Hekate’s Bride

“Astrid.”

I halt, my fingers lingering over the buttons of the vending machine. It’s past curfew, and I had thought I was alone here-well, as alone as a heavily guarded princess can be. Sloan growls softly. I haven’t eaten much today, and although I despise processed food, here I am, wrestling with this stupid machine that’s refusing to scan my points.

And now, Rune’s here too.

I choose to ignore him, focusing on placing my phone over the scanner. The screen at the top turns an unwelcome shade of red, displaying the message: “Services closed. Try again tomorrow.”

My stomach growls in protest, and I let out a frustrated groan. I had been busy the entire day, hopping from class to the designer’s office to the complex, planning the perfect outfit for the ball, and I didn’t have the time to eat.

I decided that I would attend the ball, if only to shove it in Rune’s face that his wedding means nothing to me. I can be happy. I will be happy.

“Let me-”

“No,” I interject sharply.

Why is he even here? No. I shouldn’t care.

My entire being tenses as I sense him drawing closer from behind. His breath stirs my hair, causing me to jerk away, creating distance between us. “What is your problem?”

Ignoring me, he pulls out his phone and scans his points over the machine. It dings, granting him access.

Right. Princely privileges.

He pulls out the jerky and extends it to me. “You don’t have to pay back–”

Yanking it from his grip, I scoff at his insinuation. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

I begin to rush back to my room but warm fingers encircle my arm, stopping me. I shift my gaze from his fingers tightly encircling my arm to his intense green eyes, tinged with a silver glimmer. There’s an undeniable despair etched across his features. “Wait. Please.”

Well, pigs might be flying outside, because Rune just uttered the word ‘please’.

My eyes narrow suspiciously. “What? You pay for the jerky and that’s enough to get me to stay? So you can call me a whore again? Hard pass,” I say, yanking my hand from his hold. I only end up hurting myself as Rune’s grip only tightens.

“I’m sorry–”

“That isn’t going to cut it, and to be fucking honest, I don’t care. Leave me the fuck alone. Plus, shouldn’t you be with her? Your wedding’s in a few.”

Rune’s hand tightens around the back of my neck, forcefully pulling me into his embrace. His muscles tremble against me, his heart pounding wildly as he clings to me desperately. “I… I just need a moment. With you. Like this. Don’t… leave.”

His words are jumbled up and incoherent, and his fingers caress my scalp in a movement that breathes insanity. He is pulling aura again. I can feel my muscles forcefully relaxing and my limbs going weak.

Enraged, I push him off and hit him across the cheek. “Do not put hands on me again! You don’t get to do that. You do not own me. Do not act like you do. You don’t get to insult me, reject me and come back with a dumbass apology, just to touch me again. I’m not your fucking slut!”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

But… Rune isn’t listening.

One moment, his gaze lingers on me with a burning intensity that I can almost feel. The air between us cackles with a dangerous mix of tension-anger, hate and undeniable need as we growl at each other. Suddenly, Rune releases a sharp sigh and lunges for me faster than I can fathom, lifting me off the ground. The air in my lungs is ripped from me forcefully as my back hits the wall.

I barely have time to recover as he suddenly nuzzles my neck. His lips brush against my collar bone, his voice a low rasp that sends shivers down my spine. “Don’t fight it,” he murmurs, his voice both commanding and guttural.

“Get off me!” I yell, hoping the guards can hear me from outside, or find me in time. Panic surges through me, my heart racing in my chest, and though Sloan is loving this, I’m too angry to let myself feel lust for even a second. I won’t give in to it again. I won’t let him maul me after everything he’s done to me, put me through.

I would be a fool if I did.

My hands move instinctively, pressing against his chest to push him off, but it does nothing, instead causing him to cage me further, grooming me into the wall. His nose is replaced with his lips and with a wicked surge of possessiveness, his teeth sinks into neck.

I cry out as fire courses through me, pain radiating from my neck. I clutch onto him, gripping his shoulders to keep from falling–not that he will let me. His tongue trails along the punctured skin, and my breath hitches as he sucks on the spot. It is a mix of pleasure and pain, a torment that has my anger growing, as well as my yearning for more.

