Chapter 6
1377 Words
Diana almost passed out from the shock and pain.
She ripped herself away from him, disdain blazing in her eyes.
She had expected him to ask.
Not take.
Not without her permission.
“How dare you mark me!?” she yelled, touching her neck.
She immediately checked her palm to see how much she was bleeding.
It wasn't much.
But her medical instincts kicked in before she could stop them.
Her eyes darted around Aiden's living room, searching for something—anything—to clean the wound with.
Then she spotted the tequila sitting on the center table.
She grabbed it.
Next, she snatched a serviette from the little wooden box beside one of the stools, soaked it in tequila, and pressed it against the bite mark.
“Do you have Band-Aids? I need to—”
She stopped.
Aiden was staring at her.
Not angrily.
Confused.
Utterly confused.
He watched her for a few seconds, trying to understand what exactly she thought she was doing.
And then it clicked.
She was treating a werewolf bite like a human wound.
“Band-Aids...” he repeated.
“Yes. Band-Aids.”
Aiden rolled his eyes and chuckled.
Then he walked toward her.
Before she could protest, he turned her around to face him, took her free hand, and placed it against the right side of her neck.
“Press harder.”
Diana frowned.
She did.
Nothing.
No pain.
No blood.
The wound was already gone.
She stared at him.
What the hell?
Of course.
What had she been thinking?
All those years she'd spent living, studying, and sparring with humans, barely getting injured—or barely noticing her injuries—had been because of how quickly she healed.
She'd simply never realized it.
But she'd never experienced pain like the pain Aiden's bite had caused.
Then again, he was an Alpha.
The same way she'd experienced that ridiculous amount of pain the night they'd fought, if that could even be called a fight.
“Yeah, well, I've never been bitten before,” she muttered. “I had to take precautions. Who knows what kind of venom or disease you have?”
She hadn't meant to say that.
Especially not to a man who currently held both her life and her mother's in the palm of his hand.
Aiden blinked.
Then his lips twitched.
“Disease?”
Diana looked at him.
He laughed.
“Wow. Venom?”
He tilted his head.
“Dayum.”
Diana frowned.
“The last time I checked, I've never had a serpentine bloodline.”
He paused dramatically.
“And disease? I know I've had plenty of women.”
Diana's expression tightened.
“Not entirely women, though.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
Aiden shrugged.
“I wouldn't exactly call a female-looking vampire a woman.”
Diana stared at him.
Vampire?
He'd slept with a vampire?
She swallowed.
She couldn't decide whether she was more disturbed by how experienced he apparently was or by the sudden concern for her own blood.
Didn't vampires bite their partners?
Didn't they turn people?
Strange thoughts began racing through her mind.
Was Aiden part vampire?
Was that why he seemed to have no heart?
And if he was a vampire and had just bitten her...
Did that mean she was a vampire now too?
Her eyes widened in horror.
Aiden caught it immediately.
He stared at her.
Then burst out laughing.
“Oh, no.”
Diana's face burned.
“She didn't turn me. One bite would have killed her.”
He shook his head, still amused.
“Our clan's blood is poisonous even to other werewolves, which is why we rarely get bitten. We also have silver in our blood, which is why silver can't hurt us.”
He stepped closer.
“We're one of the most powerful clans.”
His smile turned arrogant.
“Which makes me even more dangerous as your Alpha.”
Diana's mind had already switched off.
Blah, blah, blah.
Yada, yada, yada.
She wasn't a vampire.
That was all she cared about.
She folded her arms.
“You've gotten what you want.”
Aiden raised a brow.
“I'm guessing my mom can be released now.”
She planted her hands on her waist and glared directly into his eyes.
Aiden stared back.
Then slowly smiled.
He'd been waiting for this.
“Released?”
He chuckled.
Diana's heart began racing.
She knew that look.
He was about to mock her.
She'd walked straight into the trap of a man without honor.
“Your Beta announced that—”
“Diana Mendez.”
His smile widened.
“Who ever said released?”
Diana froze.
She couldn't remember Vince's exact words.
Only how she'd interpreted them.
But there was one word she remembered clearly.
“He said she'd be forgiven.”
Her voice trembled despite her desperate attempt to hide it.
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, honey.”
Aiden's eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.
“It means I will not kill her.”
He paused.
“For now.”
Diana's heart sank.
Aiden continued.
“She can count the days until her postponed judgment while you, my dear, will be my mate in every way...”
His smile deepened.
“...and for as long as I wish.”
Diana's world crumbled.
The small spark in her eyes disappeared, replaced by tears she desperately refused to let fall.
“You bastard.”
Her voice shook.
“You liar!”
She had made the biggest mistake of her life.
She'd walked willingly back into the hands of the monster she'd escaped.
And she'd done it for nothing.
“Hm.”
Aiden's amusement faded slightly.
“You should watch your tongue, Luna.”
His voice hardened.
“I will not take any more of your insults. Tread carefully.”
Diana was far too angry.
Far too heartbroken.
And far too exhausted to care.
She'd spent weeks running.
Weeks hiding.
Weeks terrified.
And she'd come back because she believed she could save the one person she loved most.
Instead, he'd tricked her.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
Her voice rose.
“A god?!”
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
“You're just some broken mommy's boy trying to prove himself to everyone.”
Silence.
The words hit him harder than she intended.
Something burned in his chest.
Not because he believed her.
He didn't.
But she'd touched something buried deep.
Something he'd spent years refusing to acknowledge.
His mother.
His childhood.
His father.
Everything he'd fought to bury.
Aiden's expression changed.
The amusement disappeared completely.
“Shut up, Diana.”
His voice dropped.
“Last warning.”
The air around him changed.
Dangerous.
Feral.
His eyes began glowing red.
But Diana was drowning in a rage of her own.
She didn't care.
“f**k you, Aiden.”
She pointed at him.
“Fuuuuuck you!”
Aiden's jaw clenched.
“And f**k your f*****g family, your f*****g house, your women, your vampires, your dogs, your cats, the ants on your walls—”
She sucked in a breath.
“f*****g everything around you!”
Aiden stared at her.
Diana was on a roll now.
Words poured from her mouth, fueled by weeks of fear, anger, humiliation, and exhaustion.
Aiden needed her to stop.
Before he lost control.
Before he did something he couldn't take back.
But she didn't stop.
“I'm not yours!”
Something inside him snapped.
He closed the distance between them in one swift movement.
His hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her against him.
Diana gasped.
Then his lips crashed against hers.
She froze for half a second.
Shock.
Then fury.
She pushed against his chest.
Hard.
Aiden didn't move.
She twisted, shoved, and fought with everything she had until she finally broke free.
Aiden let her go.
The second he did, he regretted it.
Because Diana's palm was already flying through the air.
Smack!
It connected with his left cheek.
Silence.
Aiden slowly turned his face back toward her.
His cheek stung.
His eyes darkened.
And Diana stood there breathing heavily, her hand trembling at her side.
For the first time since she'd returned...
Aiden looked genuinely shocked.
She had slapped him.
The Alpha.
She had actually slapped him.
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