010

Ember’s POV

The sky turned red, as though bleeding.

My cage, the East Wing, felt icy and suffocating every damn time, the walls looking like punishment and an insult.

The room tiny, as though it was a coffin meant to contain me even in death and the food I received three times a day? Cold and tasted like poison. I hardly touched it, just sustaining myself with little sips of water which also felt poisoned.

I was barely holding on, barely alive. I had nothing else to live for. Zane had chosen to ignore me, spending more hours in a day with that bitch, Kaela.

And ever since we returned, my wolf still hadn't said anything, not even a whimper. As though she had been buried deep at the back of my mind.

She didn't trust anyone again. She felt betrayed by Zane, and maybe me too.

And Zane?

He finally became his father's “golden boy” again, as Alpha Magnus would call it.

Zane had been training with the most powerful warriors in the pack, acting like nothing ever happened between us, like we literally shared nothing together.

At dinner, he ate at the Head Table, sitting just close to Magnus, smiling like a damn prince that he was.

And when he touched Karla's arm? He smirked but I could see behind that façade; it didn't even reach his eyes. I watched as that bitch intentionally flipped her hair over his shoulders and laughed innocently, like she had already engraved his name deep into her skin.

All these, I saw from the cold, iron balcony of my wing. No one asked about me, not even saying my name, not even a whisper of my existence as though I was a ghost, forgotten in just a heartbeat.

A girl, raging with heat, numb of any emotions and name.

*******

The "Rebonding" Ceremony was announced in the courtyard, cheers bursting loudly while my heart sank.

Magnus made the announcement with a smile, standing tall, hands clasped behind his back like the controlling person he was. "Zane and Kaela," he declared. "Together for the pack's benefit."

The crowd cheered like they were saved. I barely made it behind the curtain before I vomited. My body shook. My nails dug into my palm.

The bitter taste was worse than this betrayal. They dressed me in white every day after that. White, like a widow grieving a love she never had.

And every night… he came.

Zane would slip into my room like a sin. Like smoke and regret. Silent. Sharp. Painful. He never touched me. Just lay beside me, so close, our breaths mixed. So far, it felt like the oceans.

Each breath from him sounded like a man in pain. I could see his chest rise, stop, and then fall like he didn't want to keep going. Like something unseen hurt him every second he was beside me.

"I want you," he whispered into the dark.

My heart stopped. "Then have me," I whispered back. “Please”

His hands would tighten into fists on the sheets like they were holding him back from breaking apart. "But wanting you is killing you, Ember" And that was all he said to me.

He would lie beside me, his cock hard under the thin fabric of his sweatpants, the outline of his body pushing against the barrieras it pulsed with desire and with need.

And I, on the other hand, would lie next to him. Wet. Deeply affected and Dripping like he'd already touched me deeply. Begging with my body for a touch he refused to give.

********

Then, when I could not take it anymore on the fourth night, I snapped.

I made my way to his room, sliding over him with careful precision, my thighs bare and trembling, my tits erect and aching as they poked through my thin cloth and my pussy……drenched and at the edge of breaking, just like my fucking soul.

I couldn't tell if he was asleep or pretending to, I could hardly care.

My bit down on my lower lips, straddling his hips slowly, absorbing the moment, my eyes rolled at the back of my head, possessed with need. My hands caressed his chest, I could feel his heart beating beneath my palms.

As I humped him, filthy, slow and ruthless, I could feel his cock right there, hard and thick.

It was perfect, very fucking perfect.

His heat searing through the thin fabric drove me crazy, literally pushing me at the edge of snapping with heat and primal desire. I rubbed my pussy against him, I was a bitch in full blown heat, my clit throbbing with each movement and each grind.

“Za…. Zane….” I moaned, whimpering under my breath as my voice cracked. “Pl…please, just…just the fucking tip, even….even for a second”

That seemed to do the trick because in an instant, his eyes flew open, wild and fast.

Then, he snarled as he grabbed my wrists tightly, his chest heaving up and down, eyes bloodshot.

“You don't know what you are fucking asking for, Ember” he growled.

I pursed my lips, smiling through the pain, broken, desperate and hungry.

“I do, I really do, Zane” I muttered, my eyes staring right into his golden orbs. “I need you, I want to feel you, your cock deep inside my pussy as it stretchs me as you split me open. I need to forget the feeling of emptiness. Make me yours, please, even if it kills me”

He grabbed my hips with his massive hands as he slammed me down onto the bed, his imposing height pressing down in me.

And goddess……

I could feel the tip of his cock meet with the entrance of my pussy, his pants were the only thing keeping him from penetrating.

The pressure around us was maddening, my folds engulfing him, throbbing, soaked and teasing.

But Zane didn't move, so, I I did.

I began grinding my hips, rocking them slow, so so slowly, his cock rubbed against my clit and my pussy hole, through that stupid fabric.

I bit back a moan, stars exploding behind my eyes as my head subconsciously fell backwards, my breath hitching and ruined.

“I fucking hate you, Zane” I muttered under my breath, gasping. “I…I'm gonna fucking cum and you are not even inside me yet”

I heard him snarl, his hot breath brushing against my skin, making my heat even more intense, my tits hardened.

He gripped my throat, not to choke but just enough.

“Do you actually think that this doesn't kill me, huh?” He snarled, a glimpse of something deadly flashing in his eyes as it darkened. “Do you think I don't lie awake every fucking night, dreaming of the time we spent together and filling your pussy so much you moan my name?”

I moaned, grinding my hips faster and harder as his hands roamed on my body, his rough plans tracing down my waist and cupping my boobs, the other hand grabbing my ass.

He leaned in closer and nit my jaw as he growled against my throat.

I could feel his cock twitch and throb against my pussy but he still didn't penetrate.

“Do you want it, huh?” He muttered, his voice taunting as he locked deyes with mine. “You want me to turn you around and fuck you until you forget even your own fucking name?”

I nodded, my breath hitching, my hips still grinding, even more desperately.

“But I can't, Ember” he muttered, his voice breaking. “I can't watch you die when I can prevent it”

And then, I came.

So fucking hard, yelling into his chest, my thighs trembling, nails digging deep into his back.

I could feel every nerve in my body exploding, my pussy clenched, still unsatisfied, unfucked and tortured.

When when I finally snapped out of my orgasm daze, I collapsed against his body, my tears sliding down my cheeks.

I could still feel his cock pressing between my folds, untouched and unused.

He pulled me into his arms, wrapped himself around me like a shield I didn't want, and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm really sorry.”

*******

But outside the door… Kaela stood.

Eyes narrowed. Arms crossed.

Lips curled in a mean, triumphant Smirk.

She’d heard everything. And she was going to use it to ruin me.