Chapter 4 Hate Is An Understatement

• DAXTON
• Her rage was undoubtedly growing by the second. I could understand that she hated the way I'd used her the previous night. But this anger of hers had only been triggered the moment she'd recognized me.
• "Impossible. You can't be my mate," she spat the words like venom.
• She was such a feisty little thing. It was adorable.
• "Why not?" The words had barely left my lips when she knocked her knee into my ribs. Grabbing her thighs, I kept her still, our gazes locked. A groan tumbled out of my lips as my cock hardened, heat flooding my insides.
• "I, Arya Nightshade, reject you—" she didn't get to complete her statement. She was the most interesting being I'd seen a long time, why should I let her go?
• "Silence," I hissed, using my compulsion spell on her.
• Her eyes dilated, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
• "From this moment, you are forbidden from rejecting me," I continued, ensuring that she could never reject me even if she tried.
• She parted her lips to speak, in a bid to defy me, but only managed to let out a croak.
• "You must hate me," I said and she growled at me, her brown contacts fading to reveal her bright lilac eyes. Fascinating.
• "Hatred is an understatement," she spat and I felt a tickle at the back of my throat as amusement washed over me. I had several enemies, enough to last me for a lifetime. Yet, there was something different about this one.
• She was my mate, one who hated my guts so badly, I could almost smell her rage. A feeling of Deja vu hit me and shortly after, I realized what was going on.
• Releasing her, I straightened and turned away from her to keep the evidence of my arousal out of her sight. A deranged chuckle slipped out of my lips. I hadn't laughed in years. Even so, the sound came out effortlessly.
• My curse had finally struck.
• "Is this amusing to you?" my mate, Arya, said. Her name was pretty just like her.
• Was she going to be the one who ends me just like the curse had dictated?
• If it was so, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all.
• "You can leave now. Get yourself cleaned up," I said to her and she quickly got out of bed, hurrying out of my room without sparing me a glance.
• ...
• A while later, I sat in my study with my younger brother who was my beta.
• "I was doing you a favor, brother. You have been on the path to self-destruction, refusing to feed your beast even when you had the chance to," Mason said to me with a cocky expression on his face.
• "I could have killed her, you know that," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.
• "I just wanted my brother back," he said and I looked away from him. I knew I couldn't blame him for being desperate. I knew he feared losing me because he could tell that I was slipping. After all I'd chased after my own death only a few days before.
• "I want you to perform a background check on the woman you brought to me," I told him and he raised a brow.
• "Now what's this about?" he asked and I spun my chair around to face the window.
• "She's my mate," I told him and he muttered a string of curses under his breath.
• "...Dax, you can't keep her around. If the curse really exists, she's dangerous," he said and I closed my eyes, excitement coursing through my veins.
• "It doesn't matter. I want her. It must be the curse, my desire for her is so strong, I can barely think," I told him.
• What's worse is that I meant it literally. Even while I sat there in my office, I had a painful erection that throbbed with desire. No matter how hard I'd tried to relieve it, nothing had changed.
• "What are you going to do about the curse?" Mason asked quietly, the words laced with barely restrained anxiety.
• If I confessed that I had surrendered to my fate, he was most definitely going to freak out, so I lied.
• "There has to be a way to break it. I'll figure it out," I replied and he released a sigh before announcing his departure.
• Once I was all alone, I closed my eyes, willing myself to relax. Eventually, I sank into an uneasy slumber and dreamt of the night that changed everything....
• Blood. There was so much blood on her body. A cry ripped out of my throat as I cradled her limp form against my chest.
• She can't be dead. No.
• I killed her.
• A howl of pain escaped my lips as I felt the mating bond shatter, agony piercing right through me.
• The door opened and I looked up, my gaze meeting a familiar pair of blue eyes.
• My mate's twin sister.
• "You killed her, you monster! I shouldn't have let her be with you! I curse you! You will die by the hands of your next mate!" She screamed at me. My ears buzzed and my vision blurred, tears crawling down my cheeks as electricity travelled down my spine...
• I sat up in my chair with a gasp, my heart thundering against my rib cage. I narrowed my eyes when I perceived Arya's familiar sweet scent.
• "Who's there?" I called out but got no response from the intruder whose erratic heartbeat I could hear.
• "I know you're here," I said through gritted teeth and the door creaked open.
• Arya walked in with a cup of tea which must have been brewed by Sally. She was wearing cleaner clothes and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor, refusing to look me in the eyes.
• "Sally asked me to bring your tea to you," she said in an uneasy tone.
• I watched her as she placed the cup of tea on my desk and immediately turned away, nearly breaking into a sprint towards the door.
• "Stop," I ordered and she went still, her body going rigid. I couldn't trust that she hadn't poisoned my tea. Although I didn't mind dying by her hands, now wasn't the right time. It was too early.
• "Turn around," I said and she silently obeyed me, her head still hanging low. It was strange. Where did my firecracker go? Why was she suddenly so obedient?
• Picking up the cup of tea, I moved towards her and halted right in front of her.
• "You poisoned my tea, didn't you?" I asked and she looked up at me, her fiery lilac gaze meeting mine. That was more like it.
• "I wouldn't try something so risky," she droned and I cracked a smile, lifting the cup above her head.
• Her eyes widened as I tilted the cup, pouring it's content over her head. She gasped in shock, brown liquid dripping from her hair and face. My gaze wandered lower and dipped over the outline of her erect nipples through her damp shirt. My cock hardened, lust clouding my senses.
• She parted her lips to speak and I hushed her, bringing a hand to the curve of her jaw.
• When I moved closer to her, she shuffled backwards until her back collided with the wall. Her breathing had gone ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
• I leaned in, my lips brushing hers. She stifled a moan and I pulled away from her, amused.
• Just how long could she fight her own desire?
• "If there's nothing left to say, I should get going," she blurted out and turned towards the door.
• "Tonight, I want you in my room," I said and she stiffened.
• "Fighting me will do you no good," I added, hoping to fuel her frustration.
• She paused at the door, pivoting on her heels to face me.
• "What?" She spat, her chest heaving. "Are you going to kill me just like you killed your first mate?" She demanded and I froze, my chest tightening as my beast pushed to the surface. Rage tinted my vision red and in the blink of an eye, I was in front of her, my hands around her throat.