Chapter Three

Tanya's POV

"Who the hell are you?" Gibeon repeated.

I scrambled backward until my spine slammed against the headboard, my hands clutching the sheets to my chest. My head was still ringing from the violent flash of memory the blood, the fire, the blade in his hand.

"Get away from me!”

 "You you were there. That night."

Gibeon’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked in his cheek. He took a harsh step toward the bed, towering over me with an aura so dominant it made my lungs ache.

"What are you talking about, omega?”

"Speak, and make it quick before I lose my patience."

"Don't call me that!" I snapped, my temper finally overriding the shock. I didn't care that he was the most ruthless Alpha in the territory. 

The weight of the bond pulling at my chest only made me hate him more.

 "You slaughtered my family! And now what you dragged me into your bed like some piece of property?"

A harsh, humorless laugh barked out of his throat. He caught me by the chin, his fingers gripping my jaw with bruising force, tilting my face up so I had no choice but to look into those burning eyes.

"Property?" Gibeon whispered, his lips brushing dangerously close to mine.

 "Let’s get one thing straight, little liar. This is purely business. You’re a vessel, nothing more. You give me an heir, and you get paid. The moment that brat is born, you are out of my pack and out of my life."

The words hit me. 

Paid. A vessel.

Even though my inner wolf was whining, desperate to rub against his chest and surrender to the intoxicating scent of cedar and smoke, my human soul burned with pure hatred.

"You're a monster," I hissed, baring my teeth. 

"You think you can buy me? You think you can ruin my life, wipe my memories, and then play Ruler?"

"I don't play, sweetheart," Gibeon murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips before snapping back to my eyes. 

"And right now, whether you like it or not, your body belongs to the me."

"I never signed for any of these!”

“Never wanted to be assaulted!"

"You signed away your life the day you stepped foot on my territory," he retorted coldly.

The air between us suddenly shifted violently. The mate bond snapped into place  A sudden, searing wave of heat rushed through my veins, washing away the  anger and replacing it with syrupy ache. My breath hitched, as my body betrayed me, arching slightly toward his warmth.

Gibeon cursed under his breath, his own composure fracturing under the sudden, brutal surge of the mating heat. The cold, ruthless man vanished in a single second, replaced by the feral, possessive animal demanding submission.

"Damn it," he muttered, his hands dropping from my jaw to grip my waist.

"No stop," I gasped, though my fingers, which had been pushing against his chest, instinctively curled into the fabric of his shirt instead. 

"Gibeon, you said... you said it was just business."

"Business changed the second I tasted your blood," he snarled against my neck, his hot breath sending a shiver straight down my spine.

 His mouth suddenly captured mine in a kiss that was anything but gentle it was punishing, desperate, and utterly consuming. Every drop of resistance I had left dissolved into the friction of his lips against mine. He tasted like smoke, danger, and a sin I couldn't stop craving.

My hands flew to his shoulders, gripping him tightly as he hauled me against his hard, burning frame. 

When he pulled back for air, his chest was heaving wildly, his eyes entirely swallowed by his Lycan. 

"You're mine now," he whispered against my swollen lips.

 "Innocence, defiance, and all."

I opened my mouth to fight him one last time, to remind him of the blade I saw in my memories, but his lips silenced the words, swallowing my breath as he shifted over me, pressing me deep into the mattress. The world narrowed down to the heat of his skin, the thrum of his heartbeat, and the irreversible line we were crossing a night that would bind our bloodlines forever and plant a seed we could never take back.