Chapter 49 Confrontations

Chapter 49 Confrontations
The scent of blood on his body was strong enough to make me gag.  

It was Lycan's blood.  

Maybe I had been too trusting of him.  I've let my guard down, and I've forgotten who he was, and what he was capable of.  

He's capable of ruining me.  Of ruining the kingdom and people I've…

“I said, show me what you're hiding behind you,” the Stranger growled.  

“And if I don't?”

“Don't test the limits of my patience, Hestia,” he warned, his claws glinting under the dim light.  “You don't know me.”

“Right, I don't know you,” I replied, stepping back more, the paper in my hand getting more and more crumpled.  “I don't know your intentions, nor what you truly want from me.”

He scoffed.  “You know what I want from you.”

“And you're not fooling me with that.”

His laughs grew deeper and louder, as if he was slowly losing his mind.  And I couldn't help but wonder and ask Mother…

Why, of all people, am I mated to him?

“I saved you countless times.  I poured my heart, risked my neck, and crossed borders over and over, yet you still think I'm after something else? Un\-fucking\-believable.”

He stepped closer, his blood-stained hand reaching for me.  I flinched as my back pressed against the cold stone wall.

I'm trapped…

“Show me what's in your hands, Hestia.  Please.”

The paper crumpled more in my palm.  My teeth gritted as I faced him.  “Why do you have a receipt for a strong aphrodisiac?”

He paused.  And for one second, I saw emotion cross his eyes.  I would've been fooled, if he—

His loud laughs echoed in the four corners of the room.  “You're suspecting me of helping your sister, aren't you?”

I didn’t answer.  Maybe it was the fear of him confirming my suspicions.  Maybe it was something else.  

But I remained there, frozen in my spot, challenging his golden gaze.  

Coldness crept over my body as a smirk played on his lips.  He licked his lips, showing me a pair of sharp fangs.  

“Maybe you’re right.  Maybe I really did help your sister with that.  Aren’t you curious why I did that, my darling Hestia?”

The taste of iron slowly overpowered my remaining senses.  I gritted my teeth hard enough that I could almost hear them crunch.

My mind begged for him to stop.  And yet, my lips were too weak to even utter a single word.  

The Stranger stepped towards me, his bloody hands slowly reaching for my chin.  He forced me to meet his gaze.  

“Everyone important to you, every single thing you cherish… I want to know them all.  I want to know every breath you take, every single bite you have… Even the way you move and cast your magic, or how your wolf howled.  I want to know them all, so I’d know how to crush you in the palm of my hands…”

“You sick fuck,” I cussed under my breath, trying to step back.  Helplessness washed over me as the cold wall met my body once again. 

The Stranger snapped his fingers, binding my hands and feet once more.  “I already told you, I don’t hand out my services for free.  And it’s not my fault that you decided to let your guard down on a Red like me.”

His unholy Red magic shifted as it wrapped around me, like a vine intertwining with a branch.  Just like that night when I stood in front of Alfonso Vergara, helpless, he—

He’s making me lose all my marbles in a snap.  And I don’t like it.  Not even one bit.  

“As I said, you do attract all kinds of suitors, Hestia.  And unlucky you, you had me drawn to you.”

He grabbed me by the neck, taking advantage of the mere fact that I was paralyzed by his powers.  The Stranger’s golden eyes glowed as he bared his fangs, slowly inching closer to me.  
“I wonder… what would a Queen’s blood taste like? Would it taste as divine as your screams? Or would it taste like filth?”

Tears brimmed in my eyes as I tried to leave his grip, my hands and feet slowly turning colder and colder.  

I shouldn’t have let my guard down.  

I should’ve been vigilant!

Kieran… Castiel… Augustus… anybody, please, help me…

His teeth grazed against my skin as his grip slowly grew tighter.  The Stranger almost pinned me against the wall as if I were nothing but a rag doll.  

Three Divine Links manifested through my wrists, each burning bright.  The Stranger scoffed as he plucked them with his fingers, creating a soft sound.  

“Your mates can’t help you now, darling trouble.” He licked his lips once more.  “Besides, have you forgotten? I’m your mate too.”

My eyes widen as a fourth link, a black one with thick, black smoke surrounding it, manifested between the Stranger and me.  His smirk twisted more, as if it was about to tear his face from cheek to cheek.  

“Well, look at that…”

In a strained, weak motion, I managed to spit on his coat.  “I’ll never accept you as my mate!”

His eyes darkened.  The Stranger’s jaw tightened as he pinned me harder against the wall.  “We’ll see about that, darling trouble.”  

In one swift motion, his fangs sank deep into my neck, letting blood flow down to my clothes as he greedily tasted it.  

I couldn’t even stop him, let alone fight him.  

And everything was slowly turning…

The white, dusty ceiling was the first thing that met my eyes as soon as I woke up.  My body shot up from the bed, my hand touching my neck.  

I glanced at the mirror.  I was still wearing the same clothes, but without any bloodstains.  As if…

Was it all just a dream?

My eyes darted to the floor, where the Stranger’s things once sat.  They were gone.  Instead, a small envelope lay by the bedside table, carrying Castiel’s seal.  

“Did I just dream all of that? But…”

My eyes landed on a small splatter of blood by the wall.  It was too small to miss by anyone passing by.  

And it was either that this waterhole wasn’t the cleanest, or the Stranger really did…

Mark me...