CHAPTER EIGHTY

Ruby watched the ray of sun seeping into the room from the barred window. How long had she been in that position on the bed? She had no idea. Time had become a distant illusion to her. She lay on her side unmoving for hours, tear lines rolling from underneath her eyes, down her cheek, and into a damp spot on the bed. She had watched the sun dip beneath the horizon. She had stared unblinking at the starless sky while the room lit with the alluring glow of the sun, but still, she couldn't bring herself to react.

The night had turned into day, and there she still lay. No one had come into the room after Edgar had left. Ruby was sure the door was locked, not that she had bothered to check. She only clung to the last bit of hope that still burned in her in the expectancy of Noah's arrival.

A sob escaped her lip at the thought of her mate. Why wasn't he there yet? Her body raked with her cry, breaking the porcelain doll state she had adopted. He should know of her disappearance by now, she thought as for the first time since the syringe Edgar pierced into her body, she let herself feel the pain eating away at her inside. Her entire existence had come undone as she mourned her wolf's complete disappearance.

One dose of his perfectly made poison was all it took for her beast to crumple inside her mind. She could no longer hear its weak breathing as it tried to heal itself; the steady heartbeat that had comforted her in times of loneliness echoed with deafening silence. She was dissolved in misery; life held no meaning to her as she was back to being the broken Omega she worked so hard to renounce. And Noah not being there only made her wish for death to take her away as well.

The rattling of keys sliced through the silence she was growing accustomed to. She didn't feel the rush of warmth that invaded her senses or the butterflies in her tummy when she got a whiff of Noah, so she didn't care to look.

Ruby heard heavy footsteps approach her. Her insides churned, urging her to move away as the newcomer's scent filled the room—rose, musk, and sandalwood. The smell was so familiar but, at the same time, so different from the one that made her heart race.

"It pains me when you ignore me like this."

Aiden breathed out. Ruby could hear how close he was to her—an unpleasant shiver ran down her spine at the proximity, but she disregarded his presence. He didn't say anything, but she could feel the bed dip as he took a seat.

Her heart thundered in her chest as a few minutes passed, with neither of them saying a word. His breathing grew labored, and the air in the room grew thick with his rising anger at her blatant disrespect.

"Ruby," Aiden muttered—his tone growing deep with his wolf's influence.

But she still ignored him, hoping he would take the hint and leave her alone. But he didn't. Instead, she felt a hand on the part of her thigh below her shorts. His touch felt like fire against her skin, sending a shiver of revulsion over her, making her jerk back.

It was then she looked at him. His face now held an overgrown stubble, and his eyes, similar to the man she longed for, had a demented edge. His lips were in a thin line as he fumed in his spot.

"You hate my touch that much, huh?" Aiden said, trying to make his voice sound dejected, but the anger glowering in his eyes was a dead giveaway of his true feelings.

Ruby lowered her eyes to her lap. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, and she didn't want him to see her sorrow. She didn't want him to see how much he and his wretched members had broken her.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Aiden flared, knocking over the chair which stood at the side of the bed.

The sound made her jerk, but she kept her emotions buried. She stared blankly at Aiden, who seethed at her stoniness.

"I have done everything! I brought you back to where you belong! I gave you some time to get used to being back on Redmoon, but still, all you do is be cold to me! What the fuck do you want me to do?"

"You are a fool if you think I want to be here," Ruby spat out, having enough of his illogical blabber. "You want to know what I want: Take me back to my mate."

Aiden stood still, his eyes darkening with fury. "You are with your mate."

"You are not my mate, Aiden," Ruby let more hot, angry tears fall as she pinned him with a glare of her own. "Why don't you understand this and let me live peacefully with Noah."

"Noah, Noah, Noah! I am so sick and tired of that name. What is it about him that you would renounce me for? I am your mate, Ruby—me! Aiden! Whatever the witches said was a lie, a hoax played by the chancellor and Noah. You are mine before the Goddess and man."

