Come for Me 2 (The Hunt #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Alaina

F or the rest of last night, I don’t know how long his blood remains in my veins, but it doesn’t matter. For the remaining hours, he continued to feed me blood. By the time the adrenaline coursing inside me would begin to wear off, Colin would appear by my side, just in time to feed me more.

The following night, Colin invited me to a meeting with his confidants, along with royal council members. He explained to me this meeting is more about appearances than anything else. If they like us, they could approve of our partnership.

“We’ll be proving to the council that we are serious about moving forward with our arrangement,” he said to me.

The council would be watching our every move, making sure this was an arrangement we were both accepting. Which meant he wanted me to be on my best behavior to put on the best show as a couple. The council was skeptical about me agreeing to bond with the man who killed my mate.

How little they must think of me.

I walk into the dining room, the table’s considerable length dressed in a white tablecloth.

Both the vampire and werewolf council members fashioned in formal attire. I’ve never met with the vampire panel before.

The dining room is spotless, considering I don’t think anyone has ever actually used it. It’s not like vampires eat regular food.

Colin and both councils stand at my entrance. He smiles widely as he motions for me to take a seat to the right of him at the head of the table. Then, like the gentleman he wants to appear as, he pulls my chair out for me with a heartfelt smile.

Willing to play the part, I smile back and accept his polite gesture and take a seat.

Colin pays me a compliment on my appearance followed by the word wife before taking the seat next to me.

A servant fluffs out a cloth napkin to set in my lap. A beautiful steak is placed in front of me, and I look at the silverware next to my plate. Some sensation akin to poison ivy strikes my fingertips when I touch the fork, and I drop it with a hiss. The silverware clanks against the plate, causing everyone to look in my direction. But the cutlery is made of real silver, an insurance policy Colin probably put in place so I don’t try to stab him.

Colin gently grabs my hands and kisses them. “I’m sorry, my love. I will make sure to have the housekeeper remove all silver from our residence.”

A female werewolf snorts. “I find the lack of attention to such an important detail to their werewolf counterpart surprising, considering the amount of persuasion and assurance you’ve sent our way since your announcement of your intentions to bond with Ms. Grove.” She sips her wine with a raised eyebrow.

She’s clearly not impressed with Colin, and this oversight on his part surely doesn’t help his case.

Her name is Elle Spalding. When I was studying with Sam before my meeting with the council, she came up. She was by far the most fascinating to read about and the most impressive. Unfortunately, for me, she was not at the meeting I went to.

Elle’s ability to see the future makes her a perfect candidate for her current position in risk management. Elle’s elegance and smooth speech screams of someone in her early forties, but her face looks a mature thirty-seven.

Elle’s statement about Colin attempting to persuade the council of his plans to bond with me puts everything into perspective. The council members would find this charade insulting to their intelligence, thus the tension. Going along with Colin’s charade of pretending we are in love won’t work. His destruction of my mate has ruined any chance of such convincing.

Colin’s cold hand grabs mine, and my wolf whimpers at the foreign touch. Yet it doesn’t fill me with rage like it normally would. I know I’m uncomfortable, and I would prefer he didn’t touch me. But to deny him in any way in front of the very people he feels rejected by would only put my people at risk. Seeing Sam was a helpful reminder of what I still have, even when it feels like everything has been lost. If it means he and everyone else I love is safe, I can bear whatever Colin throws at me.

I look at Colin, who puts on a brave face at Elle’s blow. But the grip on my hand tells me just how tense he is, knowing he’s already not off to a good start at persuading the council.

The servants begin switching all the cutlery for the werewolves at the table.

“Apologies to everyone. My staff and I are still learning to adjust. We are not yet used to werewolf necessities, but in due time, we will become familiar.” Colin clears his throat.

Goddess, this is awkward.

Part of me loves watching him squirm, but the other part pities him... He’s really tanking this dinner.

A servant sets an empty wine glass near Colin. He bites into his wrist and lets his blood fill the glass, not taking his eyes off me. When the glass is half full, he slides it over to me, his insurance plan to make sure I don’t kill myself. But if I succeeded, I would only be hastening his plans, coming back as the monster he would have created. Colin doesn’t take his eyes off me as he waits for what I’ll do next.

“This charade isn’t necessary, Mr. Jameson,” a werewolf member says to Colin.

