CHAPTER 13. Kill me now

**— VITA.**

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The pain of the bite or the claws never came... in fact, I hear a menacing growl that sends shivers through my entire body.

I open my eyes slowly, noticing that, in fact, Derek isn’t attacking me... He’s standing over Mr. Raven, growling and drooling so close to his neck that I drag myself backward, memories threatening to trigger...

“Forgive me, Alpha! Please forgive me! I didn’t know!” Mr. Raven pleads, holding up his hands in defense. “I crossed the line... I would never dare mark her; I swear... I lost my mind, Alpha. Please forgive me... Have mercy on me!”

Derek growls louder, making my skin crawl.

I hug my own body, my eyes full of tears and my heart beating hard against my chest, so much so that it threatens to go up my tightened throat to pound there.

Derek’s teeth are touching the man’s neck, and I can even see some blood oozing from his skin, dripping onto the floor... And all my restricted memories unlock, overwhelming me with intense emotions that make my eyes well up with tears that I don’t even feel.

“Don’t hurt me, Alpha... Please, I made a mistake... Oh, Goddess! I didn’t know that this woman belongs to you, Alpha... If I had known, I would never have let myself be led by my instincts...”

He seems to have been taken by surprise by the man’s words because he retracts his snout a little, letting out a slightly lower growl, and his stronger pheromones tighten my throat and chest.

“Derek...” I call out with a shaky and thin voice, tears in my eyes, and I curl up, trying to hug my legs...

Fortunately, hearing me calling him seems to bring him to the reason because he finally moves his head, looking at me with intense eyes.

“Don’t do that here, please... Not here, please...”

He slowly removes the huge paw from Mr. Raven’s chest, and I can notice the torn shirt and blood dripping down, staining the fabric... it doesn’t seem to be that deep, but the man is fighting back the painful moans that threaten to escape.

“Shadow.” A guttural voice escapes from deep in Derek’s throat in his wolf shape... And at the same moment, the hooded man I saw earlier appears, already kneeling, leaning on a single knee, head down.

“Yes, Alpha.”

Once again, I can’t see his face, but I’m not worried about that...

“Take this rat outside and take care of it.” He says with a low growl that reverberates through my chest and makes me shudder.

Without saying a single word beyond this simple order, the door bursts open, and two other subordinates wearing black leather outfits, like combat uniforms, enter the room and quickly start pulling Mr. Raven by the arms, dragging him across the floor like he were a body and nothing more, even though the man screams and tries to get up, begging for the mercy of the Alpha who doesn’t pay him another glance.

And just like that, the door closes, and we are alone again, immersed in a silence so disturbing that I can hear my own heart, so frantic that it could stop because it beat too hard.

I swallow hard when I’m the subject of Derek’s full attention, who, in his wolf form, manages to be even more menacing and imposing.

Seeing him like this, he looks even bigger than I remember. His paws are each the size of my head, and his claws are so big and sharp that they scratch the floor, crunching the wood with his paws. In fact, he’s so big that I’m sure my hand can’t reach his entire snout.

Derek takes a few majestic steps towards me and begins to stand on two legs, a hybrid form that makes me realize that the man in front of me really is Alpha — the leader of all the werewolf kind, one of the heads of the Council... And it’s not simply because of his blood, his lineage... I can understand now.

Derek is the strongest.

His pheromones, his bloodlust...

He’s capable of shaking even the oldest of wolves.

“Vita.” My name reverberating through this deep, husky voice makes me shudder and squeeze my legs even tighter.

Perhaps Derek understands that I’m frightened because he slowly returns to human form, although his eyes still glow an intense yellow, and his claws remain in the hand that is reaching for me.

“You’re bleeding.” He says, touching my knees with his sharp claw, but so gently that it doesn’t cause me any injury. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d hurt myself... maybe it was the shards of glass on the floor?

I swallow hard, looking into his eyes again, which return to their normal blue... a deep blue that shimmers like the sea when touched by the sun, with little points of light that bewitch me.

