Mated to the Monster

't stop

n, and child bowing before the Alpha King as if their

broke eye con

only one

bend. My pride refu

maybe-I was too

ke it belonged in a tomb. No one dared speak his name aloud. Not really.

seen a monster

ike drumbeats against the earth. Deliberate. Absolute. And as he r

bo

a chain around my throat,

eath

ter. It wasn't perfume. It wasn't anything I could explain

hreatened

ing the pull with every ou

above me. He didn't speak. Didn't blink. He just look

n he le

el the heat of his b

," he murmured, voic

d in my ears. "

slow. Dangerou

appe

through the sile

are. Someone whimpered. Som

tep back. Didn't strike me down. His hand simply rose... and t

in-wider this time

ou," he s

't even

oice dropped lower. "I k

red behind his eyes. Not

g a gloved fingertip al

lin

t tou

ke a predator studying prey

he crowd without l

e belong

round us. The way you might react if the de

y. "I'm not

id. "You're

one used to being obeyed, he turned to

ke

loded in

n and

ore down a back alley, heart slamming against my ribs like a dru

a rusted drainage pipe that only a child would dare crawl through. My breath cam

didn't

ll itself was

se it

im in my bones

en something terrifying. Somethi

he ruins of the old train station. Mara and Elde

ered, her voice cracking.

shaking. "I didn't ask for

sn't care what we ask for. The Alpha King doe

" I snapped. "I'm n

t of his gaze burn into my memory. Fe

t, I didn

losed my eyes,

voice, whisper

ell lik