“I have reason to believe Ms. Grove is nothing more than your prisoner... a prize to keep everyone else in line,” another werewolf member says.

“I’m afraid I’d have to agree. Ms. Grove and Mr. Taylor were fated mates before you killed him. Why else would Ms. Grove go through with this arrangement willingly?” another asks.

I can smell Colin’s sweat collecting on his back. The brat in me wants to instigate and watch him squirm more, but my desire to live outmatches my need to brat. So, I decide to throw him a bone.

Despite each council’s indispensable powers, none possess Dax’s ability to see people’s intentions. But the council doesn’t need his powers to see right through Colin’s ruse, especially the werewolves, who understand just how deep a mate bond runs.

And it’s at this moment that I hate myself for being so empathetic. Especially since I’m about to save his ass when he doesn’t deserve it.

Sipping from the glass Colin filled with his blood, I let the sludge drip down my throat before licking my lips of the metallic taste, and gulp down the rest. Blood never bothered me before, but after Colin has forced me to drink it so many times, the term “force” became less true. I was starting to not only not mind the taste of blood but rely on it and even enjoy the duality of adrenaline and calm that came with it. Its effects wash over me, giving me the buzz I’ve come to miss from a good beer.

I cover Colin’s hand with mine and offer him a reassuring smile. “I’ll admit, what he did to my mate is something I will forever struggle with. When Colin came to me with the arrangement, I thought he was insane.”

Colin looks at me with a what-are-you-doing look.

I squeeze Colin’s hand, silently offering him hope and asking for trust. “But I do believe the cause is in everyone’s best interest. When you proposed this arrangement to Mr. Taylor, there was a purpose for it. The rogues and vampire attacks are something we all want to see come to an end, and a strong hybrid legacy could be the answer. It’s no secret this pairing is taking some... configuring...” I glance at him. “But I believe Colin did only what rulers do... he took over. Protecting my former mate’s legacy for generations to come is the way I have chosen to honor him.”

Members of the council look to one another with raised eyebrows. The look on their faces says it all. They’re impressed.

I hold my head high as I wait for their response. Finally, another vampire pipes up and says, “If that is the case, I assume this means you are willing to transition into a hybrid?”

If I were honest and not responsible for the lives of thousands, I’d say no. But people are depending on me, people who have lost enough already. I hide my hands under the table to discreetly pick at my nails to calm the nerves. But I swallow hard and manage to speak clear as day when I respond, “Yes.”

The man clears his throat and blinks hard, seeming just as shocked by my response as I am by my delivery. “This means... you’ll be bound and mated to Mr. Jameson.”

“I’m aware.”

So, please stop reminding me.

Colin stares at me with a look of desire mixed with pride. He knows I saved his ass, something he never expected me to do. Something I never anticipated doing. But I didn’t do it for him. I did it for my kingdom. Colin needs to believe I’m on his side. That I want him, this , if I ever want my people to be at peace.

Feeling nauseous from my statements, I take deep breaths in and out through my nose. Though they were all true and are the very things I’ve been telling myself since agreeing to enter this arrangement to give myself grace for what in my heart feels like a huge betrayal to my one true love.

I resist the urge to dig my claws into my nails, remembering what Colin said about not drawing blood in a castle full of vampires. Instead, I talk myself through the doubt.

This is what queens do. They form alliances through bonds. If Dax was willing to do it once upon a time for his people, I must be willing to do the same now that they are mine. It’s not a love match, but it is a match for love if it means Taya, Sam, Jemma, and Caleb are safer for it, along with the rest of the kingdom. There’s an opportunity for peace. It’s my duty to take it.

Colin takes my fidgeting hand into his lap, gently squeezing as we wait for the council to speak further.

The vampire looks to me, “Well then, Miss Grove”—he looks to Colin—“Mr. Jameson”—he then looks between the two of us—“you have the council’s approval to move forward with the coronation, followed by the bonding ceremony.”

The screeching of a chair scooting across the hardwood floor catches everyone’s attention.

A werewolf on the board stands and raises his glass to us. “To the future hybrid rulers of the vampire and werewolf kingdom, His Majesty, Colin Jameson, and Her Majesty, Alaina Grove. Whose union may at last bring peace among us all. Long may you two reign.”

