Marked by the Alpha King’s Remorse

Xaverius “Do you even understand how powerful she is?” Darius’s voice scraped like gravel. “Powerful enough to kill a woman who was your equal—” “Shut your f*****g mouth.” My fist slammed the desk so hard the wood groaned. “Pina is still my equal. She will always be my equal. You don’t get to bury her with your past tense.” Darius licked his lips, eyes flicking away like a coward. “She’s coming back around, Xav. That girl, damn. She’s the only who survived the war from opposite side. Violet will—” “I don’t give a single solitary f**k about that parasite.” The words ripped out of me, raw and bleeding. “Just thinking about her face makes me want to tear this whole goddamn world apart with my teeth. I’m only playing this sick little game so I can find out who the hell was holding her leash when she murdered my mate.” My chest caved in at the memory. Pina, glowing, hands cradling the tiny swell of her belly, whispering names to our unborn pup like they were secrets meant only for us. And then—gone. Stabbed in the back while she was trying to save someone. Tricked. Gutted. Left to bleed out alone because that silver-tongued b***h Violet Graves decided Pina was in her way. I couldn’t breathe around the hate. It was a living thing inside me, gnawing, screaming. Darius reached out, patted my shoulder like I was some wounded animal he could soothe. His mouth twisted into that stupid half-smile. “How long are you going to keep torturing yourself like this?” I laughed—short, ugly, unhinged. “Until I get what I want.” My voice cracked like a whip. “Until I rip every name out of her throat. And if her little ‘I don’t remember anything’ act keeps going one more f*****g day, I swear on Pina’s grave I will execute her myself. Slowly. Piece by traitorous piece.” “You can’t,” he said, shrugging like it was nothing. “The Council knows her power is—” “I don’t care what the Council knows!” I roared, shoving him back so hard he stumbled. “I don’t care if she’s the moon goddess reborn. She took everything from me. Everything. My mate. My child. The only light I ever had. And they want me to stand here and protect the thing that slaughtered them?” My vision blurred, tears or rage, I didn’t know anymore. I could still smell the blood from that night. Still hear Pina’s last gasp. Still feel the empty space where our baby should have kicked against my palm. “Get out,” I snarled at Darius. “Dismissed. Now.” He hesitated, then slammed the door behind him hard enough to rattle the walls. I stood there alone, shaking, claws digging into my own arms until blood ran. Violet Graves. The woman they wanted to crown, to praise, to place on the pedestal that should have been Pina’s. I hated her with every shattered fragment of my soul. I hated her so much it was the only thing keeping me breathing. One day, I would watch the life drain from those lying eyes. And I would smile. *** She smiled. That crooked, stolen smile, the exact same tilt at the corner of her mouth that Pina used to give me when she was teasing me about something stupid I’d done. The sight of it on Violet’s face hit me like a blade between the ribs. My vision tunneled, rage boiling so hot I could taste it, metallic and burning. And she thinks she doesn’t remember anything? It’s clear she’s f*****g mocking me. “Hey…” she murmured, letting the book slip from her fingers and thud to the floor. She’d been curled up in bed all damn day like some fragile invalid, like she had the right to rest while Pina rotted in the ground. Fucking i***t. I clenched my jaw until I felt a molar crack. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She slid off the bed and walked toward me, barefoot, unafraid. “Oh. You’re drunk.” “And you think that’s any of your goddamn business?” The words came out coated in venom. I stared at her like I could burn holes straight through her skull, but she just sighed and held my gaze. “Yes,” she said softly. “It is.” I stepped closer, close enough to hear the pathetic flutter of her heart speeding up. “And why is that, Graves?” “Because soon enough,” she said, chin lifting, “I’m going to lead beside you.” I laughed. one sharp, jagged bark that scraped my throat raw. “You’re shitting me. You’re actually shitting me right now.” She crossed her arms over her chest, took a slow breath like she was steadying herself. “I don’t know, Alpha. But that’s what I feel. We’re connected.” Then she reached out—fast, fearless—and grabbed my hand, pressing my palm flat against her chest, right over her heartbeat. My wolf Wraith stirred, traitor that he was, reacting to the bond the Council had forced on us. Heat flashed through my blood, unwanted, disgusting. I yanked my hand back like she’d burned me. “Don’t f*****g touch me.” I turned away, raking fingers through my hair hard enough to rip strands out. Every cell in my body screamed: I only love Zerypina. I will only ever love Zerypina. This thing in front of me murdered her. Murdered our baby. Took