Chapter 394
Three hundred and ninety six
Emma POV
The thud of boots scraping against the floor outside made me lift my head. Then the noise outside the room went silent.
Anita and I exchanged glances. Could our parents have found us?
Before I could make sense of the sudden silence, the door burst open. Four rogues, broader than the ones I’d seen before, walked in dressed in worn leather jackets and dark trousers, their clothes marked with dirt from the road. Each had something distinct about his face, from a scar cutting through an eyebrow to a shaved head or a piercing.
Their cold, I-can-fuck-you-up looks swept over the room and settled on their captives.
My brain stopped working when my gaze landed on the rogue Lord.
Or in this case, my bloody fated mate.
He walked through the doorway. Our eyes met.
The bond reacted before I could prepare myself.
My wolf danced with desire at seeing him again, but my human side struggled with the fact that he was truly a rogue and the leader of the syndicate that had captured us.
I could not reconcile the two versions of him in my head. The man from the bar had felt like a stranger who had somehow become familiar within a few hours. I had trusted him enough to sleep with him, something I had never done with anyone before, and I had woken up expecting whatever had happened between us to mean something. Now I was looking at the leader of the very people who had taken me.
The bond hit like a wall of fire, pulling every nerve in my body toward him. My wolf stretched toward his presence, completely ignoring the fury burning through me.
Anita’s voice was sharp enough to cut wood. “Look who finally decided to show up, the big boss hiding behind his useless boys. What’s the plan now, huh? Are you gonna kill us p>
Haley pushed herself up off the floor, her hands balled into fists. “You think you’re getting away with this? You think our parents aren’t coming for us p>
The guard standing near the door barked back. “Shut up. You’re lucky you’re breathing p>
The rogue Lord’s intense blue eyes locked straight onto mine. Unwanted memories came rushing back. His lips. His scent. The way he’d touched me. The memory of his body against mine, and the pleasure that had left me struggling to think straight.
He raised two fingers and gestured for me to come closer.
The casual order snapped the last thread of my control.
Was he seriously expecting me to obey him?
“Don’t go,” Anita said, reaching for my hand, but I shrugged her off and pushed myself to my feet.
The anger I’d been fighting finally broke through the confusion as I headed toward him.
Stopping in front of him sent another wave of intimidation through me. I must have been extra tipsy not to notice the authority rolling off him, even beneath that rough facade. It was in the way the room seemed to shift around
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him, the way his men watched him without needing to be told what to do.
if being stupid enough to focus on everything except the hate I should have felt wasn’t punishment enough, I swung my arm and slapped him across the face with every bit of strength I had.
The crack echoed off the concrete.
“Emma!” Anita cried, rushing forward as his men’s eyes widened.
“You’re dead meat,” one of them said, reaching for his belt. He cursed under his breath before snarling, “Who the fuck do you think you are, bitch p>
The rogue Lord raised a hand to stop him. He barely flinched like my palm had hit concrete. But his eyes tightened, the blue turning stormy as the mate bond vibrated between us from the hit. Pain spiked straight through my skin.
“You’re a piece of shit,” I said, my voice shaking as my hands trembled. “You thought you could score cheap points off me p>
His eyebrows drew together.
“You disgust me,” I spat. “I hate you with every fiber in my bones p>
He leaned forward until his breath brushed my cheek. His scent, forcing my wolf to sit up while my mind hated every second of it.
“You’re making a show for the room,” he murmured.
I looked around. The guards were staring at us, their grip on their weapons. His beta, the one with the multicolored hair had walked in, watching him with something close to amusement and puzzled.
“I don’t care,” I spat.
His beta let out a contemptuous laugh.
“Too ashamed to take a rogue’s cock, huh? We fuck hard enough to get you dripping and coming back for more. Unlike those limp, sissy-cocked little brat alphas you call boyfriends p>
The other men chuckled, their eyes sliding over me like dirt.
The rogue Lord turned his head toward the guard, but he didn’t correct them or tell them what we had last night was more than sex.
“So that’s it,” I whispered, fighting the urge to cry.”You brought me here to shame me p>
“I haven’t said a single word. You’re the one running your mouth p>
His voice came out flat, almost bored.
I held my head up.
“You’re letting your men talk to me like trash because that’s what you are. You steal, hide, and you drag innocent people out of their lives p>
His beta stepped forward, his laugh ugly, but Anita grabbed my arm, trying to pull me back.
“That slap is nothing compared to what’s coming for you when my father finds this place p>
The rogue Lord ignored Anita and kept his eyes on mine. “Keep running your mouth like that, and someone here
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will give you a reason to regret it p>
dare you,” I cried out.
He turned his head toward his beta
“She’s coming with me. I like them fiesty p>
The nerve of him to reduce me to a sex tool.
“Fuck you,” Anita barked, “You’ll have to kill me here before touching her p>
Alexander.
Even his name felt like a trick.
I wondered why demons like him weren’t given names that actually warned people. Something that would make your stomach drop the second you heard it. Something that meant trouble, liar, leave while you still can.
“She’s our leverage,” his beta said, stepping right into his space. “I spent weeks setting this up. We need their fathers to sign over the territory. You can’t just walk in and ruin the plan because you want to keep some pussy close p>
Alexander towered over his beta, his voice dropping into a dangerous quiet. “I said she’s going with me. The rest stay here under guard p>
He glared at him. The rift between them cracked wide open right in front of the room.
“Fine,” he spat, stepping aside with a dark look. “Take her. But if this ruins the deal, the rest of the pack will demand answers from you p>
Alexander reached out and grabbed my wrist. His grip was tight, sending a shock straight through my arm that made my wolf purr. I hadn’t even noticed Anita trying her hardest to yank his hand off.
“Let go or swear I’ll shift and tear your limbs into shreds p>
Alexander chuckled while not taking his gaze off me. “You can try. But if those pretty little teeth are all you’ve got, then save yourself the embarrassment p>
His hand remained wrapped around my wrist, and every second of contact made the bond between us harder to ignore. My wolf pawed beneath my skin, completely at odds with my chest that was thumping with nothing more than raw hate for this man.
“Let go of me,” I said.
His eyes dropped to our linked hands, and surprisingly, he did. His fingers loosened around my wrist before releasing me. Although he seemed to take a joke out of this, there was something about his eyes that communicated what his mouth was not saying, and I wondered if going with him was my ticket to getting out of here.
“She is my cousin,” I said, referring to Anita. “She goes wherever I go p>
His beta let out a humorless laugh. “So what? We’re babysitting them now p>
Alexander looked at him and jerked his head toward the door. His beta grumbled something under his breath before heading outside, slamming the door behind him hard enough to make the room shake.
Alexander followed.
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My gaze stayed on him as he walked away, and despite everything I had just told myself about hating him, my heart thumped furiously in my chest.
P
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Lucia Morh
Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.