She couldn't reason with him. He was far too deep in the imaginary world his obsession had plunged him into, and his presence only angered her the more.

"I would never be yours, Aiden," Ruby spat out, lacing her every word with the heavy weight of spite that blossomed in her heart. "Until the day I die, I will curse the repulsive bond you think we share. The Goddess saw that she burdened her child with a mistake like you, so she destroyed the pitiful bond and blessed me with Noah—a man you can only dream of becoming."

Ruby had not expected it. She would have thought it would never have happened if her head wasn't whipped to the side with a throbbing, stinging pain resonating from her left cheek. The force of his strike sent her body crashing back down on the bed. Her cheek stung, and her eyes grew hazy for a second, but she didn't touch her hurting face to relieve the pain.

"Never, ever compare me to that man again," he roared as he grabbed a fistful of her hair so she'd look up at him. His eyes were completely black, and the veins protruding from his neck looked like they would burst any second. "I am Aiden, Alpha of Redmoon. Noah could only wish for my position when I attained my throne, so he is nothing compared to what I am, and you are mine, do you understand?"

Ruby felt a warm liquid trickle down the side of her lip. Her heart hammered in her chest at the unfiltered rage that thickened the air around him. He hit her, and from the look in his eyes, he would do it again if she didn't thread carefully. But she was done caring. Death felt like a blissful relief for the pain she would go through if she stayed with him. "Go to hell, Aiden."

His fingers in her hair turned to pincers, making her cry out from how tight his grip became. Ruby struggled with his clam-like fingers, but he didn't let go.

"I see you won't obey when I go easy on you, so let's do this the hard way, shall we?"

Aiden moved so fast, and Ruby didn't expect it. She heard a ripping sound before the material of her shirt hung loosely on her chest. A piercing scream escaped her throat as her hands flew from her hair to cover herself. Ruby was stiff with shock as Aiden threw her back to the bed. Her mind burned with terror, burning away the residual frozenness of her brain as she watched him work the buttons of his shirt.

"You are mine before the moon Goddess, and I think it is time I made you mine for the world to see."

"A-Aiden, what are you doing?" Ruby yelled again when he wrapped his hand around her ankle, pulling her down to the edge of the bed.

"Noah has touched what is mine," Aiden sniggered as his fingers moved up her leg. "But don't you worry, after today, you will forget what his touch feels like and only remember what glory it is like to be with your true mate."

Ruby yelled, choking on her tears as she thrashed in his hold. "No!"

But he paid no heed to her pleas as he struggled to pin her hands over her head. "I will mark you as mine, and Noah will never be able to claim you again."

Ruby didn't stop fighting. She begged for her wolf to help her, she prayed for Noah to come save her, and she begged the Goddess to kill her before he defiled her. Nausea rose to her throat as his hands grazed her thigh. His touch hurt—it burned like dry ice on sensitive skin.

Please, Aiden, stop. She repeated the words, but his mouth connected with her skin, dancing over her neck, over the scar he had inflicted on her years ago, and soon hovering over the spot at the crook of her neck where Noah's mark was supposed to lie.

Ruby felt her soul leave her body when his hand successfully pinned hers while the other roamed. She wanted to peel her skin—to cut off every part of it where his fingers had grazed. Her head felt light as the room began to dance before her eyes. Ruby begged for death, not wanting to live with herself after Aiden would tarnish her from the inside out.

Aiden's hand moved lower, hovering over her breast for a second longer before descending to her stomach. Ruby felt him stiffen over her. He jerked up, seizing his assault as he looked from her belly and back to her face. His eyes were wide with anger, pain, shock, distaste, and, most of all, hate.

She had no idea what had come over him, but she was thankful for the distraction to push him away from her. Aiden staggered back. His hand that lay on her tummy hung in the air, and his eyes remained on her lower body.

Ruby heaved as she tried her best to cover her exposed skin. She felt self-conscious under his gaze and placed a protective hand over her stomach—her action made his eyes widen even more.

"Y-you're pregnant?"