Chapter 3: Curse breaker
1568 Words
Aria's pov:
There was nothing genuine about that smile and I couldn't stop trembling as he stooped to my level and looked me right in the eyes.
Suddenly, he froze, his smile melting off his face as he held my gaze.
In that moment, my life seemed to flash before my eyes. It was a sudden spark, a sudden zap that jolted throughout my body, making me flinch.
His eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His breathing was laboured and his chest rose up and down violently.
His eyes suddenly snapped shut as if in annoyance.
He raised his head to the ceiling and let out an anguished breath.
"You have got to be f*****g kidding me," he mused, more to himself, than to me before bringing his face back down to me, looking at me with a weird mix of disgust and interest.
He frowned as he focused on something on my face. Gently, he raised a finger to lightly touch my left cheekbone that was now numb from my father's hit.
"Please," I begged, a single tear running down my cheek.
His eyes followed the trail it left behind and to my utmost shock, he wiped a finger under my eye. Brought the finger to his lips and tasted my tears.
I swallowed as he closed his eyes, as if savouring my taste.
His eyes snapped back to mine and he gripped my chin gently in his grasp and turned my face to look at him.
"Who did this to you?"
Cold. Dark, empty words that still managed to be laden with barely concealed rage.
Roma's POV:
As much as I hated humans, I had to admit that this girl had to have the sweetest scent I have ever perceived. And that was saying a lot, because human scent disgusted me.
I stared at her as she was practically dragged into the living room, her tiny legs and arms flailing, screaming at the top of her voice.
I was intrigued from her scent alone. She smelled like everything good and pure and sweet in this world. The darkness in me couldn't wait to taint her and turn her sweetness into poison.
And then she was forced to kneel before me.
At first, all I saw was thick blonde hair and then she raised her face.
With me standing over her and her kneeling before me in her little white dress, she looked pliant. Submissive. Beautiful.
Like a willing sacrifice brought to my altar.
A jolt of desire struck through me and a smile graced my lips at all the wicked, wicked things I could do to her.
She suddenly dropped her head, her entire body trembling, the scent of fear permeating her pores.
I loved that scent the most. It made me feel powerful. Feared. Revered.
I bent to her level and forced her to look back at me.
And froze.
Something snapped in place. A piece of me that has been missing for so long, I forgot what it was like to ache for it.
I shut my eyes.
No. No f*****g way. After so long.
My mate.
A human for fucksake.
You have got to be f*****g kidding me.
It was bad enough that people of my species would rather die than to be mated to a creature like me... But a human? Even if by some miracle, she chooses to be with me, I will certainly kill her by mistake if I let go and mark her as mine. Her soft, delicate human body won't be able to handle an ordinary werewolf, much less a hybrid alpha like me.
Yet again, the goddess reveals how cruel she could be when she wanted to punish those she hated.
Even now, the scent of my mate was overpowering my senses, making me restless with the need to make her mine.
Does she have to smell so damn delectable?
I opened my eyes to inspect her and stopped when I noticed the bruise on her left cheekbone.
Rage. I have never felt such pure, undiluted rage as this.
She started crying and I tasted her tears, getting a sense of her pain, desperation, fear and anger.
"Who did this to you?"
My hands were trembling and I was about to snap something in half.
I had to control myself before the more monstrous part of me takes control of the situation.
Stilling myself into calmness, I looked at the man that just offered this girl, his own daughter, MY MATE, to be used like a common tool and tossed away.
"Tell me, Ajello. If it was one of my men that came to you tonight, would you have offered her to him, too?"
"N– no. Not at all, sir," he sniveled like a dying pig, but at least he got the right answer.
"You insult me, Bruno." I tsked, rising to my feet and levelling him with a glare.
"S- sir! I will never-"
"You hurt her," I said, leaving my mate to tower over the man that was bowing before me with his head to the ground. "Knowing you were going to give her to me. I'm not too pleased with that. Do you think I would take spoiled goods?"
"I'm sorry. I– It was a slip of hand–"
"If you're going to tell me lies, at least be a man about it and look me right in the eyes."
He raised his face to look at me and I have never seen a more pathetic man in my entire life. He smelled disgusting too. I shouldn't waste my time with him... And yet, he dared to touch my mate.
I couldn't forgive that.
"Now, repeat what you said," I instructed.
"S- sir, it was a slip of–"
I backhanded him across the cheek, sending him flying across the room and breaking into a wall of cheap plaster and wood that broke apart as he collided with it.
The pig started crying like a baby, even as he struggled to get up. "Please. I swear, I'm trying my best–"
I looked at my best friend, Raphael, that insisted on coming with me today to pay my long time debtor, thief and frequent gambler in one of my casinos, a friendly visit.
"Break his legs–"
"No!" The girl screamed.
I turned to look at her, shocked at her audacity to cut me off.
I walked towards her, my gaze darkening.
"Do you want to die, sweetheart?"
She shook her head, trembling.
I squatted in front of her, gazing into cornflower blue eyes. "Anyone that knows me doesn't dare cut me off while I'm speaking."
"Please, don't hurt him," she whispered. "Don't hurt my father, I'm begging you."
"You think you're in any position to make demands."
"He's my father," she pleaded, her voice cracked with pain.
"As if that's a valid reason. Death is a suitable punishment for someone like him, don't you think?"
She shook her head adamantly. "Please. Please, don't hurt him, I beg you. I'll do- I'll do anything you want. I'll do anything you want-."
"I don't force women." I told her, pissed with her statement.
She was crying and clearly shaken up and I didn't want to spend more time here than I had to.
"What can you offer instead?" I asked quietly.
"I–" she paused to think. "I'm a hard worker. And efficient too. I work at a club downtown. I'll save every cash I earn into paying you back every penny. I'll do it for however long it takes to clear the debts he owes you."
"And how much do you think he owes me?"
She bit her lip, indicating that she didn't know.
"Four million dollars, not calculating the interest, pet. Even if you spent every waking second of the day for the next six years breaking your back at a shabby, beat down club, you still wouldn't be able to pay even half of it."
"How about one of your clubs, then?" She insisted, not backing down.
A sudden idea sparked to life in my mind.
"You will come with me to my home, and you will work for me for the next five years."
"F- five years," she whispered, her eyes widening.
"Or you could hand over your father's life in exchange."
She was quiet for a moment and then she nodded. "I'll do it."
I tilted my head to look at her. In her little white dress and long blonde hair that reflected off a pale glow in the moonlight, she looked like a beautiful broken doll. She was as delicate and fragile as any human could be, but in the glow of the moonlight, she looked ethereal and angelic.
My chest squeezed.
Just looking at her hurt. My wolf was thrashing inside of me, desperate to break free and be with her, but she was human and humans were easily breakable and blissfully unaware of the supernatural world around them.
Still, I needed her even more than I need the next breath I'll take.
After so long, she was a silver lining, a gift I hadn't seen coming.
Five years should be more than enough time to make her fall in love with me and break this curse burdening my back.
I'll make sure of it.
- Writer
