Chapter 7

Xavier POV 

I was a beast, a monster when it came to sex and for that, I had never been careful in bed. But that day, I tried to. No, I was as careful as possible, which had never happened before. If I had fucked my breeder as I normally would, she'd have lost consciousness in the middle of the act and I would not have stopped until it was morning, until I was satisfied with it. 

But that wasn't the main problem, going carefully didn't shock me as much as what I tried to do. What I had done. I, Xavier, a man who'd never lost control almost did that day. I had almost marked her. A mere breeder! Fuck, the words tasted bitter in my mouth. How could I have lost control like that? To almost mark a worthless wolf? I had never even really enjoyed sex in the past, as I only did it to punish she-wolves, but that day, I did, and I almost made a terrible mistake. 

I had already drawn out blood with my fangs and it was when I tasted her blood on my tongue that I realized what I had almost done. As if the bed caught on fire, I rushed out of it. I didn't spare Saraphina another glance as I got dressed and walked out of the room. I could smell her shock and confusion but I didn't care. I didn't want to. 

As I reached my room, I had my bath, a long one that felt like I wanted to wash away everything that had just happened. When I stepped out, the feeling of guilt had been washed away. I buried the thought of what had almost happened, as if it had never happened. I had decided not to think too much about it. Saraphina meant nothing. What had almost happened never happened and I still had deep hatred for women. 

“What are my duties for today?” I asked my Beta through the link, as I started to get ready for work. 

“You have a meeting with Mr. Anderson, in an hour.” He replied. I disconnected the link immediately and started to get dressed for work. No, I didn't rest. I didn't need to. Nothing would change in my routine just because a mere breeder almost made me mark her. 

However, something changed. Just a little. I normally never cared about the women I slept with or what was going on in their lives. I was serious when I said I was going to replace Saraphina immediately if anything happened to her…like if she died, but that day, for some reason, the thought of her dying didn't sit well with me and I was curious to know the reason why she wanted to die. 

Yes, the life of a breeder was a nightmare but I had a feeling that she didn't want to end her life because of that. So I linked my beta again. “Find out why Saraphina wanted to kill herself and report to me the moment I return.” I didn't wait for a response as I stepped out of the room and headed towards my garage. I could handle myself well so I didn't need to go with any warrior. I took my favorite sleek Porsche car, started it, and sped through the road. 

I arrived at my company an hour later and a small smirk formed on my face. Looking at the company, at the success I had built, it always gave me joy. If you were thinking this was a normal company with grown men walking around with ties and coats, well, you were wrong. There's nothing normal about me or about my business. 

What I had built was something dark. Something that reminded me of why I hated women so much. It was my empire, a blood arena that specially punishes cheaters. Most die here, it's what happens when you sign your life to me. 

To cut a long story short, I fell in love with a beautiful woman, decided to make her my chosen mate, but she betrayed me. She cheated on me with my younger twin brothers and I killed them all. I wasn't satisfied with their death so I built my company. I didn't know it would grow so much but some people were as twisted and broken as I was. 

Just to make things clear, I didn't care about others or the money when I started and not everyone made it to my blood arena. This was how it worked…influential couples from all over the world would sign a contract. The first partner caught cheating is taken to the Arena and punished while the other watches. They may be sold as slaves if they get lucky, otherwise, they are executed. No exception—not even for fated mates.

When I started the company, people enrolled to be part of the Blood Arena contract for fun and to rip me off. The contract was to last for two years, if one partner doesn't cheat on the other before the contract expires, they get to have a good amount of money from me. No one has ever done that…gotten money from me. In short, if a she-wolf cheats on her partner, she must be brought to the arena to receive punishment. It was a must. And even if the other person wanted to forgive the cheater, the contract had already stated that the cheater must be punished. If no one cheats in two years, I will pay them a great sum. 

There was more to what I had built, but that was a story for another day. 

“Good day, Mr. Xavier.” My assistant greeted me in a warm tone. He was a powerful wolf, but had been betrayed, too, by his wife. He was one of the few people who didn't think I was crazy when I started this. “Mr. Anderson is waiting for you in the office.” I nodded. A dark smirk formed on my face as I anticipated talking to him. 

Oh, before I forgot, when I had said no one had gotten money from me earlier, I had actually excluded Mr. Anderson. However, there was a catch, something he hadn't seen coming and I knew he had just figured out what had happened. How he had played himself. 

“This is going to be fun.”