04: Mate?

SUNSHINE:

The servant shrieked and closed her mouth when Jericho glared at her.

Helena rose inside my head and looked at Jericho with puppy dog eyes. 

Under the water, I fisted my hand. “Jericho. Why are you here? I thought I already made myself clear by rejecting you.”

A low growl emitted from his throat.

How this mutt managed to entire this room was still something I wanted to know. 

“Leave us,” he muttered to the servant who was frozen on the ground. 

The servant was about to open her mouth, but I shook my head.

I’m physically tired. I had no energy to deal with him. 

“Close the door when you leave,” I instructed the servant.

“Don’t you tell your alpha I am here,” Jericho added. “We will only be talking.”

I don’t think we will only be talking. 

When the servant did not even move, I smiled reassuringly at her, silently telling her that everything would be fine. In the end, she obliged until it was only Jericho and I left inside the room. 

“Sunshine.”

I dipped my body into the water, not allowing the man to have a glimpse of my nakedness. However, this bastard had already seen everything in my body. There were no longer secrets between Jericho and me. 

A wave of fury washed through me.

I wanted to kill him. 

“My love… Sunshine,” Jericho said and sighed when he gazed at her. “I missed you.”

“Bullshit.” How dare he show himself and pretend as if nothing had happened? “Are you done fucking your whore and now you have to see me? Did you like fucking her?”

A vein popped in his neck, but he did not say anything. He was clearly choosing his words carefully now. “Sunshine. It was a result of missing you. Remember when Alpha Ezra, your stepfather sent you to an errand? You meet a pack doctor from a neighboring pack. You were gone for a week.”

That was not a lie. I did remember that.

The water became colder than ice. My body shivered and wanted to grab the nearest towel, but by doing so, Alpha Jericho would see my naked body. 

“Don’t give me that kind of lousy excuse, Jericho. I will no longer believe in your pathetic excuse,” I snapped. 

His expression softened and sauntered towards me while looking at my wet body.

“Stop gawking!” I exclaimed. I wanted to pluck his eyes and feed them to the raven. 

There was only one thing he wanted especially if he barged here unannounced, willing to face my stepbrother’s wrath. Sex. 

Looking back, I felt disgusted at myself for being compliant with his sexual needs. 

“If you are thinking about sex, I’m not going to give it to you. Go to whore and slut.”

“I’m not always after that,” he lied. “Sunshine. Can we start again?”

You, manwhore. You treated me like a slut!

I had already given myself to him and that was the greatest thing I had regretted. I promised myself that I would give myself to my ultimate mate only to realize that it was a wrong decision. 

My only consolation was that I was not pregnant.

I dove more into the water with my chin up to my head only visible. “Oh, please, Jericho. We both know that’s a lie. You don’t even love me. Tell me the reason why you wanted to marry me. It’s because of my stepbrother, right? You two haven’t settled your disputes and you two would drag anyone to be even. ” 

He was always active when it came to sex and sometimes even if I was not in the mood, I usually forced myself, or else, he would get mad at me. 

His expression turned cold and pocketed both of his hands. The two were like cats and dogs and never became friends. 

“I hated that bastard's name.”

“I don’t care.” I met his gaze and never wavered. “Go before I call him and he will find out that you were able to enter without his permission.”

“Don’t call that good for nothing alpha. I will be back, Sunshine. I’m not letting you go.” There was a wicked grin on his lips. “I admitted my mistakes, and promised I won’t do it again.”

He was not even feeling a bit of regret. 

I balled my palms into fists. 

“I won’t give you another chance, Jericho.”

Just as I failed to notice his entrance, it was already late when I noticed him disappeared.

I let out an inward sigh of relief. Finally.

How could I be paired with someone as dangerous as an asshole like Jericho?

I hugged myself. 

Another knock resounded. Who could it be?

The strong smell of petals was the reason why I could not identify the person behind that door.

“Who is it?”

It was not Jericho. He did not have the habit of knocking on the door. He just barged in as if he owned the place. 

“It is I, my beloved stepsister,” a man said, full of sarcasm. 

My heart thumped wildly against my ribcage. 

Knoxx. 

After running away with him, our paths no longer crossed. 

He never treated me as his beloved stepsister, but his enemy.

Did he see Jericho? Did he find out that he visited this room?

Relax. If he did find out, he would be storming inside. He did not.

“What do you want? I’m still taking a bath. Whatever you wanted to tell me, do it later,” I responded from the other side of the door. 

Why did he come? He did not usually call me personally except for some important things. 

"Do it fast," he ordered. "I'm giving you three minutes to finish your bath."

He was not at least feeling a bit sorry for my wedding. 

"I haven't savored my bath yet!"

"Do I look like I care? Hurry up!"

I heard his retreating footsteps but called him again. 

"Knoxx! Wait!" He continued walking. Recalling there was only one word that would make him stop, I called, “Brother!”

His footsteps stopped. "Brother? We are not siblings. The only one who had a relationship is your mother and my father. We don't have any relationship at all, woman."

"It’s not like I wanted to be related to you. I don’t want to be related to someone who has not even felt sorry for what he has done."

Grabbing the towel lying on the chair, I wrapped it around my body and opened the door.  

But the delicious scent of mint hit me hard. I looked around, but the hallway was silent. The only one who was in front of me was Knoxx. 

I froze on the spot and locked my eyes with Knoxx.

‘Mate,’ Helena cried inside my mind.