Five: Monster!

ANNORA

Spikeboards. 

He wanted me to dance on Spikeboards. What kind of evil resided in this entity? My entire body had already begun to feel jittery. 

Everything hurts. Every joint, every board, and a hole had been carved into my chest. “What?" I uttered, my voice carrying no life.

His lips stretched into a predatory smile that sent chills skittering down my backbone, and the hair behind my neck stood erect.

"Dance on the nails, Sin. Don't make me repeat myself.”

My vision was clouded by the blob of tears that welled up in my eyes, and I tasted bitter bile in my throat. Lowering my head to the board on the floor, shivers rudely crashed into me. The top of the nails glistened, and my feet folded in fear.

"Please!” I cried and fell to my knees, scrambling to where he was sitting. "Please! I can't. This is too much. I'll do whatever you want!”

Tears already flowed freely, and Alpha Aegon was humored. There was a maddening glint in his eyes as he laughed so heartily, throwing his head back.

I wouldn't stop shaking like my body failed to listen to me. Suddenly, there was a mild switch in the atmosphere when he stopped laughing.

Scared, I released my grip on his leg and scrambled backward. 

Alpha Aegon peered down at me. A gasp snatched out of my mouth when the intimidation in his eyes struck me like a knife. It was blunt and crisp, as though he counted minutes till he could rip me to shreds.

He stood up and approached me, his hands tucked in the pocket of his robes. “Sin…”

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” I continued to back away till I slammed my back against a wall, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear I was feeling.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," He cooed. There was a sudden softness in his voice that almost tipped me over the edge.

Was this monster bipolar? The intimidation had waned from his eyes, replaced with sympathy— like a person would watch an injured puppy.

Crouching to my height, he continued. “How did it feel?" Alpha Aegon carefully brushed my hair away from my face.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, and I fearfully looked away, though I didn't know what he was talking about.

His hands found my chin, and he yanked my face to it. My breath caught, and the room stilled. I was face to face, the closest I'd been to this monster.

Our eyelashes would almost touch if either of us inched closer. I felt worms under my skin. I could not breathe.

“When you found your mate, how did it feel, Sin?"

Gulping hard, “I- I don't know," I confessed.

“Really?" He tilted his head. His fingers were gentle against my jaw, and his eyes roamed my face.

Alpha Aegon’s features started to look a little more real. Up close or not, he had the features of a vampire. I didn't understand it.

“That's hard to believe, Sin. Are you lying to me?" The gentleness of those fingers vanished as they moved down my neck with practice eased.

I was now forced to look up, his hand tightening around my 

“I really don't know! I didn't plan to meet my mate in a dungeon, you monsters! Just kill me and get it over with!” I fired back at him.

Alpha Aegon clicked his tongue. "That's it. That's what I was looking for." His gaze was malicious as he set it upon me. "That's the one I'm looking for, the little girl who wants me dead.”

I felt like I'd hit a wall. No one could save me from this fate, so why wouldn't he just kill me already?

"Do you want to be with him?”

What the heck was he even talking about? Alpha Aegon continued. “Your mate. Do you wanna be with him? I have to decide if I want to help you.”

My eyes widened. I almost took the bait, and for some reason, I heard sincerity in his voice.

"Come, get up,” He said as he held my hand and helped me to my feet. My skepticism had knocked the roof down as I was captured in his bubble.

"He's my Beta, Sin.” Alpha Aegon kept his eyes locked on mine. "Also, my brother. I care about him, so I must take pity on you, too. Tell me if you wanna be with him; I can help you for his sake.”

Wait—

The person from earlier was his brother? My wolf stirred at the realization. Does this mean I…have a chance of surviving?

Reluctantly, I nodded in a spot, feeling disgust biting into my chest. I hadn't even had the time to process anything happening.

To accept that this monster had killed my family. To take that, this was my last chance at surviving, and I had to do it for them. 

I didn't care what the terms were, as long as I didn't have to dance and bleed to death on a spike. 

“Yes…” I let out an airy whisper, hating how pathetic I sounded. My voice was inked with desperation. "Yes. I want to be with him. All I'd ever wanted was to find my mate, and now that I found him, I—”

From a chortle, to a cackle, to a full-blown sardonic laughter that occupies the entire room, I melted a little more into myself as I watched him mock me, trampling on my hope.

Alpha Aegon, immersed in his laughter, had tears in his eyes from making a mess of my existence. His laughter rang in my ears, plunging the depth of my stomach.

“You really thought?" He inhaled deeply to keep from laughing. “You feeble thing.”

He started to circle me. “Are you dumb or just hopeful?"

Alpha Aegon paused. I felt his presence behind me and stiffened, unable to move. His hands grazed mine, then crawled up my foreman.

I felt fireworks build up in my lower abdomen, against my fucking will. The way heat permeated from his body to mine made my mouth go dry.

Just inches away from my ear, he whispered. “Time to dance, little one." 

The effect snapped and fear evaded my heart, replacing whatever silly fluttering he'd built up on me. Before I could react, I was shoved towards the spikes, his arms firmly grabbing me.

“No. Please, no. Don't do this, please!" 

He yelled at me. “Dance on the damn sp—”

A knock came to the door, and he let go of me while I crashed hard to the ground, hugging myself as I sobbed uncontrollably, voice hoarse and throat hurting.

“Who's it!?" Alpha Aegon barked as he angrily stormed towards the door.

“Wendeline," A soft female voice responded from the other end. In the blink of an eye, all of that hostility in Alpha Aego

n's eyes thawed.

It…vanished. Completely. And worst of all, he…smiled. 

Who the hell was Wendeline?