Chapter 10: Say No

|||YASMIN|||

Cassien snapped.

His hand shot out and gripped my neck, he dragged my body and slammed me against the wall, hard.

Pain exploded in my back and ribs as all the air in my lungs left me, I gasped, fear and shock pumping through me as I looked up at Cassien, terrified.

"Are you fucking insane?!" He snarled, his blue eyes glowing with both anger and his barely restrained wolf. Silver bled into his irises as his claws slowly sunk into my skin.

"You fucking bitch!"

I flinched. His words burning and stinging like venom. He's never spoken to me this way before, never reacted this way before.

"You think I'll let you embarrass me? After everything I've fucking worked for?"

"It was never your work," I responded, my voice shaky yet my fear didn't stop my anger. How dare he hurt me?!

"It was mine!" I raised my voice just as high as his, "I made you what you are today, I made you loved, I made you the fucking Crown Prince! And what did I get in return?"

We were both breathing heavily now, his burning gaze on mine, the tips of his claws still in my skin, I felt the warmth of blood dripping down and seeping into my dress.

Then he let go.

Exhaling sharply, his lips twisted into a frown. There was that calculating look in his eyes again.

"You think you're so perfect, you think you're anything?" He spat, lips pulling up into a sneer, "You are nothing without me, Yasmin, absolutely nothing!" He scoffed.

"You want to divorce me? You think any other man will want you? You think you can do better than me?" He laughed condescendingly, furious eyes taking in my shivering frame.

"Yes," I ground out, "I can do better, you don't deserve me, Cassien, you never did!"

"Oh?" He threw his head back with laughter, eyes lighting up like he'd just heard the funniest joke.

"You think anyone would want a barren whore like you?"

I gasped.

Words failed me.

Of all the things to say.

My heart constricted in my chest, nothing could compare to the pain I felt in that moment.

I was finally seeing the real him...the side of him he'd kept hidden all these years but now I could see.

"You are a cruel man, Cassien."

He blinked, looking horrified in the next moment, like he didn't know where the words came from.

But I knew better.

"Yas...I--" He held out an arm, reaching for me and I immediately stepped away, flinching from his touch like he was a blade.

"I didn't mean it..."

"It's over, Cassien...we're done," I muttered brokenly, "I reject you as my mate."

The words left me before I could think more on it.

Cassien's eyes went wide, then he lunged at me again, slamming me against the same wall, growling like a beast let loose as he clawed my skin.

I screamed, a sharp pain spread through my stomach and back making my vision go white momentarily.

"Did you just try to fucking reject me?!" His claws dug deeper into my stomach and I felt myself losing blood at an alarming rate.

"You won't fucking do that, you won't fucking dare!" He pushed deeper, looking like a crazed man who had lost all control.

Through the haze of pain, my anger remained, blazing through every inch of me even as I slowly lost the feel of my bones.

"I said..." I tasted blood in my throat, "I, Yasmin Elysium, reject you, Cassien Elysium, as my mate!"

The moment I said the words correctly, it felt like a thousand swords had been sent straight to my heart.

Cassien stumbled back, his claws leaving my body as he let out a long grunt of pain. My legs gave out.

So did everything else in me.

Just before I hit the ground, I felt an arm go around my waist, pressing my swaying body against a firm chest.

The scent of rain and oranges engulfed me, the unfamiliar scent making me tense up, despite the pain I fought, thrashing around as I tried to pull out of the stranger's hold.

"Breathe, Princess," Zeirik said softly into my ringing ears, "I won't hurt you."

His words...were strangely enough.

Enough to make me feel safe.

Enough to clear my head.

I held my bleeding stomach, putting pressure on it as the pain from the rejection faded replaced by a hollow feeling that left me hunched over, unable to breathe in without my eyes burning.

Through my tears I could see Cassien panting, resting his unsteady body against the wall opposite me. His blue eyes burned with anger, among other things.

"You...rejected me!"

Though I was human, I was marked as one would mark a wolf's mate. I had bound my soul to his...because he was meant to be my forever.

My true happiness.

But now...

"You dare--" His words trailed off when he raised his eyes, he noticed his brother behind me, holding me up.

"You fucking bitch! You've been fucking my brother haven't you? Why else would you want to divorce me?" He scoffed, "You were crying like you were so perfect you fucking hypocrite!"

"You really think I would do something like that?" My voice was soft, hoarse from pain and quite frankly, I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

Cassien remained silent, looking at me.

He was unrecognizable.

Not just that...he was a cruel man.

He took everything from me, and spat on it, stepped on my love, my faithfulness.

He's a bastard!

"I want a divorce, Cassien," I said through gritted teeth, "And I will get it!"

Cassien didn't say another word. He walked away, not bothered to look me in the eyes after he'd hurt me...after tossing me aside like I was nothing!

Oh.

My anger was unlike any emotion I'd ever felt, it razed beneath my skin, so hot I feared I might explode.

He just walked away from me.

After throwing such accusations.

After making me bleed.

He doesn't think he's done anything wrong!

"Yasmin?"

He thinks me to be something he can just use and dump whenever he pleases?

He wants to make me a spectacle to be mocked, after all the years I've given to him?

"Princess Yasmin?"

I won't let that happen.

He has to feel it.

He has to feel everything he's made me feel a thousandfold!

"Prince Zeirik."

I have to make him pay!

I turned to look at him. Mismatched eyes met mine with curiosity.

I'm not broken. I'm fucking furious!

Zeirik's gaze burns with recognition and something darker as he holds me to his chest. I don't pull away, don't need to.

"Marry me," I whispered, my voice deadly silk, "and I'll make you Alpha."

I will make Cassien pay even if it kills me.

I will make him feel the pain he's made me feel.

Zeirik's slow, predatory smile sends heat racing through my veins.

"Oh?" His head tilted to the side, "Well..." He chuckles, the sound low and dangerous, "How can I say no to that?"