Page 44 of Surrendered to Mate

No. Not again.

Never again.

"What do you want?" I manage to croak out, hating how weak my voice sounds.

She reaches out, trailing a finger along my jaw. I flinch away, skin crawling at her touch.

"Oh, it's not about what I want. It's about what Cassius wants. And he'll come for you, make no mistake."

Cassius. My heart leaps at his name, then plummets. This is a trap. For him.

"He won't," I lie, praying it's true. "He doesn't care about me."

Darana's eyes flash with rage. Her hand shoots out, gripping my throat. "Liar," she hisses. "You reek of him. I don't know what you did to seduce him. But he's mine. Do you understand? Mine!"

I gasp for air, spots dancing in my vision. Just as darkness starts to close in, she releases me. I gulp in desperate breaths, shaking.

"Don't worry, little rodan," Darana purrs, standing. "I'll make sure you're still breathing when he gets here. After that?" Her smile widens, all teeth and malice. "Well, we'll see how much he really cares about you."

I grit my teeth as Darana circles me, her eyes gleaming with malice. My body aches from the ropes digging into my skin, but I refuse to show weakness.

"Tell me, little rodan," she purrs, running a sharp nail down my cheek. "What exactly did you do to bewitch my Cassius?"

I turn my face away, staying silent. Her hand suddenly grips my jaw, forcing me to look at her.

"Answer me!" she snarls, her nails digging into my skin.

"Nothing," I spit out. "He's not yours. He doesn't want you."

Pain explodes across my face as she backhands me. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

"Liar!" Darana shrieks, her composure cracking. She grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. "Did you bleed for him, you filthy human? Is that how you messed with him? You're using his hunger against him?"

Shame and anger burn through me. I want to scream that it wasn't like that, that what Cassius and I shared was... different. Special. But I won't give her the satisfaction.

"Fuck off," I growl.

Her eyes narrow. "Not wise."

Darana's hand wraps around my throat, squeezing. I gasp, struggling for air as spots dance in my vision. Just as darkness starts to close in, she releases me. I slump forward, coughing and gulping in desperate breaths.

"Now," she says, voice deceptively soft. "Let's try this again. Tell me about your relationship with Cassius."

I stay silent, bracing for more pain. Instead, Darana laughs, the sound chilling me to the bone.

"You know," she muses, trailing her fingers along my arm. "Cassius and I have quite the history. Decades of passion, of pleasure." Her grip suddenly tightens, nails digging into my flesh. "What could you possibly offer him that I can't?"

The words cut deeper than her nails, doubt creeping in. What am I to Cassius, really? Just a momentary distraction?

I have to fight to keep the fear and worry off my face. Since she showed up, I've wondered who she is to him. I can tell myself she's crazy, that he cares about me. But…how much do I really know?

"He doesn't care about you," Darana hisses in my ear. "Once he's done using you, he'll toss you aside. Just like he did to me."

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out her poisonous words. But they seep in, feeding the insecurities I've been fighting since I met Cassius.

"You're wrong," I whisper, as much to convince myself as her.

Darana's laugh is cruel. "Oh, you poor, naive little thing. Do you actually believe he could love you?"

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