His Devilish Mate

Nothing is free

MALLERY’S POV

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Agitated, buried under all this material and stuffed in high heels like the only doll I had causes every inch of my skin to feel on fire. It’s hot and I continue to wave myself with my hand like it’s is a fan. “Are you alright Luna?” The petite woman asks, she's wearing a black t-shirt and jeans with a white apron. "I'm not the luna," my hands fist the soft, sage green dress as I try not to freak out, but my chest feels like it's being crushed by the weight of the world and I'm struggling to breathe. “You look pale, Luna.” She mutters in concern and no matter how much I inhale deep breaths, the oxygen doesn’t travel to my lungs. “Get it off,” I step down from the small stool, turning my back to her. “What?” She asks shocked, “Get it off!” I bellow and brush my hair over my shoulders to the front. She quickly undoes the strings of the open back and I slide the thin straps off my shoulders. The material pools at my feet and only when I step outside of the small circle, I can breathe.

I pace over to the small table that has a glass and a tall glass carafe. I pour water into the glass and gulp the liquid in one sip. Water rolls down the sides of my mouth onto my chest as my head is tilted back and I put the glass down, making a loud noise before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I’m standing in just underwear, my chest rising and falling fast. “Luna?” The girl mutters. She sounds worried and when I lift my gaze off the tiled floor and look at her, her gaze falls. “Look, I’m not the luna,” I sigh, “I just got here,” I add irritably, “And I don’t even know where I am,” I deadpan. “I’m sorry, you are at the Crescent pack.” I scoff as she tries to explain. The only pack I remember is my old one, the Cunning pack. I don’t even know where that is anymore. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” I sigh. I think I’m just overwhelmed with all of this, I went from living freely in the woods without a bother to being kept in this house. “That’s alright,” she smiles shyly. “Can I…can I just have a t-shirt?” I ask and her eyebrows raise as she stares at me with wide eyes. She has big brown eyes, and with the sunlight coming through the window, they look like a honey colour.

“A t-shirt?” She turns to the fully clothed closet, Jace said that he had someone go buy clothes early in the morning, everything I ever needed and it felt like a ridiculous thing to do. I never got new clothes even when I was a kid. I use to get my sister’s old clothes and was told that when I learned how to take care of things, then I could get new things. I never tore clothes and made sure when I make them dirty, I cleaned them.

“Yeah, I just want to be comfortable,” I shrug as she looks through the wardrobe. “I don’t see…Oh, here,” she pulls out a small t-shirt that would fit me, but it won’t cover my bottom half. “Is there a bigger size?” I ask in hopes that there is, “No, just some dresses…” she stares at me with a worried gaze, “Oh, something a little more loose than that?” I point at the dress that she hung up on a hanger. “Yeah, there are dresses that aren’t tight,” she spins around, putting the t-shirt back and she pulls out a few dresses. “Which one?”, “That one,” I point at the black and she hands it to me. It just looks like a really long t-shirt and I put it on.

“Are you hungry?”, “Actually, can you find Jason?”, “Alpha Jason?” She asks concerned, “Yeah.” I nod and she starts to get flushed, “Of course,” she smiles excitedly and leaves. I glance around the room before sitting down on the small cushioned chair and I fiddle with my fingers when there's a light knock on the door and I look up to Jace poking his head into the room. "You decent?" he asks teasingly, "I think that you're supposed to ask that before looking inside," I snort and he sighs as he pushes the door open and walks inside, "I guess," he shrugs, smiling as he walks over to the bed and sits down, looking straight at the dress, "Do you like the dress?" he asks while smiling at me. "Sure," I shrug and his smile falls, "What's wrong with it?" he asks concerned, "Nothing, it's just...tight." I stare at it, remembering how it hugged me so tight that I felt like I was being squashed on the inside, not out, "It's supposed to be,", "I can't breathe in it,", "It's your size,", "It's not squeezing me, it's suffocating me," I deadpan and his eyes widen, "You're not used to...", "No," I answer without him finishing his sentence. "Right, so...do you want to pick out your dress?" he asks, his eyebrows raised, wrinkles forming on his forehead. "No, I don't want another dress. I don't want a dress, you can't just buy me things," I stand, turning to look out of the window, "But you don't have anything..." he states the obvious, "I've managed with nothing," I deadpan, "Well you can't really show up naked, can you?" the sarcastic tone in his voice makes my blood boil.