* * *

I was convincing. Even Elle conceded after my statement. With the promise of an eternal bond, the council ultimately gave their approval for Colin and me to be rulers of both kingdoms under regency, with Ash as our regent. There will be a joint coronation and bonding ceremony, where Colin and I will both be crowned as the first hybrid rulers.

Although I have accepted the arrangement, my body is still physically rejecting my decision. I find myself filled with drama and despair. Perfect for a grieving widow suffering from insomnia, wandering the halls with my midnight sheer nightgown.

My thoughts are plagued with trying to decide what is considered “honorable” when remembering my mate. Bonding with his murderer hardly feels the way to do it, but refusing his proposal would mean letting Dax’s kingdom suffer at the hands of Colin’s burned ego. Which also feels like I would be sacrificing the last evidence of Dax that lives, all that he built and protected while he was alive. And somehow, that feels worse.

I’ll never love Colin, but I am hopeful I can learn to tolerate him. I remind myself, as I feel the need to constantly do, that this is what kings do. They take land, titles, and make arrangements through mating and bonds.

Could I find it in myself one day to forgive Colin?

I stare out a curved arch lining the walkway leading to the east wing from the west wing of the castle. I’m staring at the dead forest, comparing my life then with my life now.

I miss my view from the balcony Dax and I shared. The times he would wrap his arms around me with the same sheets that fell prey to our lovemaking cocooned around me, shielding me from the night chills. We would stare out at the bright green clearing that stretched for miles from our bedroom. The stars painted the sky, in the absence of any other light.

Back then, I thought the view was what I loved most, but it was who I shared it with. I’d give anything to be staring out the same green clearing with him again.

If the dead can watch the living from the afterlife, then Dax would hate the reality of me wrapped in another’s arms , my wolf says.

But would he understand and forgive me for it anyway? Would he know it was for him and his people? I say back to my wolf.

“Plotting ways to leave me?” Colin asks, appearing out of nowhere.

“No.”

That is the truth. I’m to be a queen of two kingdoms. It’s not about what’s best for me but what’s best for them. And a partnership with Colin brings protection and peace for all involved. I had my own reasons for not wanting to be with Colin, but to not choose to align with him would be selfish.

Colin leans against the arched opening. He sighs. “You impressed me at dinner.”

I force a smile.

“I knew you were strong the moment I saw you.” He stands inches from my face, his thumb massaging my throat. “I noticed you didn’t eat your dinner, even after our servants brought over new cutlery.”

There’s that word . Our . A twinge of pain hits my heart.

“If you didn’t like the food, you’ll have to tell me what you like, so I can tell our chef.”

“I’d like to know you if you’ll let me.” Colin looks back at my eyes and mouth before settling on my lips. He leans in and presses a kiss on them. His cold ones meet my starved ones.

I let him kiss me, let him explore and defile my mouth with his tongue as he presses my body into the stone archway.

No , my wolf says . I can feel her fighting for control to get us far away from Colin.

I’m managing to keep her under the surface, but it’s a struggle.

I know, but try. Think about what’s at stake.

It’s all I can say back to try to convince her to ease up. She doesn’t want this, and neither do I, but it’s not about us anymore. It’s so much bigger than that.

At that, she relinquishes all control back to me as I try to give this partnership a chance.

I had love once. I’m not seeking it from Colin, nor will I ever love him. But my people need to know I will do anything for them. That I love them.

That means giving this partnership a shot.

Colin moans into my mouth at my allowance. He picks me up, and my legs wrap around his waist. When he bites into my neck, this time, I welcome another dose of pain. I moan as his fangs sink into the spot where my neck and jaw connect, while his hands explore my curves.

Colin retracts his fangs and licks my lips once more.

I suck my liquid pain from his tongue, drinking in the metallic misery.

Colin pulls away, bewildered by this “willing” version of me. “Maybe you were just hungry for something else...” He licks his lips.

Colin drops to his knees. Trailing kisses, he bites along my body and opens my robe, exposing my skin to the night air. Then he lays me down on the extended cherry-red ornate runner lining the stone corridor.

Colin’s mouth clamps on my throbbing clit, with a pinch from his fangs on my folds. The blood flows, and Colin drinks me in like a life force. My head falls back as I exhale what is left of my soul.

* * *

I knew the sex wouldn’t feel the same as it did when I was with Dax. I expected to feel some regret but not to this level. Regret is an understatement to describe having slept with Colin.