everything. “Alpha,” she whispered, voice cracking, “I don’t understand why you hate me this much. I swear I don’t remember doing anything unforgivable. I barely even know you. All I feel is—” I spun, grabbed her by the shoulders, and slammed her down onto the bed so hard the frame groaned. She gasped, eyes disgustingly green wide, but before she could speak I was on her, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand. God, everything about her almost reminds me of Zerypina . . . She’s doing this on f*****g purpose. “You feel love?” I snarled into her face. “Do you feel a connection? Tell me did you feel how I’d feel when you killed her?” Her lips parted in shock with satisfying watery eyes. “I didn’t . . . I didn’t kill—” “Shut. Up.” I crushed my mouth against hers, not a kiss, a punishment. I don’t want her to say the sacred name of my love. Teeth clashing, biting her lip until I tasted blood, her lips tasted like cherries that I couldn’t stop, the Council must have done this to make me forget my love. Disgustingly addictive, and I’m doing this to punish her and to make her hurt. She whimpered, but her body arched up into mine like the bond was dragging her along. But no, without the bond, I know she would be begging for it, anyway. She’s always been the martyr type of woman, completely opposite of my equal, Zerypina. I hated it. Hated her. Hated Myself. I ripped her shirt open, buttons scattering like gunfire across the floor. My hands were brutal, gripping her hips hard enough to bruise, clawing at her skin like I could tear her apart from the outside in. I can’t help but breath hard, fighting the temptation with those breasts. I don’t want to make this good for her. I shoved her thighs apart with my knee, spreading her wide, and drove into her without warning, without mercy. Fuck. She was impossibly tight, virgin tight, a vise of hot, untouched silk that clamped down around me like she was trying to strangle my c**k. Her body resisted at first, a sharp barrier giving way with a wet, tearing snap that made her scream into my mouth, raw and broken. Blood, her virgin blood, slicked the way, but even that didn’t ease it. She was so goddamn narrow, so unforgivingly snug, every inch I pushed deeper felt like carving my hate straight into her core. And my body, traitor, filthy animal that it was, loved it. My wolf snarled in savage triumph, c**k throbbing harder inside that crushing grip, pulsing with the need to claim, to rut, to drown in the exquisite friction. The bond the Council forced on us roared to life, flooding me with sick pleasure, making me swell thicker just to feel her stretch and burn around me. I hated it. Hated how perfect she felt. Hated how my hips snapped forward on instinct, burying myself to the hilt in one brutal thrust that tore another cry from her throat. And she’s moaning. No, I don't want it to be good for her. And yet I say the opposite, “Good,” I snarled against her tear-streaked face, pulling back only to slam in again, deeper, punishing. “Scream for me, little virgin. Feel what your body does to a man who wants you dead.” She clutched at my back, nails digging in, gasping my title like it meant something. “Alpha—please—” “Please what?” I laughed, the sound broken and ugly. “Please be gentle? Please pretend you’re her? You’ll never be her. You’re nothing but a cheap killer, and I’ll always remind you of that. A murderer wearing my mate’s smile like a trophy.” I f****d her harder, relentless, each thrust fueled by the memory of Pina bleeding out on cold ground. Every time Violet moaned, half pleasure, half pain, I wanted to strangle the sound in her throat. My wolf howled in twisted ecstasy while the man in me vomited acid. She came with a shattered cry, body clenching around me, and the feel of it made bile rise in my throat. I followed seconds later, spilling inside her with a guttural curse, hating every pulse, every drop. I pulled out and rolled off her immediately, chest heaving, skin crawling like I’d bathed in filth. She lay there trembling, sheets tangled, tears streaking her face, lips swollen and bleeding from my teeth. I sat up, back to her, dragging shaking hands over my face. “Get it through your thick skull,” I rasped, voice hoarse. “I will never want you. I will never love you. Every time I touch you it’s because I have to—or because I want to hurt you. You’re a walking grave, Violet Graves. You’re the thing that killed my entire world. And if the Council wasn’t breathing down my neck, I’d have snapped yours the day you crawled back into my life.” Those fake innocent grey eyes has become teary, it reminds me a lot of things. Then her broken whisper: “I’m sorry…” “You’re sorry?” I turned, eyes blazing. “You think sorry brings back my mate? My child? f**k your sorry. f**k you.” I stood, zipped up, and didn’t look back as I walked to the door. My hands were still shaking with rage and disgust, mostly at myself. One day, I told myself, one day I’ll watch you bleed the way she did.