raked my body from head to toe, “I

guess it’s true what they say. Beauty is only skin deep. You’re as nasty and ugly

as they come on the inside. It’s suddenly not a mystery why the Goddess paired

us together. Underneath your ravishing beauty lies a heart blacker than mine. I

guess we’re a match made in Heaven after all.”