Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Adeline
I hear the crack of his nose, and I take off running to the bedroom and slam the door shut before locking it. My heart beats erratically in my chest.
I look at the door for a second, and when it doesn’t burst open, I rush toward the window, throwing it open.
I look down and gulp at the height. The door breaks down in one hit as it flies off the hinges and breaks in two.
I don’t hesitate; I jump up and regret it instantly as I hit the roof above the bay windows on the floor below, only to roll off.
The ground races toward me, and I hit the ground in a heap, knocking the air from my lungs in a wheeze.
The gravel digs into my hands, and I feel shooting pain race up my ankle, making a mangled scream of pure agony leave my lips.
“Shit!” I hear a voice above, making me look up to see Cyrus climb out the window.
I force myself up. The gravel digs into my knees and hands. I try standing up, but as soon as I put pressure on my ankle, I scream, stumbling forward and falling face-first into the dirt. Cyrus jumps off the roof, effortlessly landing on his feet.
I scramble backward on my hands, trying to get away from him and the demonic look on his face.
He watches me, his eyes darting to my ankle, and he clicks his tongue.
I turn, trying to get up, only to come face to face with Eli in wolf form, his nose barely an inch off mine.
His black eyes bore into mine as he growl at me, making me freeze.
“I swear I never slept with him. I wouldn’t do that. I am with you two. I am not a cheater,” I tell Cyrus, turning back to face him.
He laughs, and it sends a cold shiver up my spine.
“The fact you hid it from us shows your guilt, Adeline. If you’re sneaking around to see him, you obviously knew we wouldn’t approve, and yet you did it anyway,” Cyrus says, bending down in front of me.
I lean back away from him, scooting back on my bum. I can feel my ankle swelling like a balloon, throbbing painfully.
Moving away, I stop when I feel fur and a wet nose move in my hair before hearing Eli growl behind me.
His fur brushes my bare back as he sniffs me.
He moves around me, sniffing my neck and chest before sniffing between my legs, and I snap them shut.
He growls, baring his teeth before he drops his head to sniff my ankle.
He licks it, and I flinch as his tongue runs over it.
Cyrus’s eyes go to it, and I look down and nearly puke.
It is completely black and swollen to four times its normal size; it is definitely broken.
Cyrus reaches for me. “Don’t, Addie. You’re in enough trouble, but first, we need to get you inside to fix your ankle,” he says, scooping his arm under my legs and the other behind my back as he lifts me off the ground.
He walks around the side of the house to the front door, and I hear bones snapping before Eli walks past me naked and opens the front door.
Cyrus carries me up the stairs taking me back to our bedroom, the same room I have just jumped from trying to escape them.
He places me on the bed gently. His eyes are still crimson, and I can feel his anger radiating out of them, hitting me like a ton of bricks.
They mask it well. Looking at them, they seem rather put together. Only I know otherwise.
“You had to jump from the window. Are you stupid? You are fucking human, Adeline,” Eli says, pulling a pair of pants on. “Fucking mark her. I am done with this shit. Just get it over with Cyrus.”
“In a minute, just let me think,” Cyrus says, rubbing his temples.
I watch them nervously. Cyrus promised he wouldn’t without my say-so.
“You have no idea the position you have put me in, Addie,” Cyrus says, making my heart miss a beat.
“You promised, Cyrus,” I whisper, and he turns around to glare at me.
“That was before you started sneaking around with Sam.”
“Give her your blood,” Cyrus tells Eli.
Eli steps toward me, and I shuffle back. His eyes are two black orbs staring back at me. He bites his wrist.
“Don’t fight me, Addie,” he warns, crawling on the bed toward me before pulling me between his legs. He presses his wrist against my lips.
“Open your mouth. I am not driving to a fucking hospital,” he growls, and I part my lips.
His blood flows into my mouth before it stops, his wrist healing. I pull my face away, looking down at my ankle, which has healed already. The throbbing stopped, and the pain is gone.
I rub my ankle when Eli grips my chin, turning my face toward him. His thumb brushes my bottom lip, tugging it down. He growls low in the back of his throat.
“I can smell him on you,” he says, shoving my face away.
“Hold her down,” Cyrus says as he stops pacing to look back at me.
“What?” I gasp.
Eli grips my arm, jerking me onto my back. I thrash, trying to get out of his grip as he shoves my shoulders into the bed.
“You leave me no choice, Addie,” Cyrus says, climbing on the bed.
He straddles my hips. I continue thrashing, tears rolling down my face and into my hair.
