Please Reject Me.

Snap.

“I am one of the High Lords of Avangala,” I explained. “Species wise I guess you could call me a Fenrir.” I worried she would want to leave after she heard that. The Fenrir are like wolves but bigger, faster, stronger in every way. We were the polar opposites to the Selunite wolves. They embraced the moonlight while Fenrir’s embraced the darkness. Our beasts are not separate from us, we are them and they are us. No voices in our head, just one voice in unison knowing exactly what we want.

“Does being High Lord give you special powers?” She questioned, her free hand brushed along my wrist.

The tingles spread everywhere she touched. “No, being the son of Jasper and Morgana does.”

Her eyes lingered at the bite mark she left me. “Would you like to taste me again?” I jested. A soft red flushed her cheeks and she looked away. Oh, this is new, it seemed like the first time I had seen her want anything, she was adorable. “You’ve done it once, it wouldn’t hurt or change anything now,” I mused, nearly unable to control myself. This damn blood bond was interfering with any kind of rationale that I had, though it was true that her tasting me again wouldn’t change anything.

I wanted to feel her lips on my skin. I wanted my lips to be on her skin.

“I shouldn’t,” she shook her head.

“And if I wanted you too,” I caught her hands in mine and leaned in closer. I could see the struggle in her eyes, but there wasn’t a color shift, her wolf was still dormant. How can that be possible? I noticed slight iridescent coloring as well and was more intrigued by the woman before me. But behind everything was a deep fear that things would get out of hand.

Her breath was shaky as she breathed me in. “I won’t force you too Hesperia. I will never make you do something you do not want to do,” I assured her.

“That’s the problem,” she looked at me confused. “Why is it that even after everything that has happened to me… I still want you to touch me?”

Those words nearly sent me into a frenzy. I closed my eyes and let go of her hands, stepping away. I wanted her more than I knew but I didn’t want to take advantage of a bond she knew nothing about.

“Carden?” Hesperia asked, her voice was shaky like me pulling away hurt her. I know it did. The bond was settling into her bones and grew deeper with each passing hour. Her hand brushed my arm and I wanted to lean into it. I struggled against my desire to touch her and have her touch me.

“You drank my blood… It formed a contract…” I struggled to get the words out. “A bond… Eternal. I can have no one other than you, I do not want anyone other than you.” I fell to my knees. Tears fell from my eyes onto the floor. “I took away the possibility of finding a good mate of your own. I am so sorry, Hes.”

“Is rejection not an option…” She whispered softly.

I looked up at her, the pain I felt was immeasurable. “I will find a way to sever the bond if that is what you want.” It wasn’t her fault for this bond, and if I left it I was just as bad as Selune.

“Do you want that?” She asked, her hand reaching for my mask, the tips of her fingers slipping under to take it off. I grabbed her wrist unsure if she’d like what she saw under it. “Please…” I dropped my hand and let her remove it.

“Carden,” she brushed my hair away from my eyes. “Look at me.”

I looked up at her, her eyes slowly welling with tears. “It was you that night? You made him stop.” She reached up touching my cheeks.

She saw me? Maybe this was more than the blood bond I thought to myself as I leaned into her touch. Maybe there was more to her. “Yes, I heard you plea like a nightsong and had to stop him.”

“I’m still mated to him…” Hesperia pulled her hand away looking at them with disgust clenching them so hard I could smell the blood of her broken skin. He is still causing her such pain I planned to kill that wolf if it was the last thing I would do. I carefully took her hands back and soothed them open, they were superficial wounds which made me relax just a bit.

“You don’t have his mark, you can reject him,” I ran my finger over the wounds and let them heal. She wasn’t responding, what did she not want to reject that asshole? I looked up and she had a look of wonder in her eyes. It was the first sign of life that I had seen in her. “What?”

“You’re extraordinary,” she pulled her hands away leaving such a cold void where they once were. But the look on her face made it worth it she began to press on her hands looking to see if the wound would reappear. “Why don’t you heal the bite I left?”

I smirked, “because I like the way it looks.”

Her pale cheeks flushed red. Compulsion wasn’t a justifiable way to describe how I felt as my hand reached up to brush her cheeks. Her eyes looked at me longingly, everytime we touched the bond would grow. She lends into the touch and I carefully pull her into my arms.

And in that moment it was as if the bond snapped fully into place and a holy force pulled this small woman into my life and that she would be mine.

Hesperia softly wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly against her. I could hear her quietly whimper as she felt safe finally in someone’s arms as I held her flush against me. I have waited so long to feel this, my own will never let me believe I could have anyone. Viciously reminded daily that no one would be able to love the darkness. My own tears escaping dripping down my face. This was indescribable, I needed this like I needed the very air to breathe.

I always heard from the Selunite wolves that you felt a fire when your mate touched you, and that tingles would follow wherever they touched you. This didn’t feel like a fire, it was like molten lava corroding my entire purpose; changing the very foundation that held me steadfast in this life.

I lifted her as I stood up and carried her over to the bed laying her down on the soft black duvet. The straps of her dress slipping off her shoulder, her skin seemed to be glowing in the moonlight. I wanted her so badly.