AKIRA'S POV
I was fucking worried. Two days had passed since I last saw Orion. The atmosphere in the mansion was gloomy and the last time I heard it was because the Alpha was pissed.
I quickly walked out to the backyard and I sighed in relief when I saw the people I was looking for were busy plucking apples from the tree into a basket.
Eve immediately frowned when she saw me. "Hey," She reached out to touch my cheeks. "Are you okay?"
Lenny too had a frown etched on her face.
I shook my head. "No, I'm not okay," I whispered harshly. "I can't find Orion."
Lenny dropped the basket and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure he's out there somewhere." She looked at Eve and then back to me. "You know how tight security is now, with the recent attacks on the border."
Worry climbed up my stomach and I struggled to breathe. "Are you saying the male servants who have no combat training are sent to the border too?"
Lenny only shrugged. It couldn't be. Ares couldn't be that dumb. I only hoped she was wrong.
As I turned to go back, Eve gripped my wrist. "Did you have anything to do with Orion recently?"
I hesitated. Eve and Lenny knew about the feelings Orion has for me. But they didn't know if I felt the same.
"We kissed two nights ago," I whispered.
They both gasped simultaneously. Whilst Lenny had a huge grin on her face, Eve looked like she was about to throw up.
"Why? Why did you do that, Akira?" Eve whispered harshly, I could see the sweat forming on her forehead.
I shrugged meekly. "I don't know. It just happened."
Eve's voice was calm when she spoke. "How did it feel?"
I didn't need to ponder on this question. The answer was already flowing out of my mouth in a small whisper. "Wrong."
That was the only word I could use to describe the kiss between Orion and I. It had felt completely wrong when I kissed him back and immediately, something inside of me was torn apart.
It had felt like something was begging me to retract myself from Orion. It continuously kept pleading with me to stop what I was letting happen.
I had initially thought it was the guilt from kissing one man when I was attracted to another but from the look on Eve's face, I concluded that it had something to do with Ares.
Eve walked closer. "Look, I can't blame you for kissing Orion. Ares has been a dick to you since day one." She looked up at what I assumed was Ares's window. "But you know how I've been hinting that maybe Ares could be your mate?"
I nodded. Although I didn't understand where she was heading.
"If Ares truly is your mate and he finds out that you kissed someone else, then things are about to go down south, quickly." My heart pounded so hard I thought it would fly out of my ribcage. "And the wrongness you felt? That was would probably be the mate bond. It would hurt both mates when one of them gets intimate with someone else."
"So that means the Alpha must've found out. What if he decided to kill Orion?!" Lenny gasped.
"But that's not the worst of what's to come, Akira," Eve breathed out. "The hurt, anger and jealousy Ares must be feeling right now are worse than what an average werewolf would feel. Because Ares is a Lycan."
"What –"
"The Alpha is requesting your presence." A voice cut me off.
I gasped and turned around to find a guard. "W-Why?" I stuttered.
He only stared at me. " If you would please follow me now."
I licked my dry lips and looked back at my friend who wore their fears on their sleeves. "Everything's going to be okay."
Those words were meant to comfort us but they tasted bitter in my mouth as I blurted them out.
"Let's go." The guard to my left spat and he turned to walk away.
I quickly turned to follow him. I could almost hear the pounding of my heart as I walked behind him.
I quickly went over Eve's words. If Ares had found out about Orion and I then it was sure that Orion was missing because of him. And it was certain that I was in deep shit.
My hands turned sweaty and my brain came up with a thousand ways Ares could punish me. But I knew a man like Ares wasn't going to do something of the ordinary. And the realization scared the fuck out of me.
I didn't stop sweating as we took the elevator to his quarters, nor did my heart stop its erratic pounding as we walked to the door of his bedroom.
My lungs threatened to give up their work as the guard rapped his knuckles on the huge black doors.
"Come in."
I heard his muffled deep voice behind the door.
The guard opened the door to the bedroom and we both stepped into his room.
The first thing I noticed when we entered was the cold. The entire air felt cold, void of warmth. I refused to look for Ares when I stepped in, but I knew he was standing on the balcony. Beside him stood Czar, his Beta.
The guard led me to him but something caught my eyes. A table was planted in the middle of the balcony and on the table was a food tray on the food tray was a plate but it was covered. There was a chair in front of the table.
I then sought after Ares. When I looked up at him he was already looking at me.
My breath hitched and I trembled on the spot. His eyes were cold, distant and it was void of any emotion. I couldn't read him because his walls were back up.
"Sit." He urged, pointing to the chair in front of the table. And just like his eyes, his voice was cold.
I hesitated before sitting on the chair, once I was seated, his dark, cold eyes took me in. And I briefly wondered what they would look like if he fell in love.
I wondered what he would look like after embracing the feeling of love, comfort, companionship and acceptance. The calm and quiet it brought. How great it would feel to be in love with someone. How it would feel waking up in the middle of the night with their arms wrapped around you. How great it would feel to be in their arms after a long day.
