Tessa's POV
I raised a hand to my burning cheek, blinking rapidly at the tears filling my eyes as Eric glared down at me, chest heaving. He had been the one to kiss me, and all I did was return it.
Why was I being slapped?
Paige got down from the stage and hurried over to us, vengeance alight in her gaze. She wrapped herself all over her husband, who happened to be my mate, causing my wolf inner pain.
I did my best not to react to her overflowing display of affection toward him. She hugged and kissed his face while glaring at me. I reminded myself that I couldn't allow my wolf to attack her, knowing that I would be defeated.
“How could you throw yourself on my husband like that, especially on our anniversary and in our home?” Paige started but was interrupted by my father, who hurriedly approached us and immediately grabbed my arm. He pulled me back and faced the angry couple himself instead.
“Alpha and Luna, I’m sure Tessa is as surprised about the mate bond as you are. Why don’t we go somewhere more private where we can discuss this?”
For the first time, Eric seemed aware of the stares and furious whispers that had enveloped the entire party. He glanced around, glowering at me after taking it all in as if I was the cause of that as well. I try not to let the disdain in his eyes affect me too much.
“Fine.” Eric gritted out.
“Please continue to enjoy yourselves while we go and sort out some… issues. We’ll be right back.” He addressed the crowd loudly before stalking away with Paige in tow.
I followed behind my father with my head hung low, wishing with all my might that the floor could just open up and swallow me whole. My father shared none of my reservations or embarrassment as it seemed though. There was a spring in his step that hadn’t been there an hour before we arrived, and I knew it had everything to do with this sudden occurrence.
As Alpha Eric’s true mate, I was now a useful bargaining chip to further him and his political ambitions. Nothing could bring him more pleasure. Not even me suddenly gaining an Alpha wolf.
When we were safely hidden within what looked like a private conference room, Paige whirled on us, glaring at me the entire time.
“I hate this,” she hissed.
Eric went up to her, reaching out his hands in a placating gesture. “Babe, of course, it won’t. I love you. I’d never go anywhere.”
She gripped his hands possessively and my wolf thrashed. I did my best to hold her steady.
“Well, if the Luna finds a marriage between you and your mate so disagreeable…” My father started, but Luna Paige snarled at his mention of the term mate, and I flinched, wishing he would stop being so inflammatory. “…perhaps Tessa can stay as your mistress instead.”
My jaw dropped at his words, and I gaped at my father, wondering how he could be so cruel.
Did he ever care about me at all? Couldn’t he even pretend a little bit? At least for our dignity's sake?
“Dad, I don’t wa─”
“Quiet!” My dad snapped at me with a furious glare before turning his attention back to the couple, who glared at him with a look akin to disgust.
Even though it was my father whom they were talking to, I couldn’t help but feel some of the shame rub off on me, and I cringed.
“I’m afraid that just wouldn’t work for me, Abel. Paige is the only woman I love. Fate mate or not, with a bond or nothing, Tessa places nothing in my life.”
“And I reject having you as a mate.” I burst out saying, unwilling to let any of them believe, even for a second longer, that I wanted to destroy their marriage.
They both glared at me, my father turning fully to hiss at me. “Don’t you dare reject the Alpha, you good-for-nothing girl!”
“But I─”
“Shut your mouth before I shut it for you! Don’t you know what happens when you reject a mate bond?” he growled.
I felt hurt, but I fell silent because I remembered that if one of the two fated mates rejected the other, then both would be weakened. If they combined, both their powers would be reinforced.
I was already a weak omega; I didn’t care about being even weaker, but as the Alpha of multiple packs by proxy, Eric could not afford to weaken.
In fact, he needed all the reinforcement he could get so he couldn’t outrightly reject me. I guess that would explain why my outburst had earned glares from both him and his wife, despite the fact that he clearly didn’t want me either.
“So if you won’t marry her or keep her as a mistress, how do you plan to take advantage of the power of the mate bond?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I don’t want her anywhere around me.” Eric growled but didn’t deny wanting the advantages of the mate bond. My dad snorted, our position making him bolder than he usually was with the Alpha.
“The mate bond will affect you even worse when you’re separated. You’d want each other constantly. The only way to satisfy your wolves is by consenting to it or rejecting each other outrightly.”
Despite his proclamations of love and loyalty to Paige, I could see the calculation in Eric’s eyes. He considered my presence as if trying to work out how he could eat his cake and have it.
Paige’s eyes were also narrowed on me, but only to assess how much of a threat I would be to them. Well, I would finally give him a worthwhile connection to an Alpha he needed. Greedy, selfish bastards, all three of them.
“Eric?” Paige prompted at his continued silence.