With a slow movement, Derek’s hand pulls my arms away, leaving my legs free to welcome his full touch. His rough hand moves up my ankles until it passes my knees and reaches my thighs.

I hold my breath, feeling a weird anticipation that I hate myself for feeling, but I’m being pulled in, and I can’t resist.

Derek continues to move upwards, sliding his hand around my waist and further to my back, exploring my skin like he’s making sure there aren’t any other scratches. And I can’t help noticing that the wound on his other hand has already healed.

“Do you understand what you did?” Derek asks, pushing my hair away and putting it in front of my shoulders to expose the nape of my neck, the mark he left on me three years ago...

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes.

“I would never let you be marked by someone else…” He says between his teeth, so low that I can barely hear him. “I’d really rather kill you right now than allow someone else bite over my mark.”

Suddenly, his touch on the back of my neck becomes tight as he abruptly pulls me close, our faces so close that our breaths mingle... “Your life is mine, Vita... You’re mine.”

“Three years have passed, Derek... What else does it take for you to let me go?” I ask softly, without taking my eyes away from his, feeling my heart pounding in so many different ways that even I can’t decipher it.

“Don’t you understand yet? Dead or alive, I won’t forgive you... Don’t think you can pay for your sins in this lifetime.”

I feel my eyes sting, but I grab his collar tightly, pulling a little harder, shortening the distance even more to the point where our noses touch.

“I don’t owe you anything anymore. I lived for you for two years, and you turned your back on me. What makes you think you can do this to me?”

“You don’t owe me anything anymore?” He growls, his eyebrows furrowed. “I told you, your life or death is for me to decide-”

“Then kill me now — what are you waiting for? Dead or alive, it makes no difference to you, Derek. If I’m a murderer, and this is the hell I deserve, kill me now.”

Derek is stunned; I can tell by the way he slowly pulls his face away, blinking, reaching for my hand on his shirt...

But I pull him back, without breaking our eye contact, “Kill me, Derek!”

His breathing gets shorter, and I notice that he’s staring too long at my lips, trying to resist, but it’s like he can’t ignore the temptation my mouth brings.

Derek’s touch on the back of my neck becomes a little softer, his fingers tangling in my hair. He really seems to be fighting his urges. He swallows hard, making his Adam’s apple tremble, and closes his eyes tightly, moving his head to the side...

It looks like he’s lost the fight because his other hand goes back to my leg, and his fingers threaten to slide up the inside of my thigh. “Do you want me to kill you?”

“Go ahead… do it, Derek.”

“Damn it.” Derek’s eyes open again, and he looks at me with such lust that I’m stunned. He pulls on my thigh, making me spread my legs so that he fits his body between them, making me hold my breath.

He moves his face forward, merging our breaths once again, “Damn you, woman.”

Derek's mouth collides with mine, and he quickly forces my lips open, sliding his tongue inside to meet mine. I try to push him away and scratch his neck, but he holds my face and leans to the side, fitting this kiss perfectly.

His hands reach my groin as his pheromones are released powerfully and impregnate my skin, setting my body on fire. His fingers don't stop at the inside of my thigh; they move up to my wet, throbbing entrance.

I gasp for air, especially when he presses my clit over my panties. But soon his tongue is back inside my mouth, kissing me even more hungrily, lustfully...

Then, I remember that Derek is having his way again. He's getting what he wants and playing with my feelings. I can’t ignore Derek’s words in my room before he put me through hell... before he broke the person who loved him most.

He rejected me.

That night, Derek rejected me and hurt my feelings. No tie binds us anymore... he ended it all three years before.

That's why I gather all my strength and push him away, adding some distance between us, enough to break this contact.

He looks at me in confusion, already gripping my chin tighter and reaching up to kiss me again, but I turn my face away, making his lips meet only my cheek, not my lips as he expected.

And just like that night, my heart breaks and cuts me with its shards.

The difference is that this time, I’m the one rejecting him.