He followed the trail of the sweet scent to the room where the rogue had been kept, he was shocked at first, but something uncontrollable pushed him to go in.
The creaking door opened with a bang. Stirring from her cold slumber, her body stretched with exhaustion, her brain was filled with fear.
Her heart quickened. She didn't need to look up as she was surrounded by his scent: cedar and dark spice that spoke volumes through the air as her wolf stirred.
Ryland stood there, his emerald green eyes glowing in the dim light as they locked on her hazel brown eyes.
His face was clear as crystal, yet behind his stoic facade, there was a flicker of something almost animalistic, something fueled by raw desire.
The sight of the rogue girl, so fragile yet so defiant made his wolf growl deep inside.
"Up," he ordered, his voice low and commanding.
She didn't move, rather she stared deep into his eyes making his wolf go all the more crazier.
"What do you want now?" She managed to get the word out of her throat, as it had suddenly run dry.
Ryland didn't answer her, but squatted down to her level instead.
"Defiance does suit you," he grumbled, tugging at one corner of his lips to a small smile. "Yet, it is not going to save you this time."
Before she could look for a befitting comeback, his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist making her wince as he dragged her up.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked, her voice filled with panic.
Ryland said nothing as He dragged her down the dark corridor.
"Let me go!!" She pleaded as she made futile attempts to get herself free from his pull, but he was much stronger.
They reached the end of the dark corridor and came to a room that had a heavy wood door, already ajar.
He pushed it open and shoved her inside. It was larger than she had expected, with a huge bed right in the middle, while chains were hanging off the bed posts
She held her breath as her mind raced, staring around the room. "Why am I here?" she whispered, a very obvious attempt to mask her fear.
Ryland looked straight into her eyes, his eyes seemed to burn, like fierce green embers. "You shall see," he responded dryly.
She had barely spoken the next words when, from his pocket, he drew out a strip of black cloth. Instantly, her eyes went wide as realization finally dawned.
"No... Not again please," she whispered, "Don't—"
Her plea was reduced to nothing as he reached her. He tipped her chin up, and though the touch was gentle, there was no room for arguments.
"Do not move," he ordered low and evenly.
She could feel the urge to struggle, to rake at him, yet it was her body that betrayed her.
For some weird reason the smell of him, as he got closer to her made her body weaken, the raw power seeping from his frame made her and her wolf shudder.
Her fists curled into her palms as she labored to steel herself against his act of securing the blindfold tightly over her eyes.
It was overwhelming, making her other senses riot. She heard the gentle susurration of his clothes, the sound of his breathing steady, controlled.
Her heart bucked in her chest as he walked her backward, until the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed.
"Sit."
She hesitated, but the slightest press of his hands on her shoulders left her no choice. She sat, the mattress giving in under her weight.
In one swift movement, her arms were jerked above her head, and she swallowed hard as a cold metal clasped both her wrists together.
The chains clinked and clanked as he fixed them to the bedposts, leaving her arms stretched out, her body defenseless. She tried to pull at the bindings, but they didn't move.
"Why are you doing this to me?" she yelled, her voice hoarse from her tears.
Ryland didn't answer. Instead, he leaned down, his breathing ghosting over her ear. "Because I can," he said in a low and husky voice, as he watched how goosebumps crawled on the exposed part of her skin.
He knew his voice had sent chills and shivers down her spine.
She bit into her lip; her mind was swimming with fear, anger, and something else she couldn't quite place.
"You are... you're a monster," she spat, though without conviction.
He chuckled low, a velvety sound.
"I know, right?" he said, his fingers trailing down her arm, leaving more goosebumps in their wake.
It was as if the blindfold was making her far too sensitive to his touch because her breathing quickened and became rigid as he leaned closer, while the wolf inside of her was stirring again, enjoying what was happening, it seemed.
"Stop," she breathed, her voice quaking in her throat. "Please, I beg of you."
Ryland merely hesitated; his hand hovering above her skin.
"Do you want me to?" he mockingly purred in a gentle way, a weird combination.
She tried to say something, but she couldn't utter a word, and for Ryland her silence spoke volumes.
He snorted, his wolf growling in approval. There was something about her vulnerability, her defiance mixed with fear, that stirred the fire within him.
She wasn't like the others. She didn't fold so easily, and that fascinated him.
Then it happened.
The scent became more intoxicating, like wildflowers and honey, more insistent than ever before.
His breathing became wild as he drank in the look of her and her sweet intoxicating scent. Still blindfolded, her chest heaved with ragged breathing, her lips parted, catching air.
His wolf clawed at the surface desperate, so desperate to claim her.
He froze, staring at her and she felt it, too. The bond.
It was as though a jolt of electricity whipped through her body, causing her to gasp aloud. It didn't matter that she was blindfolded; she could now sense him, every inch of him, as though some kind of silken thread joined them.
"What was th..." she started, her voice barely above a whisper.
Ryland stepped backward, his brain reeling. ‘This isn't supposed to happen. She is a rogue, a weakling, someone beneath me. So why?’
“No,” he loudly growled, as he tried so hard to dispute the fact that... "This can't be."
She jerked wildly on her restraints. "What is happening?" she asked, alarmed.
He didn't say a thing, just his wolf howling inside him as the mate bond pulled, irrevocable.
"You, it cannot be... You!" he exclaimed, his words very low and dangerous, "can't be my mate."
She froze. No. no no no... It couldn't be, it shouldn't be. The man who'd chained and blindfolded her and was about to torture her, he couldn't be her mate.
Impossible.
"Let me go," she pleaded, her voice trembling. "Please, I'll go far away, I promise you won't see or hear from me ever."
Ryland stared at her, his emotions were a mixture of anger, confusion, and something else he didn't want to admit.
The bonding couldn't be denied, but neither could his disdain for her weakness.
“You're not worthy of me,” he said coldly, his words cutting through her like a blade. But…
Mate. His wolf growled.