"I guess not," I mumble under my breath, "Then let me take you shopping,", "It won't feel right." I grit out. My eyes sting, tears forcing themselves into my eyes, tears I don't want. "Why not? I'm your mate, I'm supposed to take care of you,", "I work for what I get, if I'm hungry, I hunt, if I need to bathe, I use the river, not fancy showers with hot water..." I shake my head, holding myself, "If I'm cold, I shift to use the coat of my wolf to keep me warm." I deadpan, I work for everything, I endure cold baths and it felt weird when I had warm water to shower under earlier. "You don't have to work a day in your life, not here,", I turn to face my mate, "But my mom always said...", "Wait," He holds his hand in the air, tilting his head, "You care about what the woman said who abandoned you?", "She didn't want to..." I shake my head, frowning at him, "But she did...", "You would have too," I snap and he pulls his head back, looking at me baffled, "I wouldn't, I gave you a solution." his eyes flick to the bracelet around my wrist.

I stare at the bracelet, my jaw rolling as a fiery feeling alights in my chest, a dark presence wrapping around my spine as my muscles tense, "A solution? You call this a solution?" I snap, "This is slavery, this is cutting off my only source of protection." I seethe, "No," he stands, holding his hands up, "That bracelet is protecting you from heartache, it's saving you from feeling the darkness after you kill someone," the shame flows through my blood, my face heating up and I have no doubt I'm red in the face. He's right, if only I had this bracelet as a child, I would still have my mom and a family, a family who maybe could have loved me for who I am. "That darkness you feel..." he points out the hallow hole in my chest, "That's the magic fighting to surface," he explains calmly, "And that bracelet is stopping it. I don't know how terrible it feels, but you can work through this. I will help you," he smiles and just knowing that I have his support makes me calm down. "You're not scared of me?" I ask, "No, because you won't ever hurt me," he shrugs, seeming so full of himself, but I won't ever hurt him. He's my mate.

"So, a dress..." he grins, his eyes sparkling as his face lights up, "Can I at least do something for you to deserve it?" I ask. Jace sighs, his shoulders lowering, "Do you really need to?" he asks and I nod as an answer, "You can wash my car," he grins and my head slants to the side, "I can do that," I smile, feeling better that I'm working for what I'm getting, "But..." he strides over to the beautiful wood dresser with drawers and opens the second one, pulling out a red two-piece swimsuit, "You have to wear this," he tosses it to me and I stare at the little material, not caring that it's nothing because it looks comfortable, "Deal,", "Then get changed and I'll be back in a few minutes," he winks and leaves.

I stand in front of the mirror, looking at my reflection wearing the bright red swimsuit and I love the fabric. I turn to the side, looking at my bum and how it barely covers my ass, but it's comfortable and I don't mind it one bit. "Come in!" I yell when someone knocks and Jace stands in shorts and a pair of sunglasses on top of his head, "Are you ready?" he grins, "Are you helping me?" I frown, "Oh no, I'm just going to show you and then sit there, and watch," he grins, his jaw tight as his eyes trail over my body. "Watch?" I ask concerned. He's going to watch me wash his car while I wear so little? "Yes and you better hurry, you have half an hour," he grins, nodding his head and I follow him out. He grabs two towels from a closet in the hall and heads outside.

I stand frozen while staring down at the matt black car, "What car is it?" it looks kind of sporty, "Audi R8," he shrugs and fetches the hose. Someone brings out a bucket of water and shampoo, a soft cloth, and hands it to me. "So you use the hose, rinse the car. You pour some car soap into the hot water, use the cloth to wash, and then rinse when you're done." he shrugs and pulls out another material cloth out of his back pocket, "And this is too dry, but I'll hold onto this while you clean," he grins and sits down on the very low chair, his legs stretched out in front of him and he pulls his glasses down to his eyes, "Go on," he grins and I shrug the weird feeling off before I start working.