My fingers fist his hair and my breaths are ragged as his tongue keeps moving along my skin, torturing me.

Not again, I tell myself. This can’t happen again.

I stifle a moan as his hands start to wander. I shut my eyes, clench my teeth hard enough and for once, I disobey my heart, my body, and my soul.

Summoning every ounce of strength, I jerk my knee upward with a forceful strike, aiming for his groin. He recoils abruptly, a roar escaping his lips as he doubles over in pain, clutching his midsection.

I run from him then.

But I don’t make it very far as something heavy slams into me, ripping my feet out from under me. We crash into the ground and Rune is on me. I push against his chest, trying to create some distance between us. But his strength is overpowering, and his weight pins me to the ground.

Sobs rack my body as I lash out at him, my fists pounding against his unyielding form.

Each strike is fueled by fear and despair, a desperate attempt to break free from his hold. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.

“Stay!” He growls, eyes flashing black.

“No!” I scream in terror as his command settles over me. I bring my head up, slamming it into his nose in wild panic. The impact causes his head to snap back, momentarily disorientating him.

I shove Rune as hard as I can, creating a small space for me to wriggle out from under him. My heart pounds in my chest as I sprint towards the door, gasping for air, my hand pressed against my injured neck.

He isn’t in his right mind. I should have known it the moment he showed up talking to me. That only ever happens when Hekate is in control. I should have left the moment he pulled out the damn jerky.

I can’t tell if he wants to sink his teeth in me or kill me. I can’t predict his behaviour because I don’t know him anymore.

The door is within reach, just a few steps away, when Rune catches up, his fingertips grazing my arm. I whimper and push myself even harder. A few steps more and I can reach the hallway. Knowing that Vesper is probably still in his office, watching the cameras gives me hope.

If I can get to the hallway, he will see me and send the sentinels my way. If I get out of this unscathed, I am having my guards sent back to Wolvendom. They’re fucking useless.

I’m almost close enough to touch the towering doors when Rune seizes me, spinning me around to face him. His eyes are clear green jewels, filled with pain. Sweat beads on his forehead. “Don’t run. It will make it worse. He enjoys the chase,” he rasps, his voice strained and he lets go of me to clutch his head.

I take a step backward, my back pressed against the smooth surface of the door. My heart pounds so fiercely it threatens to burst from my chest. Rune staggers, whimpering and whispering to himself. His face contorts like he is in pain and my heart slows.

My fingers twitch by my side but I keep them there. He is no longer my problem. I don’t care if he is pain. I don’t care if Sloan suffers too. I don’t care.

Yet, against my will, my fingers begin to rise, and I whisper, “Rune, are you al-”

He snarls and his head snaps up, hands dropping to his sides. When his eyes open and I see black in them, I do not need the Goddess to tell me I have to run.

I flee through the door to find the hallway empty. When Boris had offered to come in with me to get the jerky from the machine, I had growled at him in warning, ordering h to remain by the door. Where is he? Where are they?

My eyes drift to the cameras hanging off the walls. Sure, Vesper can see me, but will the sentinels find me in time?

Turning sharply, I growl as my fingers push against the heavy iron door, and it takes all of my might to slam it shut. The barricade drops, securing it.

Within a heartbeat, Rune crashes into the door from the other side, roaring in fury.

I race to my room, unseeing as I skip the staircases and race past every hallway with record speed. I slam the door shut when I arrive and slide all five bolts in place. I cry as I do, though I have no idea why I’m tearing up.

I shut the windows as well, curling myself into a ball by the corner of the room and wondering if I was stupid as hell to come to my room and not go to Darian’s.

But… knowing Hekate, if Darian got in the way, he’d kill him. I can’t have that on me.

I hug my knees tightly, pressing my hands against my ears, rocking back and forth and I remain like that the entire night, agitated and anxious, waiting for Rune to storm in and grab me.

But he never comes.