Chapter Seven - Escaping Him

It felt so good despite my soreness. His skin was hot, and it felt so good to hold him in my arms against my heart. I could almost mistake it for lovemaking. He climaxed inside me, and so did I, our release seeping out into the water. As soon as one orga*m was over, another spiralled out. He slipped out of me and helped me out of the tub. “Let me bathe you.”

The warm water cascaded down my sore body, and I let him clean me. My eyes were heavy with exhaustion. His gaze never left mine. It was as heated as before. His co*k was again as hard as before. “Sore?” His raspy voice sounded disappointed.

I nodded with a small smile. I didn’t remind him how rough he had been with me. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” He flashed me a fake smile to coax me into another round.

I wanted to protest, but his threat rang in my ears. Would he throw me into Death Valley if I disagreed?

He washed off the lather and wrapped me up in a towel. “Dry yourself and wait for me.” There was excitement in his voice as if he intended to resume where we had left off. I limped towards the bed and looked around for something to wear. There was only his shirt lying on a chair nearby. I pulled it on.

My stomach grumbled, but I lay down, feigning sleep. Jaxon wouldn’t want to mount me again if I was fast asleep, would he?

I could hear the water stop. Jaxon was about to join me. Panic settled in my heart. I couldn’t take another round tonight. Closing my eyes, I covered myself with the duvet and feigned sleep. The washroom door opened, and Jaxon walked out. The scent of his arousal was stronger than ever before. He stopped at the foot of the bed and watched me for a few minutes. My breath almost stopped. Would he see through me?

Just then his phone buzzed, and he muttered curses at his friends. I waited with bated breath for his next step. Thankfully, he strode out of the main door to take the call. I sighed with relief and rose to look for my phone.

It was lying on the coffee table in the living room. Relief flooded through my body as I picked up my phone. However, Jaxon’s voice echoing from the porch stopped me in my tracks. I edged towards the door and strained my ears.

In the still night, even his friend’s voices echoed from the other end. I could hear them distinctly.

“What the hell are you doing there, bro? You’ve broken Valerie’s heart,” said Alpha Maximus.

I heard Jaxon sigh. “I know. Tell her I’ll make it up to her soon.”

“Why don’t you come over and tell her instead? What’s keeping you there? Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about the Carter girl!” The crowd hooted with laughter, and Jaxon stammered nervously.

Jaxon punched a wall in frustration. “Fu*k no! Nothing in the world can make me choose Avaline. She’s a temporary distraction, the only one who can take my dangerous rut. I’ll keep her to fulfill my needs. As for Valerie, she has nothing to fear. I have chosen her as my mate. But she is delicate. I don’t want to scare her off me, bro. Please, can you ask Celine to keep her happy for a couple of days? I’ll be back to make it up to her.”

I stood shocked for a minute. So that was what I was to him: a temporary distraction and a se* slave to satisfy his dangerous rut.

A paper-thin thread inside me snapped, leaving me feeling empty. Had I saved myself for this monster? He didn’t care about my feelings at all. He used me to vent ‌his needs? Why did he complete the mate bond between us?

I rose, my mind made up. I had to escape this monster at all costs. Death was better than living here as his se* slave all my life.

I opened the back door and sprinted out, shifting as I ran. He was busy with his phone call and wouldn’t notice me missing for at least five minutes. It would give me a lead. It was the only chance I would get to escape Jaxon. He could die from se*ual frustrations for all I cared. I lost belief in fated mates. If only I had known his true intentions earlier.

In the wee hours of the morning, I reached the nearest highway in my wolf form and glanced around. There was a heavy-duty freight truck moving at a slow pace in the distance. If I rushed, I could catch up with it. I had no idea how I had a sudden burst of energy. I had never sprinted this fast in my entire eighteen years of life. The urge to escape was so intense, I ignored the pain in my body, the soreness between my legs. Without food and rest, my body was on the brink of giving up. But I pushed hard to escape.

Soon I caught up with the truck and jumped onto it, sinking amidst the packed goods. I didn’t care where it would take me as long as it was far away from Jaxon and his twisted intentions. Relief flooded through my body watching the truck take me far away.

How did I love him? Why hadn’t I seen through him? He could never be someone’s mate. He was evil.

I was sure he had realized my escape by now. Why hadn’t he pursued me? Maybe he had, but couldn’t find me. I had bluffed him. I had taken a shorter and inaccessible trail to reach the highway, not the road Jaxon used. It wasn’t fit for a car.

The truck stopped at a junction farther from Death Valley. It led to Fayetteville, and I smiled. My close friend, Claire, had moved in there with her grandparents after leaving our pack. Claire, Marianne, and Lucienne had been my only friends in Waltonville since childhood. I was sure she would welcome me into her house with open arms. I could hide at her grandparents’ house for a few days until everything died down. Then I would go back home, pack my belongings, and leave for Mammoth Springs forever.

However, a commotion ahead brought me out of my thoughts. I squinted through the haze to check. There was a traffic deadlock at the intersection ahead. An army of wolves was busy checking every vehicle before allowing it through. What was going on?

Rubbing my eyes, I stared at them, recognizing them finally. They were none other than Alpha Sebastián’s army. What were they doing here? What were they looking for?

Then my gaze fell on Jaxon’s grim figure leaning against his car and watching everything from afar. I slumped against the goods as realization dawned on me.

He was searching for me. He knew I was here. With the mate bond complete between us, he could feel my presence everywhere I went. Why hadn’t I thought of it before? I hadn’t expected him to pursue me as he had threatened he would. Now there was no hiding from him. It would be a matter of minutes before he found me.