Monster Mate

Danny’s POV

I opened my eyes and I was suddenly hit by the fancy yellow lights glowing down from the ceiling. I got up quickly from the bed, and turned my face to the side of the bed. There he was.

He was laying right there beside me. His hair was roughly splayed across the white pillows as he slept soundly, looking way too calm for what had happened between us.

I tried to swing my legs off the bed, but a sharp, excruciating pain shot through my lower back and ass.

"Fuck!" I whimpered, clutching the silk sheets as tears stung my eyes.

Then, the memories came rushing back all at once...the heat, the desk, the heavy hands on my hips, the brutal thrusts. My hand flew to my neck, fingers trembling as they brushed over the swollen, throbbing skin.

No. No... no way. God no.

I scrambled out of the bed, ignoring the ache in my limbs, and practically limped over to the full-length mirror near the closet.

There it was. A deep, angry bite mark sitting right on the curve of my collarbone. He bit me. He marked me.

Oh no. I was bonded to a complete and total stranger.

Pure rage flared in my chest. I turned around, marching back toward the bed to scream at him and tear him apart, but the second I reached his side, I froze dead in my tracks.

Sitting right on the nightstand beside his sleeping face was a matte black gun. A real, heavy looking firearm resting right next to his watch.

"What the hell is a gun doing there?" I muttered under my breath, my voice barely a whisper.

I reached my hand out slowly, intending to nudge it or move it away, but in a split second, his arm shot out like a striking snake and clamped around my wrist like a steel cuff. My heart dropped straight into my stomach.

Slowly, his grey eyes opened, dark cold, and entirely alert.

"Don't touch that," he growled, his voice rough with sleep as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

He finally let go, and I quickly snatched my wrist back, rubbing the red ring his grip had left behind.

My heart was hammering violently against my ribs. This man is dangerous. Everyone in this place is definitely in the Mafia or something. I need to be extremely careful.

"Sir... please," I started, taking a step back while trying my absolute best to suppress the raw rage burning in my throat. "Why did you mark me?"

He stood up from the bed, completely unbothered by his bare chest, grabbing his black shirt and pulling it over his shoulders. "It was a mistake," he answered plainly, buttoning his cuffs.

"What?!" I barked, genuinely stunned by his response. My jaw practically hit the floor. "A mistake?!"

He tilted his head, giving me a completely flat, unbothered look. "Yes. A mistake."

"Do you have any idea what a mate is?!" I yelled, his complete nonchalance pushing me straight over the edge. "You locked me into a bond!"

"Yes, I know," he said, pulling up his tailored pants and buckling his belt with a quiet metallic click. "I will have Noah take care of your payment. I don't do commitments or bonds."

He turned on his heel and walked straight out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut without another word.

I sank back onto the edge of the bed, my brain completely short circuiting. What have I done? The brutal, horrifying reality began to settle over me. How dare he mark me, ruin my life, and then walk away like nothing happened.

"It's okay, Danny. Just breathe," I whispered to myself, pressing the heels of my hands against my burning eyes.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, washed my face with cold water, and got dressed in my clothes as fast as I could. Then, I sat on the chair near the mirror and waited. I was waiting for Noah, not even sure if I was allowed to open that door and leave on my own.

Finally, a soft knock came on the door.

"You can come in," I called out, my voice raspy.

The door swung open, and Noah walked in with a small, cautious smile. "How are you doing today?"

"I am not okay. Your boss marked me," I shot at him, the heavy sadness finally creeping past my anger and suffocating my chest.

Noah froze mid step, his eyes widening in complete shock. "What? He did what?"

"He marked me," I repeated, fresh tears spilling over my eyelashes and dripping down my cheeks.

Noah slowly shut the door behind him and walked over to me, looking totally lost and horrified. "Uh... I am so sorry, okay. Did he say anything else to you?"

"He said it was a mistake," I said, furiously wiping my cheeks with the back of my sleeve.

"I am so, so sorry," Noah muttered, his tough bodyguard eyes softening with genuine pity. "Are you prepared to leave?"

"Yes. I want to get the hell out of this house."

"Okay. How do I wire your money?" he asked, pulling out his phone.

"I lost my phone and everything last night," I admitted, looking down at my hands.

"Alright, I'll give it to you in cash. But I suggest you wait a bit," Noah said, checking his wristwatch. "I'd like to drive you off myself, just to make sure that thief who robbed you last night don't run into you on the road again."

Honestly, I never thought a guy who looked like a high-level mob bodyguard could be this nice. How was a decent guy like him working for an absolute, heartless monster?

"Why can't we just go right now?" I asked, standing up.

Noah paused, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well... today is my boss's wedding."

"What?!" I blinked in total, utter disbelief. "He's getting married?!"

Noah nodded grimly.

"Okay, you know what? Let me grab the envelope and we'll just leave right now," Noah decided, changing his mind when he saw the panic on my face.

I jumped off the chair and followed him out into the wide corridor.

"Just stay quiet and follow me," he whispered as we stepped onto the thick carpet of the hallway.

I nodded, keeping close to his back, though an icy chill was still running down my spine. We hadn't walked twenty feet before a voice echoed down the hall.

"Noah!"

"Yes, sir!" Noah called back, pausing. He turned to me quickly, keeping his voice down. "Wait right here for me, okay? Don't move." He scurried off toward the side office.

I stood there completely alone in the massive hallway. He marked me just last night, and he's having a whole wedding today? The sharp, stinging pain in my chest felt ten times worse than any insult my step mother had ever thrown at me in my entire life.

Guided by my stupid, self destructive curiosity, I started wandering down the hall toward the source of faint classical music and scattered clapping echoing from the lower floor. I just wanted a sneak peek at my monster mate's grand wedding.

I crept up to a tall, arched stained glass window overlooking the sunlit courtyard below. Down there, sitting on white chairs, were dozens of people in expensive clothes. And at the altar stood the boss, looking ridiculously handsome in a midnight black tuxedo, holding hands with his bride.

A tear slipped down my cheek before I even realized I was crying. I blinked, squinting through the glass at the woman in the trailing veil. Wait... she looks oddly familiar.

"Hey!"

A heavy hand suddenly tapped my shoulder from behind. I whipped around, my heart dropping straight to the floor.

"Danny? What in God's name are you doing here?!"

It was my brother, Connor. He was wearing a tailored suit, staring at me in absolute, wide eyed shock before his eyes narrowed.

"Did you actually have the nerve to come to Mum's wedding?"