For now, so the regret doesn’t swallow me whole, I tell myself sexual favors are my strongest weapon and shield against Colin, a defensive pairing of which comes with a price as I don’t want him near me. But there are worse things I could pay with.

Being with him in such an intimate way only makes my skin crawl. I was wrong to think it was what I needed. Now avoiding his advances are going to be that much harder.

I’m finding the need to let the end justify the means. Since opening myself to him physically, Colin’s allowed me more trust and freedom, letting me out of his sight a little longer. I’m starting to feel more confident about the safety of my people. And so far, he has made good on his end of the deal.

I also have more access to conversations he wouldn’t have before. This meeting with the vampire clan leaders, for starters. We’re in his study, which is more elaborate than Dax’s was with couches and built-in bookshelves. I would need a ladder to reach the top.

Distracted, I gaze up at the high ceilings, wondering what books were considered “less important” that they are stashed so high out of reach.

Then I remembered who I’m dealing with.

The man who placed his “most valuable” prize of war in a tower out of reach of everyone. Which intrigues my interest even more as to what might be up there.

My self-respect and identity are probably shelved somewhere up there, far out of my reach. Forgotten treasures in history.

Colin’s blood in my system is beginning to wear off. I don’t know how long I’ve been staring, but I look around to find Colin and the neighboring clan gone from the spacious room. I consider climbing up the bookshelf to get a look when my ears catch a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear.

“. . . She’s coming around,” Colin whispers.

“While I’m delighted to hear that, I can’t imagine she will understand when she finds out you’re the unwanted ones’ leader,” someone says in an accent I don’t recognize.

Colin is in charge of those creatures? I try to silence my racing heart to listen further. But nothing could put out the rage boiling inside of me.

An increasing octave of hissing comes from Colin. “Once the ceremony is complete, she’s transitioned into a hybrid, and she’ll be eternally bonded to me. And you know how those bonds are. I could do anything, and she couldn’t resist me. I could do no wrong in her eyes. She’ll be my own little puppet.”

The fuck I will!

“Now that the council trusts me—well... you know how they are about female rulers. What I say will always go. Besides, she’s already backing down to me if you haven’t noticed. I’ve broken her away from almost all of her bad habits.”

“You’re not worried she could tell the council?”

Colin’s voice gets dangerously low, seeing their question as a challenge. And I know Mr. Crazy has come back out to play.

“And what would they do? The only one who could have had a chance to stop me was Ash, but his strength is dwindling every day. And he couldn’t care less what happens to this world without his mate in it.”

Colin exhales whatever stress demons he’s conjured and speaks at his normal octave again. “Alaina’s werewolves will become mine. The vampire kingdom has come to love me or, at the very least, fear me along with everyone else. Everything is falling into place.”

“But what about the outcasts? What of them?”

“The outcasts will no longer be called the outcasts.”

I can practically hear Colin’s teeth grinding as he hisses out his response.

“They’ll join the kingdom where they’ve always belonged.”

“Your Majesty,” the man stutters. “The outca—your people, have been responsible for a lot of deaths in both kingdoms. Are you sure they’ll just accept them back into society like that because you and Her Majesty says so?”

Exactly my question. And I know the answer.

“They will if they want to live,” Colin says.

He’s done nothing but destroy. He and his army of outcasts. Alpha Jack, Sam’s mother, and all those pups killed and others orphaned and so much more... We’re talking decades of terror.

I already feel guilty for sleeping with my mate’s murderer. But now I’m intolerable of myself, as this is the man responsible for not just the demise of my mate but also my family.

The realization hits me like a punch to the head.

He has more power than I thought . He has an army.

I lean into the door to listen better, and it creaks.

Shit.

Colin and the vampires look toward me and move out of the doorway to stand flat against the adorning wall. With my heart thumping, I look at the cracked door, waiting for him to appear through it.

I push off against the wall.

Colin is in front of me, trapping me with his arms.

“Colin, you scared me.” I clutch my chest, my heart wanting to ricochet out of it.

“Going somewhere?”

A predatory grin spreads across his face.

“I was looking for you,” I lie.

Crap, is he buying this?

“I’m not stupid, Alaina. I’ve come to know you better than that.”

Does he know I overheard him?

“You were trying to leave me, weren’t you?”

