Chapter 134 Destruction's Mate
[Cedric]
I held the door shut, my palm pressed firmly against the wood. My heart hammered in my chest as I stared at the back of Lana's head, her dark hair falling in waves down her spine. She'd tried to slip away while I pretended to sleep, but I'd felt every movement, every shift of weight as she gathered her clothes and crept toward the door.
"Where are you going?" I repeated, keeping my voice low, dangerous.
Lana's shoulders tensed, but she didn't turn around. "I'm leaving," she finally said, her voice cold and distant. "This was a mistake."
"A mistake?" The word felt like a knife between my ribs. "You marked me as your mate and now you're just walking away?"
She turned slowly, her face a careful mask. "Don't be dramatic. We had sex. People do it all the time without making lifelong commitments."
Her casual dismissal hurt worse than if she'd struck me. "This wasn't just sex. You know that." I gestured to the fresh mark on my neck, still tender where her fangs had pierced my skin. "You marked me. That means something."
"It means nothing," she snapped, but her eyes flickered away from mine. "It was instinct, biology. Nothing more."
I stood my ground, blocking her only exit. "Maybe to you, this is casual. But a mate bond isn't something you can just walk away from. It's permanent."
"It's a primitive urge that I should have controlled," she interrupted, fingers drumming against the doorframe. "Now move. I want to leave."
"No."
Her eyes widened, disbelief flashing across her face. "Excuse me?"
"I said no." I stepped closer, feeling a surge of confidence I didn't know I possessed. "You don't get to mark me and then abandon me. That's not how this works."
"You don't tell me what to do." Her voice dropped dangerously. "You have no idea who I am or what I'm capable of."
"Then tell me," I challenged. "Because all I know is that something inside me recognized you the moment we met. Something that says you're mine and I'm yours."
Anger flashed in her eyes. "I belong to no one," she hissed. "I've spent centuries making sure of that."
"Centuries?" I repeated, momentarily distracted. "How old are you?"
She ignored my question, her frustration visibly mounting. "Move. Now." When I remained still, something shifted in her expression. Her eyes, previously deep blue, began to darken, the irises bleeding to black. "Last warning."
I should have been afraid. But the bond between us made me reckless, made me push harder. "Or what?"
The air around us crackled with energy. In one fluid motion, Lana raised her hand and a wave of invisible force slammed into my chest. I flew backward, crashing into the opposite wall hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs. Picture frames fell, glass shattering as they hit the floor.
I slid down the wall, gasping for breath. She stood over me, her silhouette framed by the doorway, dark energy seeming to pulse around her.
"That's what," she said coldly.
Despite the pain, I forced myself to my feet, refusing to stay down. "Nice trick. But I'm not letting you leave."
Something like surprise flickered across her face. "You're either brave or incredibly stupid."
"Maybe both," I admitted, stepping toward her again. "But I can feel it, Lana. This connection between us. You can't tell me you don't feel it too."
Her expression wavered, vulnerability breaking through the cold mask for just a moment. In that second of hesitation, I closed the distance between us, capturing her lips with mine. She stiffened, hands pressing against my chest to push me away, but then something changed. Her resistance melted and she kissed me back with a ferocity that took my breath away.
We stumbled backward toward the bed, anger transforming into a different kind of heat. Her nails raked down my back, hard enough to draw blood. I responded by gripping her hips tight enough to bruise, our kisses more like battles than caresses.
"I hate this," she gasped against my mouth. "I hate what you do to me."
"No, you don't," I growled, pulling her hair back to expose her throat. "You're just scared of it."
This time was different—rougher, more primal. Her strength matched mine, supernatural and unrestrained. We fought for dominance, neither willing to submit. When we finally collapsed together, bodies slick with sweat, I felt a surge of power rush through me.
I acted on instinct, burying my face against her neck and biting down hard enough to break skin. She cried out, her body arching against mine. I tasted copper on my tongue as I completed the mate bond from my side, marking her as mine just as she had marked me.
