Chapter Eight - Rather Embrace Death

Avaline

I had to run into the nearby forest and hide before he found me. Fear gripped my heart as I slipped down the truck and ran into the forest. 

A shout alerted me. “Search every vehicle! She’s here!” It was Jaxon’s agitated command. 

His troops stopped every vehicle and combed the place for me. I didn’t stop lest they catch up with me. Jaxon hadn’t realized I had escaped him again. It was my only chance. I bolted through the narrow trail, leading me far away from Jaxon. I just wanted to hide somewhere he wouldn’t find me. But where could I go? A little farther away, I saw a pickup truck loading goods at a warehouse. I stayed close and jumped onto it the moment it started. The pickup truck sped down the highway toward Fayetteville. I breathed a sigh of relief. But for how long? What if he found me in Fayetteville? 

Why couldn’t Jaxon let me go? He could vent his se*ual frustrations elsewhere. Why did he want me to be his permanent se* slave? Why couldn’t he reject me?

I had no answers to those questions. 

The pickup truck stopped at several locations to deliver goods, and I had to be cautious. I didn’t want the humans to know of my presence. I hid myself amidst the packaging materials heaped in one corner. Just then, a fleet of cars passed us in a rush. Among them was Jaxon’s Land Rover! 

So, he found me again! Panic settled in my heart, and my breath hitched. Would he drag me back to the log cabin or throw me into Death Valley to punish me? I didn’t want to find out. Either way, I would die. 

Thankfully, the cars sped past and vanished over the horizon. Yet I couldn’t drive the feeling of dread from my heart. I knew he would return any minute. There was no escape from Jaxon Whitfield. Why was he so obsessed with me when he hated me so much?

The pickup truck stopped at the Jefferson/Walker junction, and I slipped out. Claire’s house on Morningside Dr. was within walking distance from here. The pale morning light flickered through the wispy clouds. I was eager to go inside before Jaxon spotted me. I knew he was in Fayetteville. I could sense his presence nearby. Did he know where I was? I wished he hadn’t marked me. Now I had nowhere else to run from him. 

I stopped in front of a picture-perfect cottage painted in a cheerful light blue. Nestled beneath three towering mature pine trees, it was the perfect place to hide from my so-called mate. I shifted into my human form and picked up a coat lying on a chair on the porch. I had pulled it on when an arm gripped mine. Another covered my mouth before I could scream for help. 

“I warned you, Avaline. You can’t escape me. I’ll hunt you down, even from hell,” Jaxon muttered in my ear. “You belong to me.”

He had found me. Panic settled in my heart, and I thrashed. But he was too strong for me, and there were too many of them. Tears of helplessness filled my eyes. Why was he torturing me? What had I ever done to him? 

“No, let me go, Jaxon. I don’t want you. Leave me alone,” I cried out, shoving him aside. But my voice was a muffled whisper behind his large palm covering my mouth. Yet it seemed to anger him more. 

“You don’t want me! Then who the fu*k do you want? Don’t fu*king forget you belong to me, Avaline.” He bared his fangs at me. With his face inches from mine, he looked menacingly evil.

A car stopped behind us, and his accomplices opened the door. He shoved me inside and tied me up. With my mouth taped again, I was back at square one. He started driving away with a contented gleam in his eyes while I stared at Claire’s house in dismay. She had no idea I was here to seek her help. Without my phone and money, I couldn’t inform her.

“Stop the drama, Avaline. You should be thankful I’m ready to spend my life with you,” he tried a softer tone on me. 

I scoffed at his act. If I hadn’t known the truth, it would have melted my heart into a puddle. 

“What’s wrong with you, Avaline? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Why did you run?” He kept on throwing questions at me, not realising my mouth was taped. How would I give him a fitting reply? 

There was no way out than to turn my head and look at the scenery flitting past us. I preferred to ignore his very existence next to me. Did he think he could fool me with his sweet talk? I could see through his act. He was still in heat and wanted me to fulfill his dangerous rut as long as it lasted. There was no escape until he was totally satisfied and threw me out. 

The car sped down the same trail up to Death Valley. But my mind was hyperactive, and considered ways to escape him. I wouldn’t let him touch me again. I would jump into Death Valley if the need arose. 

“I’m talking to you, Avaline! What’s on the other side?” He gripped my chin and forced me to look at him. 

I scoffed and looked beyond his shoulder, as if he were invisible to me. If he had taken off the tape, I would have corrected him. I would have told him how much I hated looking at him. 

“Fu*k you! It’s time to teach you another lesson. You should know who you belong to.’ His thunderous growl didn’t scare me. 

My heart and mind revolted at his words. I wouldn’t let him touch me this time. I had been carried away the last time, not understanding his motive. I had thought he had completed the mate bond because he had accepted me into his life. 

But I was so wrong. Jaxon completed the mate bond so that I wouldn’t stray and move on. He completed it so that he could seek me out every time I escaped him. He completed the mate bond so that he could openly keep me on the side as his mistress - for life.

He was trembling with fury by the time we reached the log cabin. The sun was beating down on me, and I doubled up with hunger pangs, making my head reel. It had been almost eighteen hours since I had last eaten. He had used me since last night without feeding me a morsel of food. He was the most selfish mate I had ever seen in my life. Was he a mate or a monster? 

He stopped the car and flung the door open for me. “Get out! Don’t even think of escaping again. I’ll throw you into Death Valley this time.” 

Was he joking? How would I escape with my hands and legs tied up? I scoffed and waited for him to untie me. I wanted to walk over to the edge and jump myself. 

He peeled the tape off and reached for the rope on my legs. Once he had freed my limbs, he stepped back and let me get out of the car.

“Don’t expect me to carry you over the threshold. Move, now!” He shoved me forward angrily. Pulling out the keys to the cabin, he strode ahead to unlock the door. It was my chance to free myself from this bondage. I had only one way.

I whirled and ran towards the edge of the cliff. One jump would be enough to end this torture. My footsteps alerted Jaxon, and he turned to see me running.

“Stop, Avaline! What the hell are you up to? Where are you going? Have you lost your mind?” He ran after me in a state of panic. 

I ran faster. “Yes, I’ve lost my mind. I’m ending this charade between us. I’d rather die than be your mistress forever. You don’t get to choose Valerie as your mate and force me to fulfill your dangerous rut. We’re done. I don’t want you, Jaxon.”