Relief hits me. At the same time, I register the genuine panic in his voice is evident as he tries to hold on to whatever is left of Jekyll before Hyde takes over.

Yes.

“No, of course not. Why would I do that?” I move into him, pushing his chest away.

If Colin were Dax, I would’ve felt the sparks from touching him, and he would be calming himself down right now. The only spark I feel is the urge to rip his dead heart out right here, right now. It’s mere inches away from my grasp.

Colin is paranoid, and he has every right to be. But I can’t let him make me into a hybrid. I can’t let him bond me to him forever. I need to make him trust me again so I can escape long enough to get his blood out of my system.

Then I can end my suffering.

My palm twitches as my wolf and I fight the urge to seize the opportunity to rip the heart out of his chest.

Colin notices and clutches my tiny hand in his, kissing my knuckles. “You’re shaking... What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m just . . . confused. Last night—”

He exhales and nods.

Thank Goddess, I think he’s buying this.

“I know. It was your first time since... him.”

For some reason, hearing him say it made it all the more damning. Regardless, I nod, diverting from his gaze.

Gently, Colin pulls my chin toward him. “I know the weight of what last night stood for. I’m humbled and incredibly honored by your show of faith in me.” He strokes my cheek. “I just wish you’d let me do what I can to lift some of that burden from you.” His fangs appear, and black veins crawl up his neck.

Not a chance in hell.

“I know. I appreciate that,” I lie. “I’m not quite ready... just... just kiss me.”

Pulling him in, I plant my lips on his, kissing him long and hard. Deepening the kiss, I slip my tongue into his mouth, and I think he’s going to push me away. But then he moves us against a wall, moaning back into my kiss.

He’s going to need more convincing. Last time, he did the initiating. This time, it’ll have to come from me.

“Touch me,” I breathe out between kisses, curling my hand around his nape.

Colin’s cold hands slip up my dress and fondles my clit as he—not so skillfully—finds my opening and pumps in and out of me.

At vampiric speed, the castle blurs around me, and all the sudden we’re in his chambers, and my head hits his pillow.

Jekyll and Hyde are fighting for control in his twitching face, struggling to believe my performance. So, I sacrifice my boundaries further if it means convincing Hyde to stay with me a little longer.

“Taste me,” I plead.

Colin moans and descends until he reaches my center. He nips my clit, lapping and sucking the blood from my most sensitive bud.

I put on the best show possible, making sure to buck, moan, and plead when I can.

“Alaina . . .”

Jekyll is gone . For now. If I can keep him occupied here, maybe this can be enough for tonight.

To my horror, he presses up, undoing his belt and pants, freeing his cock. Not certain if Dax would forgive a second betrayal.

Everything is moving too fast. It’s too soon.

“Wait!” I blurt out.

“For what?” He doesn’t wait for my answer and instead rips my panties completely off my body, then stares up at me through his brows.

He looks like he’s about to kill me.

“What else is there to wait for?” Colin cocks his head, stroking himself. “Unless you don’t think I’m enough.” His eyes darken. “Does my bride not think I’m enough for her?”

That statement reeks of childhood insecurities.

His insecurity is deep-rooted and bigger than any distraction I could ever drum up.

My heart races.

I bite my lip and accept, knowing my back is against a wall, and let him inside me again.

* * *

I don’t feel comfortable with what I did with Colin. I smell more like him than I do my own self.

I want to carve my skin off. Anything to get his smell off of me. But he’s insatiable. I know he’ll be back again tonight for more, more of my body, my soul, my submission, my blood , as he has the past few nights.

Sacrificing parts of me is the only move I have right now. I have to make him think I’m coming around to the idea of him. I continue to lean into the grieving mate card when Colin tries to push me further. I tell him this is all too soon or too overwhelming, and I need to go for a walk so I can get away from him and explore my surroundings to aid my escape plan. Colin is understanding, but I can tell his patience is dwindling with me, and I’m running out of ways to avoid him. I don’t have a plan, but I need to gain back the upper hand. Get some control back. I feel cornered. Something my wolf and I don’t do well in.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts by the bedroom door creaking, but no one’s there. It isn’t until I feel the bed dip that I turn and see Colin.

I gasp. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, love.” He reaches for my nape to pull me in for a kiss.

I laugh nervously as I pull my head away.

He tries again, and again, I resist.