“You won’t intentionally weaken yourself like this, will you, Alpha? You owe it to your pack to maximize the full extent of your power.”
Paige glared at my father, as did I. Why was he doing this? Could he for once care about me past what use I could be to him?
“Dad, I really don’t want to─”
I tried again but to no avail. Dad cut me off with a sharp glare, signaling me to face punishment if I were to interrupt again. Hence, I kept my mouth shut.
“Eric─” Paige started.
“Alpha─” My dad said at the same time.
Eric made a frustrated sound, gripping his smoothly laid hair. “Both of you, stop it! I─I need some space to think!”
With that, he whirled around and left the room.
“Eric!” Paige called out and hurried after him, giving me one last malicious look before she left.
Immediately, the door closed behind them; my dad whirled on me.
“You good for nothing, omega! You couldn’t even shut up your stupid little yap for all of five minutes while I negotiated a proper deal, could you? Do you know what your useless wolf managed to do for you? She got the Alpha’s wolf to pick her as her mate! And you have the gall to reject him?”
He towered over me, his face thunderous, and for a moment, I feared he would hit me. Instead, after one last glare, he turned on his heels and stormed off.
Tears filled my eyes at his departure. I didn’t think I could stay at the banquet for even a second longer. I sorely needed to go home so I could bury my face in the pillow and cry my heart out.
I went down the stairs, intending to find the door. However, sharp pain lanced through my chest, and I gasped, freezing in my tracks at its intensity. For some reason, my wolf felt incredibly hurt, and the emotion seeped into me before I could figure out why.
My mate…he was kissing someone else…I felt the realization in her, and the tears started to rush down my cheek. I cleaned them furiously, continuing to climb down the stairs. I needed to reject Eric.
No matter what anyone said, I refused to resign to being treated like trash for the rest of my life, and that was exactly what would happen if I allowed Eric and my father to use me as they liked.
I got to the ground floor and turned towards the hall that led to the door. My heart squeezed in my chest when I was Eric and Paige locked in a passionate embrace. His back was to me, his arms were wrapped about hers, and his head tilted to the side.
There was so much pain in my chest that I had to look down to make sure I didn’t have a wound there. I couldn’t look away from the scene, my wolf crying out desperately to go to her mate and me doing everything I could to hold her off.
Paige’s arms were already wrapped around his neck, but they tightened. A satisfied glint entered her eyes once she saw me. She growled low in her throat and clutched tighter at Eric, kissing him more deeply.
His hands were around her waist. He had her pressed so closely against him that they might as well have been glued together.
Inside me, my wolf howled.
Eric’s eyes met mine, and a tear slipped down my cheek as he held Paige tighter while his hands groped her ass; all the while, his eyes were locked with mine…
Tessa’s POVIt was a long walk, but I managed to drag my exhausted body all the way home. I got in the shower and changed into my night clothes, ready to go to bed, until I heard a knock at my door.“I need to talk to you,” my father gruffly said before his footsteps disappeared down the stairs.With a deep sigh, I followed after him. He sat in his chair in the living room and eyed me over his glass of gin. The joyful glint in his eyes made me uncomfortable because most things that made him happy tended to bring me great discomfort.“I’ve secured a very special opportunity for you.” I looked at him, confused, and he was eager to fill in the blank spaces. “Starting tomorrow, you’ll work as a maid at the pack house.”I gaped at him in shock. “What? Why?”“To get you in the same vicinity as Eric, of course,” he replied as though it was obvious.I glared at my dad. “He doesn’t want me around him!”Why should I be the one to compromise for his sake? I wanted to reject him, and yet they see
Tessa’s POVI huddled in the corner of the cell, arms crossed over my face to prevent the little gnats that infested the space from reaching me there.It was my third day locked up like an animal in this filthy cage after Paige had caught me almost having sex with her husband. I was well and truly miserable, and there was no end in sight. Not that I deserve an end to this torment.I pretty much earned it, at least from Paige.Despite the days that have passed, I could still vividly remember the shock and anger on her face when she walked in to see us tangled together like that.When she looked at Eric, her profound disappointment and hurt affected me more than I cared to admit. She hated my guts, but I couldn’t blame her for it. I would hate any woman who put me in such a position as well, mate bond be damned.I tried so hard to resist the bond that day. I wasn’t the type of girl who went about destroying other people’s relationships. I didn’t look at guys with girlfriends, much less
