Page 401 of Hate Mates

I don’t have to see her to know exactly where she is.

Huddled in the darkness, panting, desperate.

I inhale deeply. “You should have kept running, Vivienne.”

She stiffens.

And then she fights.

I expect nothing less from Vivienne. Even now, after all these years, she still has that fire in her. But it’s wild, unfocused. She has power—more than she even realizes—but she never learned to wield it properly. Hiding it all this time, suppressing it, has made her weak.

She throws her hands up, her magic lashing out in a desperate surge, a force meant to push me back. I feel the pressure of it—electric, crackling, raw—but I hold my ground. With a flick of my wrist, I cut through it effortlessly, unraveling the spell before it even has a chance to take form.

“Is that all you have?” I taunt, stepping forward.

Her eyes burn with fury as she stumbles back, gathering more energy between her fingers, the air vibrating with the weight of her magic. It’s beautiful, in its own way. Untamed. Pure. If she had been trained, she might have stood a chance.

But she wasn’t.

She never learned how to fight.

And I? I have spent a lifetime perfecting my craft.

She sends a wave of force at me, but I break through it like it’s nothing, reaching her before she can gather herself again. I grab her wrists, twisting them behind her back in one fluid motion, forcing her against the rough stone of the cave wall.

She gasps, her chest heaving, body trembling against mine.

“Let me go,” she snarls.

“No.” My grip tightens. “You’re mine, Vivienne. Running won’t change that.”

“I amnotyours.” She thrashes, but I press my body against hers, keeping her pinned.

“You’ve always been mine.” The words come out low, dangerous.Possessive.

She stills, her breath shallow, and when I lean in, I can feel the rapid beat of her pulse beneath my lips.

“Damn you,” she whispers.

I smirk against her skin. “You tried to hide from me. Did you really think you could?”

“I had to.”

I pull back just enough to look at her, her dark eyes burning into mine. “Why?”

She exhales sharply, but when she speaks, her voice shakes. “Because you ruined me.”

The words hit me harder than any spell she could have cast.

I go still.

She squeezes her eyes shut, as if saying it out loud is almost too much. “You ruined me, Orion. After you—” She swallows, her cheeks flushing. “After that night, no one else has ever?—”

I understand before she can finish.

The realization slams into me like a wrecking ball.

No one else.

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