Brayden.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to torture me by having to see and hear him. He had to follow me back here too.
“Looking good, Syn,” Brayden commented, obviously sizing up my ass from his vantage point just outside the door.
For a second, I was tempted to just ignore him, but I knew from experience that it would only make it worse. For a guy who had sent our relationship to the farthest reaches of hell…he just couldn’t completely let me go.
“Thanks, Bray,” I said, wincing as the nickname slid off my tongue…probably similar to how Syn had slid off his.
I’d once been wildly in love with him and everything I thought he represented. He’d taken that devotion and used up every inch of it until I’d given him everything.
And as soon as he’d gotten that, he’d done what he’d always planned on doing; he cast me away.
I forced myself to meet his gaze, trying not to remember how it felt that day, trying not to remember how the word “reject” had sent fissures down my spine and how it had felt like I was missing something ever since that day.
And as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn’t blame him. Not really. Even if it was the Moon Goddess’ wish, no one in this pack would have ever wanted to be with me. Not after what my father did.
Besides massacring at least five members of the pack, including Brayden’s older sister, he’d set fire to our house after shooting my mother and drugging my brother. He’d meant for me to die in my room that night too, but of course, I’d woken up. Even after waking my brother up, my father had been sure to finish the job by tearing him to shreds while Jamie had tried to save me. I shivered when I thought about the moment I’d woken up in the hospital and realized that everyone I’d loved was gone.
The scars on my back and ass might be an outward reminder of my trauma, but I was certain the scars on my insides were much worse.
So no, I didn’t blame Brayden for rejecting me. But I did blame him for making me fall in love with him, taking my virginity, and then casting me out in front of the entire pack.
That I did blame him for.
Brayden showed no sign that he was suffering from the same feelings I was. All I saw was lust in his eyes even though I knew firsthand he wasn’t fond of what was underneath my clothes. Looking at my scars, you couldn’t forget my father’s sins.
I jerked my gaze away from him and heaved the full keg up, briefly squeezing my eyes shut from the pain. It felt like the skin on my back was about to tear. Of course, Brayden made no move to help me.
Awkwardly, I tried to move past him, but he put an arm out, blocking my way. I dropped the keg, unwilling to deal with the pain when I didn’t know how long Brayden’s bullshit was going to take.
“I’ve been thinking about us,” he said with a grin I’d once thought was sexy.
“Was that before or after you fucked one of the betas?” I asked, noticing the red lipstick on his collar.
I clamped a hand over my mouth the second it came out, shocked I’d actually said that out loud.
Brayden looked shocked too before he got a grip on himself and let out a dark chuckle.
“The smart mouth is new, Syn,” he said with a grin that showed off his pearly white teeth.
My stomach clenched. Once upon a time, I’d wanted him to know everything about me.
I pursed my lips and picked up the keg again, managing not to grimace this time, which was in itself a miracle.
I ducked under his arm, and he huffed out a laugh.
“I still think about that night, baby,” he called to me as I made my way steadfastly down the hallway.
My hands shook around the keg as I struggled not to cry…or drop the keg and punch him in the face.
I did everything I could to not think about that night.
I trembled as I slid my shirt off my body, tingles cascading across my skin as I felt his gaze watching me hungrily. My breath came out in soft pants as he leaned against the wall, fisting himself as he stared.
Was I really going to do this? We were mates. The Moon Goddess herself had proclaimed it. He was the guy that everyone wanted, including me. I’d heard the rumors about the girls he’d been with, but this was different. He had to feel this same pull. This light inside of me that was solely focused on him.
Brayden slid his pants off and then ambled towards me as I stood there trembling, a mix of fear and desire coursing through my body. He wrapped an arm around me, freezing when he touched the warped skin…
He hadn’t been able to hide the disgust he’d felt that night after seeing my scarring, but it hadn’t stopped him from taking my innocence.
He pulled out of me and rolled to his back, huffing out a long breath before sliding out of bed all the way and throwing on his clothes. I pulled the covers up to my chin, watching him, confused.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
He grinned at me, the same grin that had girls throwing themselves at him for any crumb he was willing to give. This grin had one thing those others did not, though—a lick of cruelty that had my stomach shriveling up with dread.
“You didn’t really think that the future Alpha of the pack would end up with the daughter of a murderer, did you? Especially the scarred daughter of a murderer?” He spat the words out like it should have been obvious to me this whole time. And, of course, it had seemed too good to be true, that someone like him would ever be interested in someone like me.
But the Moon Goddess…
He laughed scornfully, pulling my attention back to him. “Ahh, you did think that. Let’s make it super clear so there’s not a misunderstanding. Emersyn Landry, I reject you as my mate and cast you away from me forevermore.”
Something shattered inside of me, and I hunched over, my breath coming out in gasps as the light inside of me that had been for him shriveled up and disappeared.
My steps hitched for a moment, but I kept walking down the hallway. Fated mate or not, Brayden was an asshole, and I would never make a mistake with him again.
“Don’t take another step,” he ordered, the Alpha power threading through his voice.
I froze, my wolf growling desperately inside of me. But there was nothing she could do…nothing that I could do either. I dropped the keg, the loud thump echoing through the hallway. I didn’t bother to turn and look at him. I didn’t owe him anything.
His footsteps sounded down the hallway until he was standing right behind me, his breath falling softly on my skin. I shivered, but not because it felt good.
“Kiss me,” he ordered softly, the same power sounding from his voice. A teardrop trailed down my face, and I quickly wiped it away. I fought every move that my body made to turn around and obey him, but it was no use. My lips met his, and I shuddered with revulsion as his tongue dipped into my mouth. His arm reached around my waist to squeeze my butt, and a soft cry slipped from my mouth in fear of what he would do next.
He’d enjoyed torturing me since his rejection, enjoyed ordering me to serve him while he was on dates and with his friends, but he’d never forced me to do anything sexually.
My wolf whined inside of me. If I’d been allowed to shift, she would be trying to tear him to shreds right now, or at least tear off his manhood so he could never use it on anyone again.
He finally pulled his lips from mine, smiling smugly and staring down at me like he thought I’d be panting off of him. I made sure not to move. I didn’t want to do anything to trigger his hunter instinct and push him to go further.
“Still sweet as sin,” he murmured, a sadistic gleam in his eyes. I barely held in my scoff at his attempt at cleverness. Like he was the first one to say something like that, especially with the fact that I was indeed the daughter of a murderer. “Syn” and “sin” had gone hand in hand my entire life.