C2

Elara Ashwolf

Cassiel Nightthorn chuckled low in his throat when my skinny frame went rigid against his chest.

“Oh dear, what has happened to our brilliant Pack Chronicler?” he purred, his heavy, pale hand tightening against my waist. “You used to respond so well to these intimate gestures. If I did not know any better, I might think this was your first time in a man's lap.”

His mockery bit straight into my soul. After all, he was the pure-blood vampire who took my virginity five years ago. I writhed in his lap, clawing at his powerful arms, but my weak Omega strength was nothing against a Blood Sovereign.

“Stop it!” I gasped, my wolf crying out in shame inside my mind. “I am bound under the full moon! I am married to Valen Duskbane!”

I threw my mating mark in his face, praying the sacred law of the wolf pack would force him to unhand me. But Cassiel only smirked.

His long, pale fingers crept upward, sliding smooth under the hem of my thin shirt.

“Oh?” Cassiel murmured, his sharp fangs brushing the heated skin of my throat. “This does not feel like the soft, scented skin of a she-wolf who is being thoroughly satisfied in the Duskbane Night Manor. Don’t tell me your Beta husband cannot handle an Omega in heat?”

My cheeks burned with a scalding blush. I opened and closed my mouth, choked by my own disgrace. How could I tell him the truth? How could I tell this monster that Valen had barely laid a finger on me since our mating night because my body did not bleed for him? The very vampire holding me hostage was the reason my marriage was broken!

Cassiel’s eyes gleamed as my silence betrayed me. In one swift, merciless motion, he cupped my jaw and slammed his cold lips down on mine.

I gasped against his mouth, a sudden, wet heat pooling uncontrollably between my thighs despite my horror. How could he kiss me when he knew I belonged to the Duskbane Bloodline now? The gentle boy I knew five years ago would never have breached a pack bond like this!

I gathered every ounce of strength in my small body and shoved against his broad chest. My slick soles slipped on the smooth stone floor, and I would have crashed down hard if his long arm had not whipped out, catching me by the wrist with terrifying speed.

“What is wrong, little wolf?” Cassiel asked softly, adjusting his white cane against his knee. “Do you hate my touch? Or do you just hate the monster sitting in this chair?”

I glared at him, my claws extending just enough to pierce my own palms. “What do you want from me, Cassiel? Did you drag me to the Crimson Chalice Hall just to humiliate me?”

A smug, dangerous smile flitted across his pale face. “I came back to claim my female. Is there a problem with that, Elara?”

“Cassiel Nightthorn!” I yanked my arm from his grip, my voice shaking with raw anger.

I looked at his ruined legs, wondering what horrifying war within the Coven had turned him into this cold, unfeeling master of the Nightthorn House.

Cassiel lowered his heavy eyelids, taking a long drag from the cigarette pinched between his fingers. When he looked back up, his crimson-tinted gaze felt like an abyss pulling me under.

“I thought you might have forgotten my name,” he whispered, his magnetic voice dark and smooth. “You certainly did not hesitate to wipe it off the sacred moon-scrolls. Why is your name on the ancient pack prophecy instead of mine?”

I took a sharp step back, my heart hammering like a trapped bird. “Did you lure me to the Crimson Dominion Quarter under the pretense of buying the rights to my scrolls?”

“Of course not,” Cassiel replied, trailing one pale finger down the length of his white cane. “I do not need to spend pack resources or blood-money to buy what is already mine. I wanted to see how comfortably a thief lives in the Duskbane pack. I must say, an unloved Omega in a cold manor is not as glamorous as I expected.”

Color drained from my face, leaving me sickly pale.

“Scared now?” he taunted, blowing a thin ring of clove smoke into my face. “You needn’t be. That scroll is nothing to the Coven anyway. I am only interested in taking your body back.”

He wheeled himself forward, the dark metal tires silent against the floorboards. He tilted his head back, looking up at me with an intoxicating, wicked smile that made my core throb with unwanted betraying heat.

I knew he hated me. He believed I had stolen his blood-magic and left him broken five years ago. But I never imagined he would use his power as Blood Sovereign to exact such a cruel revenge.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. “I will never break my pack vows to Valen. I will not agree to your vile demands, and I will not surrender my moon-scrolls to the Eternal Blood Council. If it is the credit you want, I will go before the Coven Elders tomorrow and publicly announce that the prophecy belongs entirely to you.”

A cold, mocking scoff burst from Cassiel’s lips.

“You think a public statement fixes what you took from me?” Cassiel sneered, his eyes flashing pure crimson as he leaned forward in his chair. “Look at my legs, Elara! Look at what your pack did to me while you were playing Luna in Valen’s bed!”