I will survive
I dialed my mother’s number on the old, tricky wall phone. After a few attempts, I got it right and just as I grabbed the phone from the wall, there was a cold hand around my wrist.
My eyes met with a calculating gaze and I stepped back, my heart thudding.
"Nobody was calling anyone." Lucien pulled the phone out of my hand and placed it back, cutting the call before it even began to ring.
Fear spiked through me and my blood ran cold as his hand tightened around my wrist. "I needed to—"
"No." He cut me off, a steely edge to his voice. It was different. Primal.
"But—"
"I said no, Aurora."
I yanked my hand away from him, staring back at him with wide disbelieving eyes. "Why? She was my mother! She deserved to know that I was safe. I just wanted to call her and talk to her for a minute."
"She would not know you were here," he retorted, his face hardening. "Your safety was not her concern. It was mine. You were my mate and until I didn’t want anyone to know where you were, no one would."
I glanced towards Estella, seeking support, but she just lowered her gaze, her shoulders hunched. She stood only a small distance behind me. My eyes returned back to my mate and I clenched my teeth, feeling more trapped than ever.
"You infuriated me." I whispered.
"Glad to know I did," He smiled, momentarily. "Took this off the wall, Estella. She’d not be making any contact with anyone outside this house and I wanted you to make sure of that. Reasons weren’t relevant." His gaze tore away from mine and he walked away after giving his orders.
I grit my teeth harder, barely containing my anger. What was it with him? It was just my mother, not some secret lover or another man. Yet, he acted as if I was about to betray him, as if my mere existence was a threat to the ties he shared with me.
Taking a deep breath, I went behind him with no intention of leaving this. "What was it with you? Why could I not call my mother? You could not just take me away from my family and friends and act as if it was the right thing to do."
I demanded to know.
He paused on his steps, his back still turned to me. "I didn’t need to share my reasonings with you, Aurora. You were my mate. My possession." He turned around, his eyes still dark and unwavering.
"I wasn’t your possession." I snapped at him, folding my arms over my chest.
"Oh, but you were. Maybe you needed a reminder," he strode closer, invading the little distance surrounding me. My heart pounded heavily against my chest as his dark eyes pinned me in place.
When he towered over me, I didn’t see anything else but him. I swallowed hard. His scent enveloped around me, making my senses reel and my skin tingle with a forbidden desire. He leaned down, his warm breath fanning over my cheek.
"Did you need a reminder, my stubborn mate? Perhaps a mark would just do, or maybe..." He didn’t finish and it kept me on the edge of something I wanted to know.
"Or maybe what?" I retorted, looking up at him, my voice teetering between dread and defiance. It was a battle inside me, getting worse and worse. I was conflicted, my body was conflicted. My wolf was screaming within me, begging me to unleash her to him—to his wolf.
His lips twitched into a smirk at my reaction. "Or maybe, my dear Aurora, you needed more than a mark, maybe you needed to feel," he murmured, his hand resting gently on my waist, sending a shiver up my spine. His gaze was piercing, leaving me exposed. I felt his heat against my body, the smell of him overwhelming my senses.
"Maybe you needed to taste what it was like to be possessed by me, completely and utterly."
His words echoed across the silent hallway, setting my nerves on fire. Every fiber in my body screamed in agreement with him. I was his mate, but I had been denying him, denying myself as if it wasn’t true.
But it was.
His lips hovered over mine, a breath away from a searing kiss, when I pushed back. He frowned, the passion in his eyes replaced with confusion. "Aurora?"
I placed my hand on his chest, keeping a firm distance between us before I met his gaze head-on. "You might have thought of me as your possession and maybe in some primal sense, I was. But don’t get it twisted. Even if it was the end of the world, I would not let you mark me, let alone touch me until you could learn to respect me as an equal."
His eyes lowered, away from mine and onto my body where his gaze lingered for only a moment before the corner of his mouth tugged into a smile. "You’d burn with desire in a matter of only a few days if you hadn’t forgotten about the heat you’d be going through. But if it was a game you wanted to play then it was a game we’d play. I relished a challenge more than anything else." He stepped back, leaving distance between us.
I finally breathed, but before I could fully, my breath hitched at his words.
"Even in heat, I’d not be at your mercy. I’d survived hundreds of days of heat and I could surely survive a few more."
"We’d see," His smile only widened and it irritated me.
"Mate."