Chapter 4: Sassy queen

VIPER

“How dare you?!” He shrieks, staring down at his bloody palm glued to the table. He moves it, and a slight tear makes him scream again. “Get the fucking fork out!” He growls, his eyes reddening, sweat rolling down his face as his heart picks up its pace. “Now!”

I lean backwards, resting on the wooden chair. “Beg.”

The dining hall goes silent as everyone stares at me.

I run my tongue over my lips, watching him earnestly. “Go on,” I spell. “Beg like the fucking loser you are, and I’ll get it out.”

He panics, face paling as he turns to the left, facing one of his pals. “Hudson, get it out for me?”

“Sure, pal.” Hudson stands, but when he stares at his glued palm, he swallows hard. “It’s…I—I can’t get it out. One wrong move and your entire arm could get paralyzed.”

And once an arm gets paralyzed, he becomes useless to Hades. And once he becomes useless, there’s only one thing left—death.

A small smile curves my lips. “Save yourself this misery and beg.”

“You wench!”

I stand on my feet and stretch. “I think I’ll just head back to my room. This bloody scene just made me lose my appetite.”

When I’m about an inch near the door, his cracked voice makes me halt. “Please,” he forces out. “Just help me get this thing out. It’s starting to heal, it’ll be torture to—”

I turn around to face him. “When I say beg, I expect you to get on your knees and apologize properly. You don’t get to say things in my presence when you’re screwing your own pal’s mate behind his fucking back.”

He shakes, “Viper..I..” he stutters, then slowly goes down to his knees, face red from embarrassment. “I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said earlier. I take back my words.”

I nod, then return back to the table.

Effortlessly, I take out the fork from his palm, and watch as the wound closes up. His jaw hardens as he stares at me, “but don’t think I’ll ever let this go.”

I shrug. “Sure, I’ll let you have your fun.”

And I walk away, hearing Emily sigh as I close the door with a small click.

I jump when I see Jake leaning against the wall, like he’s been waiting for me all along, a proud grin resting on his thin lips. “Back to causing trouble again?”

“I never took a break.”

“What did this one do this time?”

“You already stopped ignoring me?”

He pauses, then a small smile crosses his face. “I was never ignoring you, Viper,” he ruffles my straight black hair. “I just wanted to be alone. It helps me think and….restrategize.”

I nod and he nudges my shoulder. “You should smile more often, you know?”

I frown. “I do smile.”

“Only when you’re about to kill your targets.”

“That’s not true!”

Jake rolls his eyes, laughing as we walk down the hallway. “Now, tell me about what that guy did in there to deserve such brutality.”

“You call that being brutal?” I huff. “Brutality would be cutting off his tongue for spilling such crap. He fucking talked about getting his hands all over me.”

“Then he deserved that.”

A laugh spills out of me. “Yeah, he did.”

Jake suddenly stops. He turns to face me, all signs of smile vanishing from his face. “I know Hades asked you to drop your revenge, but I know you won’t.”

“It’s the reason I live.”

Jake sighs. “I want you to live for something else.”

“Not possible.”

“Fine,” he shakes his head, “but I want you to let me in on your revenge. If it means the world to you, then it means the same to me, too.”

My heart swells. “Jake, Hades will kill you if he finds ou—”

“I don’t care about Hades,” he reaches out for my fingers, then he slowly places it upon his chest. “Can you hear how fast it’s beating?”

“Jake..”

“Don’t ruin this moment, Viper.”

“No, there’s something you must know.” I say slowly, watching as he closes his eyes and takes a sharp breath. He’s scared. He’s scared that I'm going to say something hurtful again.

“Shoot,” he finally opens his eyes. “I’m ready for it.”

“I…found my mate.”

Jake turns pale. He’s so white, he’s literally blending with the walls. “What?” He stumbles backward, struggling to accept what I’d just said. “How did you…when..who?”

“Jake, calm down,” I say with a frown. “I found out last night.”

“Which means he’s an assassin here, right?”

“No,” I shake my head, preparing to drop the bomb. “My mate is Alpha Tyler.”

“What?!” I think it’s Jake’s voice, but it isn’t. It’s Alpha Hades. He’s right behind me, his presence like a huge weight pressing against my chest.

Jake, on the other hand, can’t seem to breathe.

“What did you just say?” Hades barks as he comes to stand before me. “Answer me!”

“I’ll reject him,” I rush out quickly, dropping to my knees. “Alpha Hades, I swear on my life, I'm not one of those ladies who would abandon you to elope with their mates. I’ll never—”

“Did you just say you’ll reject him?” Hades glares at me. “Aren’t you thinking properly, Viper?”

I blink, still on my knees. “What do you…”

“Alpha Tyler has been searching for his true mate for years,” Jake’s detached voice fills the air. “Having someone from Nameless become his mate means having a leach on someone powerful.”

I freeze.

And Hades just smiles. “Beautiful,” he claps, “this is just beautiful.”

I shake my head, rushing my words out. “I have no intention of accepting Alpha Tyler as my mate, I would rather stay here at Nameless and—”

“Viper,” Hades sounds so serious, I stiffen. “You’ll make Tyler your mate. You’ll allow him to mark you. You’ll even bear pups for him.”

I shake my head, tears spilling down my cheeks. “No, I—”

“I’ll make you a full member of the Nameless if you spy on him,” Hades continues. “And even though I never go back on my words, I’ll provide clues to find the killers of your parents each time you give me valuable information from Tyler.”

“What do you even want from Alpha Tyler?”

“I’ve always wanted my hands on his power and pack,” Hades smiles at me. “And with you, that seems possible now.”