Tabitha's POV
I widened my eyes.
I had imagined numerous scenarios about what Derek would do to me after he found me.
It was just...
I had never thought about what was going on now.
He was like a traveler in the desert, longing for water. And finally, he found a pool of clear spring water.
He kissed me carefully.
My heart was pounding.
Her long eyelashes trembled lightly in the sunlight, hiding the expression in his eyes/ I couldn’t read his mind at the moment.
He was showing me the long-lost tenderness again.
I was about to immerse myself in his tenderness.
Then he suddenly muttered "mate".
Crystal responded excitedly in my mind.
I then realized that we were each other's second chance mate.
Derek sniffed my neck.
His breathed heavily around my neck.
His sharp fangs lightly grazed my skin, causing a shiver through me.
Crystal was longing for him.
I realized that he was about to mark me.
But I recalled the scene where I cut his mark on me with a knife in the past.
I was overwhelmed by the pain from his betrayal once again.
I began to struggle desperately.
My actions once again angered Derek.
He questioned me about my relationship with Lucian.
I didn't know how to explain.
So I tried my best to control my feelings, for fear of further angering him.
But I didn’t realize that my silence was taken as a provocation. He picked me up and walked towards the bathroom.
I grabbed his shirt out of instinct when the miserable memories flooded back in my mind. My body trembled involuntarily.
“Is he going crazy again?”
Derek gently placed me in the bathtub and said softly, "Don't be afraid, I will wash you clean."
He was doing that gain!
I shook my head violently when I recalled how he soaked me with cold water. "Don’t, Derek. Please don't do that to me."
The shower head was turned on, and mist rose in the bathroom.
The good thing was that it was hot water this time.
Derek began to undress me.
One piece after another.
Soon, there was only the last piece of cloth on me.
He hasn't touched me for two years.
After experiencing all these ups and downs, I had mixed feelings for him: love, hate, and anger.
I even felt disgusted at his touch.
"Don't touch me!" I crossed my arms in front of my chest, refusing his moves on me.
Derek lowered his head, staring at me coldly.
"I don’t even get to touch you now?" Derek sneered.
I clearly sensed the sudden change in his emotion. His voice became extremely cold. And there was no tenderness in his eyes either.
His misunderstanding for me seemed to deepen. With an obvious sneer in his eyes, he got up and was about to leave without a word.
What was he up to?
If he didn’t punish me now, then my cherished ones would suffer instead.
I grabbed Derek's wrist immediately.
"Don’t leave."
Derek stopped and looked at me silently.
The bathroom was deathly silent. There was only the sound of water flowing.
“Please don’t go.” I pleaded against my will.
“Why are you still defending him?” Derek pinched my chin and said coldly.
A strong feeling of frustration rose in me. Whatever I said, he’d just choose to believe one thing, i.e. I betrayed him.
But it was him who betrayed me!
Irritation rose in me again.
But at the thought of the young faces of Aiden and Noah, I couldn't help but let out a sigh.
I stood up from the bathtub and went to hug Derek.
The water on my body seeped through his white shirt bit by bit, but Derek did not move away from me.
I held him and gently touched his Adam's apple.
Then I felt Derek's body tense up.
“I didn't betray you," I said in a soft voice, trembling involuntarily.
Taking me into his arms, he landed a hot kiss on me.
I frowned.
I had been longing for his hug for two years. But a strong feeling of disgust rose in me when I thought that he had kissed Daphne in this way as well.
Just as I was about to push him away, Derek's phone rang.
It was the ringtone exclusive to Daphne.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I had never felt so thankful for Daphne.
Derek wanted to continue, but his phone kept ringing.
He had to let go of me.
Derek answered the phone impatiently. His brow furrowed deeply after Daphne said something. In the end, he hung up the phone in annoyance.
He then reached out to grab a bathrobe, looking pretty bad.
"I have to go now. Just wait for me at home."
I felt very relieved at his words.
“Don’t ever leave this house.” Derek added in a sullen tone.
My body got less stiff as I watched him leave.
“Thank god we didn’t end up in sex.”
I didn't know when it started. But I felt disgusted when the man I used to deeply love touched me now.
The bathtub was filled with foam. I kept rubbing every spot that he had touched in my body.
The warm water soaked my body thoroughly. I looked at my blurred reflection on the glass through the misty steam.
“What am I gonna do next time?” I asked myself in my mind.
Derek was even more despicable than before.
In the past, although he hated me, I at least got freedom.
But now I felt that Derek had put a chain on me both physically and mentally.
Now that I couldn't avoid it, I had no choice but to face it bravely.
So I dialed Obadiah's number, "What did you get, Alpha Obadiah?"