“Stop. Come here.” He laughs with me. With more force and a firm grip on the back of my head, he pulls me to his lips, getting a few kisses in.

My wolf joins me in pushing him off, pushing Colin harder than I meant to.

With midnight eyes and veins, Colin is pissed.

I go to get up from the bed, but in an instant, Colin wraps an arm around me, and my head hits the headboard before hitting the pillow with my wrists trapped in one of his monstrous hands against the headboard.

“What’s going on?” He growls.

I can’t tell if he’s scared or insulted. “Nothing.”

“Then, why don’t you want to kiss me?”

Enough excuses. Time to play on his people pleasing.

“Because I just don’t want to...” I notice his face scrunch in insult. I make for a quick recovery and add, “Right now.”

He glares at me, grinding his teeth.

I silently pray it’s enough reason for him.

“It’s just hard, I—”

“So, this is about him again?”

Colin refers to Dax like a disease that shouldn’t be named.

I do my best to calm myself and my wolf. “Yes.”

Something shifts in Colin, and Jekyll is back again.

Oh, shit.

“You miss Dax?”

I swallow hard and nod.

“You want to see him?”

I part my lips, but I’m not sure how to respond.

“Let me send you to him, then.” With his eyes locked on the swell of my breasts, he hums softly as black veins creep up his face and neck before disappearing underneath his pale flesh.

He spreads my legs open with his knees and settles in between, lowering himself onto me. He glides his free hand up my thigh to my curvaceous hips, leaving a trail of ice on my skin. His fingers spread apart, exploring up my side, over the center of my chest. He rests his hand on the space between my breasts, his hand rising and falling with every heave of my bosom.

He continues his pursuit, his hand making its way to my neck. Crimson eyes peer up at me through his lashes, his lips slightly parted.

Sucking in a breath, I freeze under his gaze.

“While I can’t yet have your heart, your blood will have to do.” He plunges his fangs into my flesh and sucks at my skin, lapping up the blood that drips down my neck and to my chest.

I wince, my skin crawling with every groan of pleasure coming from his throat.

The immense amount of blood loss brings euphoria, and the room around me becomes a blur. I whimper, fighting to stay conscious until caramel eyes come into view, and my panic vanishes.

Dax . My dark angel is waiting for me.

I whimper, praying Colin quickly drains me so I can reunite with my mate.

“Don’t stop,” I plead.

Colin pauses from his meal long enough to admire my disorientation at his expense, pleased with himself. With his lips turn upwards, he flashes his blood-coated fangs. “Does that feel good, love? Do you want me to keep going?”

I moan. Yes.

My vision goes black, heart slows. Dax comes closer into view. I reach for him.

I’m almost to him when my body jolts from movement above me, and thick liquid drips onto my lips before something hard is shoved against my lips.

A metallic taste floods into my mouth, sludging down my throat. A jolt of epinephrine flows through me like a bolt of electricity. I inhale deeply, arching my back off the bed, and my eyes shoot open.

Colin’s torn me from Dax again.

Colin does this again. And again. And again.

Tears flow down my face, and blood gurgles out the side of my mouth. I’m laying in a pool of my own blood mixed with his.

“Please, stop. Just let me die.”

Let me be with Dax.

“Soon, I will drain every last drop from you and replace it with my blood in your body.” Colin leaves bloody kisses trailing up and down my neck. “You’ll wake not only as the hybrid you’re meant to be, but you’ll be bound to me not as mates but”—Colin pulls my leg around his waist, and something hard presses at my entrance—“your master.”

No.

He smiles against my skin, chuckling. “Being bound to one another is an all-consuming love. Quite frankly, love and devotion don’t do it justice.” Colin grinds into me, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

“You’ll want me to possess you.” He sucks at my neck, feeding off of me as he dry humps me like a horny, desperate teenager.

And I moan like a weak whore, a desperate slut.

My body naturally ignites at the friction, but the flames are nowhere near what they were when I was with Dax. Not even a fraction’s worth. There’s no glimmer of passion in a future bound to this filth.

“That’s it, love. Give in to me,” Colin coos, massaging my breast.

Colin exposes my breast, sucking the nipple and popping out the bud when he releases.

I feel nothing. My body is like a vessel to a broken heart, but I moan anyway.

