Selena’s mind was still foggy and didn’t know where she was going. Selena has just finished running through the woods. She wasn’t even trying to get away because she knew well that she couldn’t. As soon as she crossed the boundary, Cayden’s men would either capture her or put her to death, whichever came first. That was not unknown to her. But her wolf wanted to run, and because she wanted to take in the clean scent of the grass and feel the breeze on her face, she ran for several minutes without really giving much thought to what she was doing. Even though it had been years since she had shifted, it might as well have been as easy as breathing for her to change this time.
Her wolf insisted, “We must return to our mate.”
“I missed you. Let’s hang out for a while.” As Selena sat on a ledge with an expansive view of the mansion and the buildings that surrounded it, she addressed her wolf. What a cruel twist of fate that her tormentor should be her mate! When she looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, she couldn’t help but wonder why Luna was messing with her life. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she let her have a little of joy?
The wolf muttered, “He is our mate!”
“He can’t be our mate! we can’t accept him. He has hurt me.” Selena argued with herself.
“He didn’t know.”
“IT DOSNT MATTER! we can’t be with him.”
“I understand,” to her surprise, her wolf didn’t fight back. She was too happy to be released. She didn’t care about getting a mate right now.
She felt him long before she heard him approaching. He looked for her everywhere. She sped off. When Selena finally reached the next open space, she found it resembled a grassy lawn lined with flowers. She could see Cayden’s shadow expanding and moving closer to her, and she knew that time and options were running out for her.
She yelled in a loud voice, “stay away from me!” He seemed carefree as he strolled along at a leisurely pace, as if he had nothing else to do and was not concerned about anything in the world. Selena shifted and fumbled around as she looked for something she could use as a weapon. A stick, a stone, or anything. She grabbed a large rock and held it out as a weapon.
“Don’t touch me!” she yelled.
Cayden was only looking for her for a few minutes before he found her standing in the middle of the forest, naked and disheveled. With her dark hair raging out of control, Selena gave off a wild appearance. She gave the impression of being disoriented and was still reeling from turning. Her posture was awkward, with her shoulders slumped and her thin legs unsure of where they were standing. The stone she was holding in her hand was barely in her grasp.
He commanded Selena to “Put that down.”
She was trying to glare, but all that came out of her eyes were tears, even though her hands were trembling uncontrollably. She stopped shaking by drawing on the emotional reserves she had stored up, then she gripped the stone even more tightly and lifted her chin in defiance. He wanted to laugh at her but restrained himself because he didn’t want to make her suffer anymore; she was making such an effort to be courageous.
“Do you think you can do it, Selena? How many times you have tried to kill me and failed?” Her hand shook again. “You can’t do this Selena.” His voice was calm and controlled, almost too sure of himself.
“St...st...stay back. I will do it, I swear.” Cayden moved forward slowly as if cornering a wild, wounded animal.
“You can’t do this. You’re not a killer.”
“No, I’m not. But you are Cayden. Aren’t you?”
She did not know whether she had reached her breaking point because of the hours of torture; all she knew was that she had enough of it.
Selena made a move towards him, and both her actions and her words caught Cayden completely off guard, allowing Selena to attack. Selena froze as the stone hit him on the head. She jerked away as she watched the blood spread across his skin and form a thin stream that ran down his cheek. Her eyes were wide. She put both hands over her mouth and shook her head frantically as she attempted to make sense of what had just taken place.
Cayden looked startled for a split second, almost as if he were defenseless or exposed; a wounded warrior, a vulnerable gladiator, a chink in his armour. When their eyes met, it was as if he had been hit by a blow. The moment only lasted a few seconds before his face became as stony as it had been before. Cayden touched his forehead and looked at the blood on his fingers. Selena looked at him in horror. This is it! He’s gonna kill me!
Selena ran as fast as she could, her adrenaline and fear driving her with every step.
She couldn’t go far before he grabbed her arm. While she struggled in his arms, he held her close to his frame and pinned her against his frame of 6 feet, 4 inches.
“Please let me go! I won’t try to kill you again, I promise. Just please let me go. I can’t stay here!” Selena immediately began crying and wailing, and her body began convulsing against his stern torso. When Cayden thought about causing her this much pain and suffering, his chest burned, shattering his armour of cold indifference and a stoic expression.
“I’m not going to hurt you right now, Selena. Please stop fighting me and just let me hold you.”
Selena snapped, and amid a tirade of tearful screams, she found she could no longer contain her voice. “YOU LIAR! YOU KILLED NANCY! YOU FUCKING RAPED ME! AND YOU LET BITCH TOUCH ME! YOU ARE WORSE THAN Gerald WHO TRIED TO POISON ME AND MY DAD WHO SOLD ME!”
That was it, the last of what she had. Every scrap of strength left her body with her broken, defeated words. Her strikes and punches gradually degenerated into slaps and clumsy shoves, neither of which was going to make a difference to him.
She gave up her struggle and allowed the sobs and the pain to take over her mind and body as she leaned into him, granting him the opportunity to wrap his arms around her. It had been such a long time since anyone had held her or touched her, and the only person who was doing either of those things to her was the person who tormented her.
They seemed to be there for a long time, just standing there like that, her tiny body being squished up against and encircled by his enormous cage. If she weren’t Hawk’s daughter, the situation wouldn’t be nearly as complicated as it was now. He wouldn’t have to force himself to hate her.
Revenge had always been the plan, but it was a hostile game, and he was no longer confident in his cause.
Cayden never wanted the moment to end, but he had to break their contact.
“We have to talk.”