Page 125 of Crystal Luna

“How about you burn this house down?” she hissed, tension still high from the dinner she’d been forced to sit through. “Or rather…” she added, slowly turning around. “Why don’t you let me do it? But memories don’t fade that easily, do they?”

Asher let go of the kitchen counter he’d been using for emotional support and closed the distance between them. “I’m sorry,” he said for what felt like the thousandth time.

He reached out to her, but she was quicker. Her nails turned to claws as her hand met his throat. Sitting across from two people who’d caused her so much pain, had filled her with a rage she had trouble controlling.

“Your apologies mean nothing,” she spat, pouring as much hate as she could into the words. Her anger roared, like it had so often since they’d returned to her life. “They’re empty promises.”

His face paled and his eyes widened as he looked down on her. She thought he’d fight, but he simply stood before her without trying to free himself from what had to be a painful grip. Pictures of him and his harassments flooded her mind. Though it had occurred to her—multiple times—to hurt him, she was surprised how good it actually felt. Good in the worst kind of way. The longer she stood there, the more her mind was flooded with the memories of him and Isaiah dismissing her, treating her as if she only existed to serve them. She wanted to hurt him like they’d hurt her.

She let her eyes bore into his as her claws sank into his skin. She used the leverage to guide him to the floor. He obeyed, falling to his knees before her. His eyes softened—complete and utter obedience. It slightly took her by surprise. Asher was arrogant, dominant in every way. He’d never let anyone make him look bad, much less let anyone sink him to his knees—no one had ever made him submit before.

His mind leaned against hers and she let him in, wanting him to see how dangerous this was. Though she was unmarked, they could both sense her thoughts and emotions due to the pack bond. He could feel how she enjoyed seeing him submit, how her thoughts spiralled deeper and deeper into the desire to hurt him.

“I’m yours, Vel,” he choked.

That wasn’t the promise she wanted to hear.

“I know I’m not who you want, but I’m yours. Make me suffer—do your worst. But I’m yours—forever.”

She studied him, hand still tight around his throat. He spoke the truth. He was hers and he’d just offered her to do whatever she desired with him.

“A dangerous promise,” she whispered as the dark thoughts clouded her mind even more.

“I know you want to punish me. I know I made you suffer even more by taking you from your home. But I’d do anything to make you happy again—even if that means I suffer.”

“For the rest of your life?”

“Yes. I’m yours, Velora,” he repeated with such confidence that it blew her mind.

He’d punished everyone and everything who’d made him look bad before his pack and now he offered himself to do exactly that. He’d never been the submissive type, always the loudest, barking orders, but now he’d do as she commanded.

“You’re my luna. I would do anything to please my moon.”

His eyes were still wide and glossy, silently begging for mercy as he kneeled before her. Even though she was hurting him, it seemed he still waited for scratches behind the ear as a treat for his submissive behaviour.

“I like ear scratches,” he admitted, his muscles relaxing even more into her hold.

She crooked her eyebrow, her lips curling up. “How about a pink diamond collar and a doghouse in the backyard?”

He bit his lip as he tried to determine her tone—she didn’t even know if she was serious or not. “They have to match,” he said after a moment of deliberation.

She wasn’t sure why, but her anger softened. Her claws retracted and she smoothed her hand up the side of his neck to his ear. As she started to pet him like a dog, a hint of jealousy floated into her mind. She picked her head up to see Isaiah still leaning against the counter with his hands in his pockets.

Like poison, a small weed started to grow from an insecure part of her heart—a part that she’d tried not to think about, too much. She hadn’t just mated with two men—she’d mated with two alphas. She’d never been with anyone but Heath. How was she supposed to keep both of them happy? She now knew they didn’t keep track but what if one was easier to please than the other? She didn’t necessarily want to please either of them, yet there she was feeling sorry for the alphas who were stuck with a luna who hated them. They may even be wondering if the forced love they would eventually feel through the bond would be enough to share.

“You are enough, Vel,” Isaiah reassured her with a deep hum, his jealousy long forgotten. “You’ve always been enough. We were just too blind to see it.”

Asher leaned into her touch as if he agreed.

“And yet, I don’t care for it. I do feel the bond and what it’s trying to do, but I don’t want it.”

“We deserve that.”

“But deep down you’re waiting for the bond to soften my resentment towards you.”

“We are.”

“And you don’t even need to pray or hope for it because you and I know it’s inevitable.”