Aidan.
I stepped into my quarters and the door closed behind me with a dull thud.
That was when the anger truly hit.
It wasn't a slow burn. It wasn't controlled. It exploded inside me without warning, sharp and violent, crashing through my chest like a storm breaking loose. I couldn't even pinpoint the exact reason for it, and that only made it worse. I had faced hatred before—mockery, resentment, defiance—but none of it had ever lodged itself this deep.
Yet the moment she said those words…
'I hate you.'
Something snapped.
The sound echoed relentlessly in my head, over and over again, stirring emotions I had no name for. Fury tangled with something darker, heavier, almost unfamiliar. It wasn't just anger at her defiance. It was the fact that her hatred had touched me. That it had reached somewhere it had no right to reach.
I scoffed loudly, the sound harsh in the quiet room, and reached up to loosen my tie. My fingers worked roughly, impatiently, as if the fabric itself was suffocating me. I yanked it free, then tugged at my shirt and ripped it off, tossing it carelessly onto the bed. My chest rose and fell sharply, breath uneven, skin still buzzing with restrained violence.
"How dare she?" I growled under my breath, turning inward. "How dare she speak to me like that?"
My wolf stirred instantly, his presence calm but firm. 'Calm down, Aidan, Mura said, his voice steady against my turmoil. She belongs to us regardless of the hatred within her.'
I clenched my jaw.
"I know that," I snapped back, pacing the room. "I know that, Mura. But I am the only one permitted to harbor hatred." My hands curled into fists at my sides. "She is permitted to only have love for me. Only Love..."
The certainty of it rang through me, sharp and absolute. There was no room for negotiation in that truth. No space for rejection. No allowance for defiance.
I stopped in front of the mirror.
My reflection stared back at me—eyes dark, jaw tight, every line of my face carved from control and dominance. Yet beneath it, something restless moved, something dangerous. I studied myself as though searching for answers there, for clarity amid the chaos boiling in my chest.
And then it hit me.
The thought slid into place so smoothly it felt inevitable.
A slow smile tugged at the corner of my lips, cold and deliberate. The anger didn't fade, it reshaped itself, sharpening into purpose. Control settled back into my veins, steady and intoxicating.
"Watch out, Maria," I murmured to my reflection, my voice low and resolute. "I will make you only love me."
The promise lingered in the air, heavy and unyielding, as my eyes gleamed with intent.
I watched my own reflection in the mirror, my eyes fixed on the glass as the heavy door behind me slid open with a mechanical hiss. In an instant, the dim atmosphere of the room shifted as a bright figure stepped into the frame. Her presence was like a sudden burst of light in a dark room. Looking at her, I felt the sharp, jagged edges of my anger, the frustration that had been simmering in my chest not too long ago begin to soften and melt away. The cold tension was replaced by a flush of genuine warmth that only she could evoke.
It was Vanessa. To the world, she was Anabel's childhood friend, but to us, she was much more than that; she was the sister of our hearts. Since she was a small child, she had been an inseparable fixture in our lives, clinging to me and my brothers as if she belonged to our very bloodline. She was the one constant in our turbulent world.
She didn't hesitate for a second. Without a word, she hurried across the room, her footsteps light on the floor, and threw herself toward me. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, her embrace tight and desperate, as if she were trying to anchor herself to me. As she pressed against my back, I felt the familiar, enticing sensation of her touch. It sent a jolt through my system, a magnetic pull that tested every ounce of my self-control.
The temptation surged through me once again—the dark, primal urge to turn around, grab her, and pull her underneath me right then and there. I wanted to claim that light for myself. But the harsh reality of the law and her innocence held me back. She was still seventeen. That number felt like an agonizing wall between us, a barrier I was forced to respect. However, the wait was nearly over. In just three days' time, she would finally turn eighteen. I could already feel the anticipation humming in my veins. I was already planning the grand banquet I would hold in her honor; it would be a celebration unlike any other, a public declaration of her importance in my life.
Yet, even as I held her, a shadow crossed my mind. I had spent years secretly hoping, praying to the fates, that she would be revealed as my true mate. But reality had finally dawned on me with a cold, unforgiving clarity: she wasn't. The bond I craved wasn't there in the way the ancient laws dictated. I let out a heavy, ragged sigh, the weight of that realization pressing down on my lungs as I stared at our joined reflections.
Vanessa's presence had calmed my temper, but she had inadvertently stoked a different kind of fire. The heat emanating within me, a mixture of bottled-up frustration and the physical desire she had stirred, needed to be unleashed. It was a pressure that demanded a release, and as I gently detached myself from Vanessa's hold, only one name flashed through my mind.
Maria.
She was my personal maid, a woman whose entire existence was dedicated to my comfort. It was only fitting, I reasoned with a cold detachment, that she should serve all my needs. If I couldn't have the one I truly wanted yet, I would find my solace in the one whose duty it was to provide it.
A sly smile appeared at the corner of my lips. "Let's see how you keep hating me now, Maria!"