Chapter 5

• Alina's POV
• Dominic stood there, his face grim, Lily pale and trembling behind him.
• Rebecca and Aurora froze at the sight of him. Dominic’s expression was so dark it was terrifying, and as he stepped inside, the air in the room seemed to drop to freezing.
• "Get out." He didn’t even glance at them. His voice was low, but the weight in it made their bodies stiffen, their breath stuck in their throats.
• Aurora opened her mouth, but one look at Dominic’s murderous eyes silenced her. Panicked, she grabbed the unwilling Rebecca and dragged her out.
• The room fell silent. Only the two of us remained.
• I lay on the ground, messy and broken, sharp pain throbbing in my right hand.
• Dominic walked closer and crouched in front of me. His eyes landed on my injured hand, the one Rebecca had crushed. I tried to pull it back, but he caught it. His fingers were hot as they brushed my swollen knuckles. I flinched, and a flash of fury flickered in his eyes, but not at me. That rage was for the two women who had just left.
• “They hurt you,” he said, his voice so low it made me shiver. “You still don’t understand, do you? Every inch of your body… only I can mark.”
• I stayed silent, glaring at him with hatred.
• His brows pulled together, clearly displeased with my silence.
• “Speak,” he ordered.
• I mustered all my strength and glared at him fiercely. It was all because of him. My hand ruined, my dignity shattered, my life in pieces, all because of him. My hatred pierced through him like a blade.
• The flicker of anger in his eyes faded when our gazes met. In its place came something colder, sharper. He seemed to enjoy my hatred, yet it provoked him even more.
• “No words?” His patience snapped. He gripped my chin, forcing my face up to his. “So the mark isn’t enough. Alina, Killian’s fiancée, the so-called ‘goddess’ of the South… I want to see what happens when that goddess is collared and begging at my feet.”
• His words burned through me. He knew. He knew everything.
• He chuckled softly, his lips curling up, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; all that was there was cold cruelty.
• “I’ll tame you until you’re only mine,” he whispered, voice dripping with malice. “I’ll rip apart that holy mask, make you forget yourself, and leave you knowing only how to beg me.”
• My mind went blank.
• He roughly pulled me up from the ground, dragged me to the edge of the bed, and threw me down hard. Before I could even struggle, I saw him walk to a dark wooden cabinet in the corner of the room and take something out. It was a black leather collar with a silver chain attached.
• My blood froze instantly.
• He pressed down on me, his scent of rain-soaked pine filling my lungs, though all I felt was suffocation. With one hand, he pinned my shoulders.
• With the other, he pressed the collar against my neck. The cold leather made me shiver. I shook my head, desperate, but there was no escape.
• The lock snapped shut like a death sentence, tearing away the last of my dignity.
• Then he pulled out a silk ribbon. His eyes flicked to my injured hand, then he grabbed my uninjured wrist instead. He bound it tight, lifted it above my head, and tied it to the bedpost. His knee pressed into my legs, his full weight pinning me down until I couldn’t move at all.
• I was trapped, nailed to the bed like a piece of meat on display.
• My injured hand hung useless at my side, every heartbeat sending sharp stabs of pain through it, a constant reminder of the humiliation I’d just suffered. I felt like a trapped animal, unable to move.
• He stepped back, watching me like I was something he owned, his eyes burning with a twisted hunger.
• “The ‘Goddess’ of the South, the healer everyone praises,” he said with a low laugh, his voice full of mockery. “They all say you’re pure, kind. I wonder… how will it look when that saint cries under me, begging me to destroy her?”
• His words cut deeper than any wound, striking at the pride I carried as a healer.
• Then, suddenly, something was wrong with my body.
• Heat flared deep in my stomach, spreading fast. My skin burned, my bones ached, my heartbeat thundered in my ears, and every breath came ragged and hoarse
• I recognized this feeling. It was my heat.
• But this wasn’t natural. It was him, his Alpha scent, his mate-claiming power, forcing it on me, setting me on fire. My body betrayed me, craving the man I hated most.
• "Beg for me," he spoke, his voice hoarse.
• “Kneel on the bed. Beg me to take you.”
• Tears blurred my eyes, shame choking me.
• I clenched my teeth, refusing to speak.
• But he didn’t move. His scent filled the room, wrapping around me, making the heat worse, forcing my body to want what my heart despised.
• I was losing my mind, the instincts in my body, and the hatred in my heart, tearing me apart.
• In the end, I surrendered to him, "Please, possess me."
• Pleasure, no, humiliation, ripped through me. My body trembled, and I hated every second of it.
• And the ceiling above me blurred through my vision.
• Killian… Killian… please… come quickly… save me…