Chapter 0007

Valeria’s POV

Perhaps this is not the best idea. Perhaps I’m being stupid by ruining the last chance I would probably have at a good future, but screw it. I will show him what I am.

I take a step back from Ares, meeting his gaze as I communicate to my wolf.

“You can take control,” I tell Maia. “Show him what we are.”

“But that will drive him away,” Maia reasons out. I can tell that she’s already forming an attachment to Ares. “We can’t have him leave. He is our second-chance mate. He can’t get away from us.”

“No, we want him to get away,” I tell her sternly.

Maia can’t protest anymore. I can feel her reluctance, but soon enough, I can already feel my body morphing into our wolf form. My body expands and fur grows out of my skin, my ears migrating to the top of my head as nails and fangs emerge out of me. 

I know that this process should be accompanied by strength and power, but that is not the case for me. The only sensations that come with the act of shifting are shame and pain.

Finally, I stand in front of Ares in my wolf form. I can almost see how white and weak I am, how obviously out of place. I try to turn around to let him see my entirety, but my left hind leg is still mangled and I have to limp.

Through mind-link, I tell Ares, “This is what I am. A cursed white wolf.”

He doesn’t say anything. He just kneels down to my level and looks at me intensely.

“If you know what’s best for you, you would reject me right now,” I continue. “I can’t be your mate, much less your Luna Queen. Your people would find me repulsive.”

Instead of responding, Ares reached out and touched my side. The warmth of his fingers is enough to make me flinch, but I find my restless nerves relaxing at the contact of his skin on mine. I close my eyes, almost collapsing at the gentleness of his touch.

“Did they do this to you?” he asks softly. “All of these… scars.”

For a moment I don’t know what he’s saying. Then it occurs to me: every single one of the beatings I take becomes a permanent thing for my wolf form. Instead of having fast healing like everyone else, it’s Maia who becomes damaged and beaten whenever I get hurt in my human form. That’s the curse we have to endure, eternal and slow pain.

And my family knows that. My father knows, most of all, how all the pain he inflicts upon me as a human gets multiplied tenfold by my wolf form. 

That is the exact same reason why he hurts me physically. He knows it’s deeper. He knows it would hurt me more.

He even encouraged my stepmother and stepsister to do the same.

I don’t want to bring more shame to them, but what should I say to Ares? Should I lie? I’m already out of the house and out of my dad’s responsibility. 

“Yes,” I say at last, my voice dipping in volume. “They’re the ones who did this.”

Ares’s expression doesn’t change. He looks calm, but there’s something brewing behind those eyes. It’s staring out the window as a thunderstorm rolls out. You know you’re safe, but you also know that there would be chaos outside.

“It’s something everyone does to me,” I explain to him quickly. “It’s my curse. Whatever I feel gets multiplied by my wolf. It’s just the way it is.”

“You still defend them.” He lets his hand roam to the side of my face. “How can they do this to such a precious Werewolf?”

Precious? I want to echo derisively, but his touch is almost magical. I swallow hard, his softness spreading all over me like a balm.

But when I turn to him, I see that all calmness left his eyes. He’s now angry. Livid.

“Ares?” I try to hazard. “It’s not like that, I promise--”

“Get back to your human form.”

There’s no negotiating that. His voice is pure ice and venom at this point.

I shift to my human form, the injuries vanishing. I’m naked before him, so I dive to retrieve my dress and quickly put it on while he’s too angry to notice. But his eyes are still glued on me, as intense as ever.

His hands are balled into fists. His chest is rising and falling rapidly. I want to touch his shoulder, but I decide against it in the end.

“You have to let me go now, right?” I mumble. “You’ve seen what I am. You know that I’m incapable of being your mate and your Luna Queen. You will find someone else, I am certain--”

“Stop.”

I step back. “But you know what I meant. I’m just making it clear that I know my value, and that is next to nothing. It would be good for you to--”

“I said stop!”

Before I can utter another word, Ares crosses the space between us and pins me against the tree. His glorious naked body is pressing against mine, and I start to resent the single layer of clothing between us. 

I can’t resist it anymore. The bond between us is strong. I lift my hand to touch his chest, reveling at the sensation of his hard muscles….

But then he grabs my wrist and holds it above my head.

My breath gets knocked out of me. My dress slides down and reveals my breasts. His eyes roam hungrily from my face to my chest down to my legs, and I feel his hard member pulsing against me.

“You have to let me go,” I whisper. “Right now, and as your mate.”

“No,” Ares says firmly, leaning forward until his lips are brushing against mine. “I will not reject you. Never.”

Heat blooms between my legs. “Then I will have to reject you.”

The corners of his lips lift into an angry sneer. “As if I would let you do that. You have me mistaken, Valeria. You’re not getting away from me this easy.”

I lift my gaze to his in the hopes of telling him off, but my voice escapes my body when I see his eyes growing dark. Black, even. That tells me this he’s mind-linking someone, but his focus is still on me. I try to buck him off, but he only pins me down harder.

A moan escapes my lips. I can’t help it. My mind is starting to wander. His lips are so dangerously close to mine and I find that all I want to do is kiss him, devour him bit by bit, and let him ravage me here and now. 

In fact, I find myself pressing my breasts against him, my nipples rubbing against the warm skin of his chest. My hips seem to be moving on their own, gyrating and begging for the pulsing hardness he’s pressing on me. He’s smirking at me with his dark eyes, mirroring my movements and almost sending me close to the edge.

“Ares,” I beg, but then he stops. “Why… why did you….”

He steps away from me, breathing hard with that angry smirk still on his face. His eyes have gone back to their original bright color, but they’re still filled with the same kind of lust.

My face goes hot. What the hell did I just do?

Did he really almost make me climax without doing much at all? Without touching me?

I don’t remember being this fired up by anyone before, not even Matthew, who I loved very much. Hell, I thought I wanted to be married to Matthew, and yet I never felt this much desire for him.

What is Ares doing to me?

I’ve never been desperate for a man before. I’ve never wanted a man to touch me this bad before. He’s changing everything. He’s doing things to me that I never thought were possible.

I lower my head in shame and pull up my dress to cover myself. “I need to leave.”

“No, we’re leaving,” he corrects me. “Did I not make it convincing enough? Or do you wish me to continue what I just started? After all, you were close to finishing, aren’t you?”

Silence. I can’t say anything. I’m way too embarrassed to even try speaking. 

But of course, that doesn’t stop me from trying.

As he picks up a fallen robe and covers himself with it, I stammer, “But nothing has changed. I’m still unworthy of you, and if you’re really going to refuse me, I would have to refuse you--”

The rest of my words get cut off when he yanks me by the arm and gets me walking.

“Hey!” I protest. “Let me go!”

Ares wheels around on me and smiles coldly. “Not until we find the people who hurt you. Not until I make them pay.”