The effect was immediate. Lana's eyes flew open, shock and fury warring on her face. "What have you done?" she gasped, pushing me off her with supernatural strength.
"Made it fair," I said, feeling no remorse despite the rage on her face. "Now we're both bound."
She scrambled away from me, her body beginning to tremble. "You fool," she whispered. "You have no idea what you've done."
The temperature in the room plummeted. My breath clouded in front of me as frost began forming on the windows. Dark smoke, or something like it, began seeping from Lana's skin, curling around her limbs like living shadows. Her eyes had gone completely black now, not just the irises but the whites as well, like pools of liquid darkness.
The small clock on my nightstand suddenly flew across the room, smashing against the wall. Books tumbled from shelves. The light bulb in my lamp exploded, showering glass onto the floor.
I backed away, true fear finally gripping me. "Lana?"
"This is what you wanted to bind yourself to," she said, her voice distorted, almost echoing. "Are you satisfied now?"
Realization dawned, terrible and cold. "Dark Queen," I whispered. The stories were true. The monster that had laid waste to the Eastern Territories, the being that humans and supernaturals alike feared—she was real. And she was my mate.
Lana's laugh was hollow. "So you've heard of me."
"You've brought nothing but destruction. People die wherever you appear."
Pain flickered across her face, momentarily cutting through the darkness, but it vanished just as quickly behind a mask of cold indifference. "Humans should fear me," she said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. Something ancient and personal flashed in her eyes, but she offered nothing more.
I approached her cautiously, my stance defensive. "You don't have to be this way. What I saw tonight—there's more to you than this darkness."
She whirled toward me, the temperature in the room plummeting as she moved. Frost crystallized on the windows in spiderweb patterns. "This IS what I am," she snarled, eyes flashing dangerously as she stalked closer. The furniture between us rattled and shook. "I AM the darkness. Not possessed by it, not controlled by it—I AM it."
Black smoke erupted from her skin, swirling violently around her like a living storm. The floorboards creaked and groaned beneath her feet as though struggling to support the weight of her power.
I recognized the signs of teleportation beginning. "Wait!" I lunged forward, grabbing her arm through the smoke. It felt like plunging my hand into ice water. "Where are you going? What are you planning to do?"
Her eyes, black and bottomless, met mine. "What I always do. Destroy. It's all I'm good for."
"That's not true," I insisted, fighting to maintain my grip on her arm despite the cold burning my skin. "I won't let you hurt innocent people."
"You've seen what I wanted you to see," she said, but her voice wavered.
"No. I've seen the real you," I insisted. "The darkness isn't all you are. I won't let it define you."
The smoke thickened, obscuring her features. I felt her slipping away, both physically and mentally. With desperate strength, I began to shift, calling on my wolf form. Fur rippled across my skin, bones cracking as they realigned. The partial transformation gave me enhanced strength, but it wasn't enough.
Lana raised her hand and another blast of energy hit me, this one stronger than before. I flew across the room, crashing through my dresser. Pain exploded through my body as wood splintered around me.
Through blurred vision, I saw her standing over me, the dark smoke swirling violently. For just a moment, I thought I saw regret in those black eyes. Then she vanished, leaving nothing but cold air and the scent of ozone behind.
I lay amid the wreckage of my bedroom, my body battered but already beginning to heal. The mate bond pulsed within me, a new sense I hadn't possessed before. Through it, I could feel her emotions—anger, confusion, and beneath it all, a small current of remorse.
Grimacing with pain, I pushed myself up from the floor. Pieces of shattered furniture fell from my shoulders. I had to find her. Not just to stop whatever destruction she planned to unleash, but to save her from the darkness she embraced.
I began gathering what I would need, my resolve hardening. Outside my window, storm clouds were gathering over the city, unnatural in their speed and darkness. A harbinger of what was to come.
She was my mate. And I would find her, even if it meant following her into the darkness itself.