Decision

Dario audibly gasped on hearing those words. It struck him so hard that he had to rethink whether or not he was truly the apex alpha that he was, as a sharp pain cut through his chest, an immediate headache and the sparks he usually felt when she was close, were like an electric shock. 

His gasp and and were foreign to his own ears as he himself couldn’t remember the last time he gasped or winced out loud.

‘These are just mere words. She didn’t even fully reject me and I already feel like my heart was ripped out of my chest’. He thought to himself as he winced again, feeling searing pain in his chest, like the air was knocked out of his lungs. 

His mind wandered thinking of how vulnerable he already was, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Vulnerability was one of the reasons why he didn’t keep anyone by his side. 

As long as he’d lived, he had no weaknesses, nothing that the enemy could prey on, and that was one of the main things that made him feared by many. 

He had nothing to loose.  

“Dario, she doesn’t know our ways. I’m sure she doesn’t even understand the gravity of what she just said”. James sputtered, panicked at the emotions displayed on his best friends face, and also trying to calm his best friend down clearly seeing the effect the human’s words had on Dario.

It was a known fact that the longer it takes a wolf to find his mate, the more desperate, clingy, and emotionally attached the wolf will be when they finally find their mate, and Dario was no exception. 

He was the first of his kind. No wolf had ever not found his mate in more than 10 years but he stayed without his for over a decade. 

The impact of those words were bound to sting a million times worse than it would a normal wolf. 

“What’s your name?”. Dario rasped out, comporting himself despite the pain in his chest still being very much present. 

He knew that he had to do something connected to her, even as little as hearing her voice to help with the stinging in his heart.

“M-Marissa”. She stuttered, pure confusion and fear written all over her face, wondering why the man reacted so weirdly and intensely to her simply saying no. 

‘These monsters are more than weird’. She thought to herself as she settled her eyes on Dario as if wanting to study him. 

She took a good look at him for the first time and boy, was he handsome. 

She had seen so many men, more than she even wanted to see, as it was men who mostly bought slaves from her previous owner, but none of them have ever looked half this good. 

‘Was it normal for a person to be this handsome?’. She asked herself as her eyes ran through his features. His lips were plump and pink, his hair the perfect shade of brown, his golden eyes drew her in, and his physique was no joke. She couldn’t see much of his body but anyone could tell that he was perfect underneath those clothes. 

Oblivious to the pair of golden eyes that watched her, she continued shamelessly checking him out, when a low growl escaped Dario’s lips, the guttural sound whipping her back to her senses.

She felt like he could tell she was checking him out.

‘He is a monster, you fool!’. She reminded herself of who exactly he was, the memories of the day before came flooding in. She had never seen such a brutal scene in her entire life.

The sounds and smell of flesh and blood being torn apart by this man’s bare hands.

A shudder left her, and only now did she properly take in her surroundings 

All eyes were in her. She could recall that only 2 people were in this space. How all these people got in and when, she couldn’t tell.

They had come out because of the shift they felt through the mindlink. They knew something was wrong with their alpha and came in ready to defend him with their lives. 

She started to shrink into herself and let her long dark hair cover her almost completely when she had the thought: 

‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ and raised her head, meeting their stares defiantly. 

Many of them stared at her like they wanted to harm her, some looked like they were fascinated by her, while some looked wary of her. The last bunch almost making her snort out loud.

‘Who should be afraid of who?’. She thought to herself as she couldn’t say it out loud and risk her head coming off her body. 

“What’s funny human?”. Amelia asks, anger clouding all her features as she began to take a step towards Marissa who for some reason, unintentionally scooted closer to Dario. 

The stares alarmed her but one thing she knew was that he was familiar and was the one that took her here. 

‘Many captors didn’t like any other person or people torturing their captive, and loved to do it themselves’. She thought to herself.

None of the options were pleasing but it was better to be tortured by one person than many. 

On the other hand, Dario was just thinking about how lovely her name sounds and how soft her voice was. 

He couldn’t even believe himself. 

How could he be thinking of this right now. She basically just told him she would never be his and although it hurt him, he couldn’t help but think she was perfect. 

‘I’m finished’. He said to himself knowing that he had already given a part of him to her, the second he found out she was his mate. 

Hell, he could even say he liked her before knowing that she was made for him. 

The thought of killing her had crossed his mind several times already but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

A mate is something he had been secretly wishing for and now that she’s here, how can he kill her?

Noticing his pack members and knowing how intense they can be, he walked to her and carried her like she was a bag of chips. The action already becoming a second nature to him. 

He carried her out, knowing that she may be overwhelmed by the crowd. 

He also knew that what he just did was bound to raise rumors. Yes, he had carried her before but then, she was unconscious. 

Now, so many people had seen him carry a woman, bridal style in front of so many people. 

He knew that this would be the topic of the kingdom in a few hours because he had never been seen with a woman in a romantic way. 

He was always so platonic with women, and rejected every advances no matter how pretty the woman was, which gained him the name ‘wooden alpha’ 

“You’re not fighting like you do every time I carry you”. He says to her, genuinely curious but also wanting to hear her voice again, but she said nothing. 

It was so obvious that she had so many walls surrounding her heart. It would be impossible for her not to with all that she had been through. 

He wanted to break those walls but not sure if he was ready to.

He wanted to have her all to himself but not sure if he could protect her from all harm.

He wanted a lover, but didn’t want a weakness. 

However, he had waited for so long to have a chance to be with his mate and he was not going to pass it up for any reason. 

“Are you planning on carrying me forever? Please put me down”. She said, her voice very calm and low but he could hear her heart beat so fast and smell her fear, so he knew her voice was not showing what she was feeling at all. 

He gently put her back on her feet but the stare in her eyes confused him as much as it hurt him. 

There was so much pain, hatred and fear in it, directed at him. 

Marissa turned away and walked towards the room she slept in earlier. She had been on edge the whole day waiting for the torture or pain that she had been expecting would come but nothing like that happened. 

‘There’s no way they kidnapped me to feed and clothe me’. She thought to herself, as she turned back ready to confront Dario who was still standing in the same spot.

‘The worse he can do is kill me’

“What’s your plan? To play with me, feed me, clothe me and when I feel comfortable, you kill me?”. She spat at him, finally vomiting everything she had wanted to say since the first day she was brought here. 

“Just do it already!”. She yells, her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for something to happen. 

He made no move, but could hear the wind whizz like an arrow was headed towards him, but It was aimed at Marissa. 

‘No!’.