Escaping Colin by death isn’t an option, not with his blood inside me. He’ll bring me back and then I will have only helped him get closer toward succeeding. Taking more than just my body.

There’s no freedom in a life with him, and there isn’t in death. And I’m out of moves.

* * *

This isn’t like me to do whatever someone wants because they tell me to. I’m not Colin. I don’t care what people think of me. I don’t even care about surviving. It’s living for only him , and that scares me. And if he turns me, I’ll be doing exactly that for eternity. I hardly recognize myself.

Colin’s becoming more entitled when it comes to me. It’s like me opening myself to him has caused a frenzy. But it’s not me he wants, but it’s the power I can bring him with the council’s approval. I am the key to everything he wants, and he feels like he’s close to getting it.

Every night, he comes into my room and fucks me. I dissociate when he buries his fangs into my neck and then forces me to drink him. He tells me he likes how fragile my life is, that with one snap or too much sucking, he could damn my soul. In those moments, I don’t have to pretend are all the safety I have left to hold on to. The only moments I don’t have to is long enough to make my escape without becoming his bonded puppet.

I put on a show and roll my hips, pulling out every trick to make sure he doesn’t suspect I’m planning to leave him. I was doing well. Colin is letting me in on his secrets, removing his mask.

Except one night, I let my facade slip. I roll my hips on top of him, and I start staring off at the balcony. If I weren’t force fed his blood long enough, I’m wondering if the fall could kill me, reuniting me with Dax.

I’m jolted out of my daydream when Colin sits up, grasping my hair harshly, forcing me to look at him.

Crap. He’s crazy, but he doesn’t miss a thing.

“Where’d you go?!”

“Nowhere. I’m here! With you!” I try to distract him by rolling my hips on his cock, but he stops me from grinding and flips me under him.

“Were you thinking about him?!” Colin says.

Fuck. Fuck.

I shake my head fiercely, hoping I convinced him.

I didn’t.

“What do I need to do to you to remind you that you’re mine?” Colin thrusts violently into me anyway, his dick hitting my cervix, causing me to wince and cry out at the pain.

“You’re hurting me,” I feign innocence.

But, really, it hurts. I’ve come to like the pain, though. Just not at his hand.

“I’m hurting you? Me?” he scoffs, eyes wide with disbelief.

Shit, I’ve hit a nerve.

“You’ll fuck me, but then you won’t stop thinking about your precious fallen dog who killed members of my... guards.”

What a fucking liar.

He meant to say his army .

“People I’m responsible for and have come to care for. People I sent to guard you.”

If he’s trying to make me feel guilty, lowering Dax to a simple dog isn’t the way to do it.

I call forward my wolf, and my claws replace and extend from my fingers. I sink my claws into the plump hills of his pecs, breaking the skin, and push him off and out of me with all my strength.

Colin flies across the room, landing on the hardwood floor.

“People you knowingly sent into a situation there was no guarantee of them coming back from.”

He blinks, likely thinking of a way to come up with another lie.

“You don’t know Dax, but I find it hard to believe for even a second you didn’t think there was the slightest chance he’d come to slaughter your men at the imprisonment of his mate.”

Colin’s jaw flexes before he drums up the courage to meet my glare head on.

“You have no one to blame but yourself,” I grit out.

He doesn’t argue. “I did it for you.”

I wrap myself in the sheet, standing from the bed. “No. You did it for yourself.”

Rounding the front of the bed, I head toward the door. I’m not sure where I’m going, but I need to be anywhere but here with him.

Colin appears in front of the doorway, walking toward me until he’s inches from my face. “That’s not true, and you know it.”

Squaring my shoulders, I clutch the sheet to my chest tighter.

“Everything I’ve done is for you. You know I care for you,” he says, moving closer.

“You killed my mate!”

“He killed my sister.”

Are you fucking kidding me? Was that his plan to make him a villain? To justify what Colin did?

“You told him to!”

“ For you! ”

Oh my goddess. I start huffing and laughing, running my hands over my face, going insane in disbelief.

“Your sister ordered the murders of pups. Is the reason for Alpha Jack’s death and many others. Good. Riddance.”

His fangs are inches from my bared canines. He hisses, and I snarl. We’re both hurting and incredibly stubborn. Willing to break and shatter anything that’s been built if it means being right.