Tessa’s POVEric pushed me towards the men, and I did not resist.What was the point?If I didn’t go with them, I would remain in a small, dank cell for the rest of my life until either Paige or Eric decided the mate bond was too much trouble and put me down or something.Immediately, two men rushed forward and held my shoulder and arms on either side so tight that I squirmed in pain.I’ll never be valuable to my pack or my family. Hell, even my mate didn’t care much, so why should I? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad with the Dark Lord. And if it was, I could always escape.Couldn’t I?I cooperated meekly, walking where they led, but one of them still felt the need to nudge roughly at my back, making me stumble as I went outside.I was pushed into the back of a truck, eyes widening at the sight of the other scared, helpless women inside. Most of them were very well dressed, with tasteful, understated jewelry to boot, like some Lunas or at least very high-born ladies whose families had prob
Tessa’s POVI was taken to a separate room away from the other women and handed to an older female servant who promptly forced me into a bath soon after.“Get in there,” she shouted, pushing me into a bath filled with the captivating fragrance of herbs and petals.After she was done, she forced me into a dress resembling lingerie with its sheer top and short skirt. Then, I was half-escorted and half-dragged through the dimly lit halls to the Dark Lord’s room.“Wait! Slow down, please…” I said, almost stumbling forward.Instead of showing mercy, the woman murderously glared at me, instantly making me shut my mouth and blindly follow her.It was just as dim inside, making me squint. The space was rather massive, with a few strategically arranged chairs and other pieces of furniture. A huge flat-screen TV stood in front of the settee arrangement, too big to be mounted on the wall.Off to the side on a small platform, a king-sized bed stood, with black silk sheets and metal hooks on the h
Tessa’s POVI blinked, completely dumbfounded, when he started unzip his pants. For a moment, my gaze fell on his long fingers drawing down the zipper of his tailored slacks.My heart pounded inside my chest as it beat wildly fast while my eyes followed his lowering pants that revealed his incredibly tight briefs that molded around his-I caught myself staring, coming back to my senses and turning my face away with an embarrassed flush.‘Damn! Get a hold of yourself, Tessa,’ I scolded myself.“Oh? Does my little omega like what she sees?” Zane mocked, an unmistakable sneer evident in his voice.The flush on my cheeks deepened but I said nothing. I kept my polite gaze away as I hear his movemnets while changing. All while that, I kept staring at a spot on the wall to the left like its the most intereting thing in the world right now and not that god-like man in the same room with me.“Turn around.” He demanded a few minutes later.With nervous breath, I did as he asked and I was reliev
Zane’s POV“Alpha.” One of the warriors greeted me as I entered the incubation room.It’s where the captured Lunas were imprisoned before they were thrown to where they should belong – as slaves.I was scanning the room, when something glinting caught my eyes.The moonlight reflected on the tip of the iron tightly being held by a petite woman from the corner of the room.“How reckless!” I thought.Standing before her, I observed her appearance and narrowed my eyes with interest.Looking at her useless bravery, only one thing went to my mind. “She’ll be a whole lot of fun as a toy.”And before I knew it, one second I was teasing her, the next, she was screaming in pain while curled up on the ground.I wouldn't lie, I panicked when she passed out in my arms. The moment her eyes shut right, I felt my heart stop. Swearing profusely, I called her name and shook her shoulders several times but she didn’t respond.Laying her back gently on the floor, I fished my phone out of my pocket and
Tessa’s POVA few days had passed since I was dragged over to Zane’s pack. After I regained consciousness that night, he arranged a room for me, and then I hadn’t heard much from him after.It’s a small room with a single bed, a few pieces of furniture, and a small bathroom. There were not many decorations in it. In fact, it looked dull, just a little bit better than the ones for omegas. It’s very clean, to the point that there’s not even a single dust speck to be seen in any nooks.But still, opening my eyes every morning in this room, which was a whole lot better than the basement Eric and Paige threw me into, was already something to be thankful for.Suddenly, loud knocks on the door jolted me.“Breakfast is here!” One of the guards situated outside my door shouted.Hastily, I jumped from my bed and ran toward the door. After all, they didn’t like waiting.The door opened, and a bulky and scary man showed up there, making me subconsciously back away.“Here!” He harshly pushed me th
Tessa’s POVI gasped as I felt something wet land on my neck, a spot just a bit below the back of my ear.The burning feeling caused by the bond punishment slowly became bearable as a tongue slowly slid on the temporary mark on my neck.“No…” I tried to protest, but a moan came out of me instead as Zane started sucking on my skin and his body touching mine, but not enough for me to carry his weight.And just like that, the burning feeling in me turned into a heat of lust, making me thirst for more. Subconsciously, I raised my hand, pressing my palms on his chest and sliding it up until I had it wrapped around his nape.Just as I arched my body, I slowly drowned in the tingling sensations brought by Zane’s actions and the temporary mark he gave me. He pulled away from me as if nothing happened, leaving me restless and needing more.I panted as my body fell on the mattress, feeling so wet in my core like I’d never been before, and my throat went dry like I’d been thirsty to death.“Bett