“You promised, you promised,” I beg him.
He looks away, unable to meet my gaze.
“Cyrus, do it!” Eli tells him.
“No, please!” I tell him, and Eli growls.
“Cyrus!” Eli snaps, holding me tighter.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” Cyrus says softly. He looks down at me, gripping my face.
“You need to accept it, Addie. I am going to mark you regardless. You have left me no choice, you need to give in to me willingly, or it will hurt like it did when Eli marked you.”
I shake my head and choke on a sob. I don’t remember Eli marking me.
“I don’t understand,” I tell him.
“If I mark you by force, it will hurt.”
“Just do it,” Eli growls at him.
Cyrus growls back, leaning over me before pressing his lips against mine.
“I’m sorry, Addie,” he whispers.
I see his fangs protrude side by side, gleaming back at me. I shake my head, trying to get away from him.
“Addie, stop. Breathe,” Cyrus says, and I take a deep breath, a hiccuped sob leaving my lips.
“I’m sorry,” he says again, and I see him move toward my mark.
“Wait!” I scream, tears pouring, and I can’t stop them.
His nose runs along my jaw before he pulls up.
“It won’t hurt if I let you, right?” I ask, petrified.
“No, it won’t hurt if you are willing. It’s a defense mechanism. You fight against it. It causes not only you pain but to us, too.”
I nod, trying to stop my fear, willing it to leave, and forcing myself to breathe. I turn my neck, offering it to him.
“Good girl,” he says, pressing a kiss to my now-exposed throat.
I close my eyes, waiting for the pain. I feel the sharp tips press against the skin between my neck and shoulder.
The pressure becomes worse before I feel it break my skin, a gasp leaving my lips at the sudden intense prick before it stops.
I feel his teeth sliding through flesh and embedding deep inside my neck.
I feel some pull like the flick of a rubber band snap in place.
His emotions smash into me, and pleasure washes over me.
I feel him pull back, his tongue running over my skin, sealing his mark before an overwhelming need for sleep washes over me, my vision tunneling before I am plunged into darkness.
* * *
Waking up, I find it is early morning. The sun is rising, and I must have slept the entire day and night away.
Feeling movement beside me, I look over.
Cyrus is next to me, but Eli isn’t in bed.
Yesterday’s events hit me hard, and I reflexively touch my neck.
I can feel the puncture marks of his teeth, but they don’t hurt; only a slight tingling sensation rushes over my skin.
“How do you feel?” Cyrus asks, rolling on his side to face me.
“Awake,” I answer, rolling away from him.
He pulls me back, pushing me on my back and draping his leg across my waist.
“I had no choice. You understand that, right?” he asks, brushing my hair from my face.
“Everyone has a choice. You are just good at taking mine away,” I tell him, not caring if it hurts his feelings.
He brushes my cheek softly with his thumb.
“I didn’t want to mark you like that,” he whispers, brushing his nose across my jaw.
“But you did. You forced my hand.”
“And you forced mine, Addie. You have no idea how strong the urge to claim you is. You knew we wouldn’t agree with you being with Sam. What did you expect to happen?” he asks, looking down at me.
“I didn’t expect anything to happen. He is a friend.”
“A friend that is in love with you?”
“So, you don’t trust me around other men?” I ask.
“No, I trust you. It is him I don’t trust. You should have told us instead of hiding him away like some dirty secret,” Cyrus says, sitting up, now annoyed.
“Where is Eli?” I ask, also getting up when I hear a knock on the door.
Cyrus growls, getting off the bed and walking out of the room in a hurry.
I follow him down the stairs to see him answer the door, yet I still can’t see Eli anywhere.
My stomach drops when I see Sam standing at the door.
He seems shocked to see Cyrus. I am more shocked when Cyrus opens the door wider before motioning to me on the stairs and allowing him past the threshold.
Sam looks at him before cautiously walking through the door to me.
“They know?” he whispers, eyeing Cyrus nervously.
“Nothing stays hidden for long, boy,” Cyrus tells him, and I can hear the anger in his tone.
“You’re right. It doesn’t. All secrets come out eventually. I am curious, though, Cyrus, have you told her yours?” Sam asks, and it almost sounds like he is challenging Cyrus.
Cyrus’s eyes flicker dangerously, turning crimson.
“Just remember whose house you’re in. I don’t like guests, and I don’t like you. Tread carefully, Sam, or have you forgotten we aren’t human? Taking your life would mean nothing to me.”
“No, but it would mean something for her,” Sam retorts.