BellaI didn’t want him to stop. His lips were soft. His hands were rough. His scent clouded my mind.As I lean into him, his fingers tug at my sweatshirt. Grazing my skin underneath. Sparks fly across my stomach at his touch.“Stop.” I murmur against his lips. I just wasn’t ready for anything more. No matter how natural it seemed to be.His hands retreat. He kisses me again. A little harder and hungrier than before. His lips move to my jaw and down on my neck.It felt wrong but so good until I feel his teeth. He was going to mark me if I didn’t say something.Why couldn’t I say anything?Aiden pauses, like he was waiting for me to tell him to stop and yet I couldn’t. I was strong. I was independent and yet I couldn’t tell him to stop.His teeth break the skin on my neck. His canines descend, penetrating deep into my flesh as he locks onto me. His hands hold me steady as his teeth seem to sink even deeper.I couldn’t move. I felt powerless, like I was having my life stripped away from
Aiden“Is she actually asleep?” Leighton asks quietly.For a brief moment I listen to her steady, slow beating heart. “Yes”“She’s fucking nuts.”But was she? She was trained to be aggressive. To be able to kill with no remorse. She walked into that room with one goal and she succeeded. Even if it was a brutal death.“Maybe.” I mutter back. “But neither of us were in that room. We only saw the aftermath. And as far as I’m concerned, he got everything he deserved. Besides, it’s not like we have never killed anyone.”“I kill on orders.” He mutters back"So do I, usually. Plus William Creedance was supposed to be dead.”Bella’s head was resting against my shoulder. Her lips curved up in a slight smile. Her hands were stained with crimson. But she looked peaceful. She had closed the door on her past.“Do you think we need to be worried?” Leighton whispers.“About what?”“Your mate.” He murmurs. He hadn’t really appreciated me keeping Bella around after she tried strangling Halle. He had b
Bella“It’s treason, plotting against the Queen.” Aiden murmurs, pacing the hallway. “Either they have high hopes their plan will work or they haven’t got a clue who she is.”“They know.” I mutter. Of course they knew. They were killing males but going after females to do who knows what to them. The Queen would be the ultimate goal.When I look up, he is staring at me. “You know more than what you are saying.”“I don’t. Or at least I don’t think I know more. Don’t you think it's all weird?”“Weird? My mother is missing and you are calling it weird!“That’s not what I mean. Until now, no female has been reported missing. Why?”He shakes his head at me. “I don’t know. What I do know is that we are wasting time.”“What if they are like me?”He shakes his head at me. Not following what I was trying to say.“Once, a prized possession until they were no good anymore. Tossed aside because they had become to much of a threat. Sold to the highest bidder.”“Dom’s dead.” I nodded my head. I kne
AidenDead humans surrounded Leighton and I. Leighton pulls his claws out of the final human as I look around. I couldn’t sense Bella or Halle. Panic ripples through me as I scan the forest.I hurry back to the tree where Halles and Bellas scent disappears.‘Where are they?’ Leighton links me‘I don’t know.’I hadn’t felt Bella’s fear or worry. Quickly climbing the tree, I search for signs of her. Surely she wouldn’t have done anything stupid? There were no signs of my mate or my sister. It was like they had vanished into thin air.‘Are any of the humans alive?’ I link Leighton as I drop to the groundLeighton shakes his head. His eyes are wide with rage. He loved my sister and right now, I knew he was blaming my mate for her disappearance.‘Bella?’ I try linking her and then Halle, but just like my mother, there was no answer.I shake my head at Leighton. He launches a fist at the tree and something falls from the branch, landing with a small thud in the fallen leaves.Bella’s watc
BellaI gasp for breath as I sit up. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. Faint sobs echoed around me.I was in some sort of cage. A dungeon maybe. Groaning, I push myself to my feet. My entire body ached. The last thing I remember is the clawed hand around my throat. Squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.“Bella.” My name is whispered in the darkness.Turning to my left, I see Aiden’s mother, Lilah, staring back at me. Her hands gripped around the bars that separated our cages.Even in the darkness, I could see how tired and ill she looked.As I turn my head, I see that it isn’t just us. There are dozens of women, some are barely women at all. Just children, who cowered away.“How long?” I mutter, rubbing the side of my head“They dumped you in there a couple of hours ago.”“Hours?” I was surprised it had taken me so long to wake up. But that wasn’t the main thing puzzling me. There were no scents down here.“They inject everyone.” Lilah whispers as my eyes scan the darkness.“Wit
Aiden“You need to get a grip!” I glare at my father. We had waited hours for him to sober up. Halle, forever being the good girl, had stayed by his side, dabbing his forehead with a cloth.When he woke up, the first thing he asked for was for someone to bring him a bottle of whisky. Halle had quickly disappeared. But I made it clear if she brought him another drink, she would be out of the house.My father glares back at me with his blue eyes. “You haven’t got a clue what this feels like.”“I haven’t? Bella is missing too.”“She is?”I nod“It’s not the same. You haven’t confirmed your bond. You haven’t marked her.”“You don’t remember?” I thought he had seen her mark. We had been to see him since I had marked Bella. But he had stunk of alcohol then.“How much have you been drinking?” I mutter.“It doesn’t matter. Your mother is gone.”“I don’t believe that. And as a King, you shouldn’t either. Not until we have proof.”“Forever the optimist.” He mutters with a shake of his head.“I
BellaEvery inch of me hurts. I hurt more than I have ever hurt before. My bones, my flesh and yet, somehow, I couldn’t remember anything that had happened to me. Before waking in my sister’s room. The last thing I could recall was being dropped back into that dungeon. I hadn’t been beaten then. I had just been dropped. A girl spoke to me and then everything went dark.I smell his warm chocolate scent like I had when I woke in Darcy’s room. I let my eyes creep open. The bright light giving me an instant headache.“How are you feeling?” He presses his lips to my cheek.“Sore.” I hated it. Out of all the things that had been done to me, this was the worst. They had made sure I was unconscious for it too. Was it Christian or had he asked someone else to beat me to a pulp?I try to move. At first it felt like there was something wrong with me. Like my body was fighting against me. It took me a second to realise I was tied down again.My chest pounded as I scanned the room.“Bella, you’v
Aiden“Well, where is she?” My father mutters as I enter the office alone.“She’s freaking out. Halle’s calming her.”“Halle? I take it that you told her about Myra then?”“I didn’t get a chance. Halle will probably tell her. It seems she has a way of telling Bella things before I do.”“Maybe Halle just hates the fact that you are keeping secrets. Whatever the reason is, I still need to talk to her.”“Dad, you know what she’s been through. Do you really want her to try and remember what they did to her? Would you make mum do the same thing?”He glares at me with his brilliant blue eyes.“I just need to give her a little bit of space to breathe.” I mutter. Otherwise, she will shut down. And we will be right back to square one, where I could barely get a word out of her.“Are you sure that’s what she needs?”“Yes.” I say confidently. “I may not be able to sense her at the moment. I have to trust what I see with my eyes. And I see her.”“How are you so calm?” He quizzes me. “You know wha