Coincidentally, most relationships are built on trust. We’ve built this on betrayal, with the only thing capable of threatening this foundation is the truth. The truth from our spewed words in a heated fight.

“Funny. I thought the same when I got rid of—”

I clock him on his chiseled jaw, and his head whips to the side. Standing firm, I’m ready to send another fist his way the moment he faces me again.

He wipes the blood from his mouth, glaring up at me.

As promised, I gear up for another punch to his cheek, but he catches my hand.

“Oh, love, I hate that you make me hurt you. I thought you were starting to come around... but I see you need more... convincing.”

Colin hoists me over his shoulder, and I pound my fists against his back, but he doesn’t relent. He lays me back on the bed and locks his bloody lips over mine, stealing the breath from my lungs with his kiss while also wrapping his fist around my neck. Squeezing too tight to be foreplay.

I claw at his back, scared he’s about to kill me, bonding me to him eternally. I don’t want to come back as a vampire. Especially as his creation.

Colin breaks the kiss to watch my face change colors, smiling.

I’m certain his smile is the last thing I’m going to see until he finally lets go.

I’d say I’m relieved, but how can I be when I’m still his prisoner in life and death?

I thought the near-death experience was all Colin was going to do to convince me until he said, “Bring her in.”

I’m grasping my neck, trying to catch my breath, when the bedroom door opens and my eyes widen.

A frail Taya walks in, with chains made of silver around her wrists.

“No, please,” I cry and plead for my best friend’s life.

“Yes...” Colin lowers his cheek to my cheek, looking at the same sight I’m seeing.

His secret torture weapon. Colin learned the way to kill me isn’t to hurt me but hurt those that I love.

And he’s succeeded.

The head of his penis is prodding at my entrance.

“No,” I breathe.

He stretches me as he invades my insides. This... feels weird , and I’m trying to figure out why.

Is he . . . ?

But before I can finish the thought, I’m vacating my body. My wolf pulls and forces me to retreat into the depths of my mind, in a protective chamber behind her. Now, in the temporal lobe of my brain, I watch from the chamber as I’m possessed by my wolf. To where the only thing we share is one body as we both experience the same sensations.

Once he’s settled into us, he rolls his hips. The lack of lubrication has the skin of his length scraping against my cervix and me. I wince from the discomfort.

I’m crying, but I don’t know why my wolf isn’t. I don’t know what’s happening, but I want it to stop. My wolf just lies there, frozen, but not because of his powers.

Run, fight, do something! Make it stop! I’m yelling at my wolf, but the only response is the echo of my own words. And like me, they’ve been ignored.

It’s similar to every exorcist movie I’ve ever watched. I’m present, a resident of this body, but I’m not in control.

With my frontal lobe offline, my mind is empty and my body hollow.

He’s grunting with his thrusts. My brave yet stupid wolf continues to lie there.

Get out of there, please! I bang on the walls of the chamber she’s trapped me in.

What do you want? my wolf grits out.

She’s negotiating our surrender. We don’t negotiate with terrorists. Let’s kill him!

We will but not now. Not with Taya on the line. I’m keeping you both safe , she echoes in my mind to me.

Safe from what?!

She’s never insisted on going through anything without me before, and I don’t want her to.

I slump down to the floor of my mind, feeling defeated and hopeless. Resting my elbows on my knees, I bring them to my chest, bawling my eyes out into my hands. I hate not knowing what’s going on and that she’s going through it alone. It brings me zero peace.

“The council has agreed to me being king with you by my side. You agreed. We had a deal. You’ll be reintroduced to the kingdom as my wife tomorrow. Then I’ll turn you into a vampire.”

You mean you’ll kill us!

“You’ll mark me. After which, we’ll both be hybrids. And you’ll do so like a good obedient queen or Taya dies. No more tricks. There’s no way out.”

“Don’t do it, Alaina!” Taya says.

And if I weren’t breaking inside, I would smile, knowing Taya’s spirit wasn’t broken.

I must , my wolf says.

Colin nods to his guard who dragged Taya in, satisfied that I’ve come to accept the position he’s put me in. His thrusts slow. Taya’s escorted out of the room.

My last glimmer of hope dies, my wolf wounded by the decision we’ve made.

He pulls out of me and rolls to his side.

My wolf opens the door to the chamber. I’m in possession of an unfamiliar body, to a world and version of me that seems dimmer than it once was.