Love wasn't supposed to be turbulent, and nor is it supposed to be destructive. I supposed Ares wasn't taught that– he didn't know that. I imagined a young boy looking at the massacred bodies of his parents. The hatred he had immediately grown for humans.
Ares began to raise each sleeve of his dress shirt to his elbow. "You know, I didn't know you were one of them," He walked to stand in front of me. "I was so fucking stupid to think you would be different, doll."
My heart pounded harder. "I-I don't understand –"
He cut me off. "I didn't fucking ask you to talk."
Malicious. That was how his words spewed out of his mouth.
His jaw ticked. "I leave you alone for days. For your fucking protection only to find you in the arms of another man." He barely got the last word out.
"Only for you to fucking kiss another man." He spat.
Czar stepped forward. "Calm down, Ares."
Ares immediately glared at him. "Stay the fuck out of this, Czar." He barked.
He then turned to face me. "Since you love to serve me with surprises," He nodded at the tray in front of me. "I have one for you."
I struggled to swallow and speak. Ares was already so fucking angry.
"It wasn't supposed to –"
"Not one word, Akira!" His veins popped in his head as he shouted. "I don't want to hear one fucking word out of your mouth. Not the same mouth you used to kiss someone else," He closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear to look at me. "You don't deserve to use that same mouth to talk to me."
The first tear ran down my cheek. I struggled to let words out. "I-I'm so s-sorry...Alpha." My throat felt clogged. "I'll do anything to –"
"Open the fucking tray, Akira."
His words went straight to my heart. My breath began coming in short pants.
With shaky hands, I struggled to open the tray.
The smell of barbecued meat reached my nose. But I didn't look down, not as I placed the silver cover on the tray. I kept looking into his eyes. Eyes that were once filled with a little warmth for me.
Slowly, I looked down. And I regret it immediately after. Because on the tray was Skittles.
I knew it was her, she looked like she was freshly barbecued. Her tiny little hands and legs stared back at me. The stench of blood reached my nose and immediately I turned to throw up on the carpet.
This was downright cruel. I cleaned my lips with the sleeves of my gown and looked at Ares.
"Why?" I sobbed dejectedly. "You can't make me d-do this. This isn't right, Alpha."
He shook his head. "You have no right to talk about rights and wrongs, Akira."
He wanted me to pay. And this was his way of revenge. He took the only thing that gave me comfort.
"You are my fucking mate, Akira," He barked out, he was royally pissed now for him to admit that out loud. "And you let another man touch you. He's a dead man."
I tried to control my breathing as I cried. "It's not like you have been any better," I pointed a finger at him as the tears flowed. "You have had me thrown into the cell, by yourself. You have kept your mistress in this same mansion! You're not any better, Ares."
"I c-can't do what you're asking of me." My sobs were louder now and I shook my head vigorously. "You can't ask me to e-eat my –" I couldn't even say the word, " – I c-can't."
He only smiled cruelly, baring his sharp canines as he did. "You will." His fingers slowly traced a line on my face. And even at that moment, my traitorous little body shivered. "Unless you want your pretty boy toy dead."
I shook my head. It pounded with the movement. It hurt, everything fucking hurts.
"I'll do a-anything but this," I whispered, blinking the tears away from my eyes. "Please don't make me do this, Alpha."
The look on his face told me he was tired of my tears. This was merely a source of entertainment to him and that fact made me sob harder.
My fingers shook as I grabbed the fork next to the plate. Next to the roasted body of my pet mouse.
Tears clouded my vision as I slowly stabbed my fork into the meat. And another round of vomit crawled up my throat.
The thought of someone killing and cooking Skittles made me sick to my stomach.
I looked at Ares one more time and begged. "Please –"
Sharp, cold eyes stopped my words. And even as I brought the fork closer to my lips, I kept my eyes on him.
Even as I parted my trembling lips and took a bite of the meat, my eyes never left his. Tears flowed down my face as I took my first bite.
Only last night I was petting her. And now I was eating her. My throat closed up and I threw up all over the carpet again. I couldn't stomach the thought of eating Skittles.
Ares bent to my eye level. "Eat the fucking meal, Akira."
He didn't care. I suddenly realised Ares was the beast they said he was. He was cruel and vicious.
I brought the fork to my lips again. But this time around the tears refused to come because I was done.
I felt my resolve break. It was like I finally grasped that Ares just struck a hammer into my heart. It felt like he just pushed me into a dangerous wave and I was struggling to come out. And whenever I finally came above water he was there to push my head back into the water.
My teeth crushed the meat and I struggled not to gag as I felt the spice on my tongue. This was wrong. So fucking wrong.
But I wasn't going to fight him any longer.
I held my breath and I swallowed and I took another bite.
I didn't stop there. We both held our gazes as I continuously kept taking bites of my dead and roasted pet mouse.
And he did this.
Ares, my fucking mate did this to me.
I knew today was going to change me, it was going to be my breaking point. And soon Ares realised it too. Because he suddenly grabbed the fork out of my grip.
My mind didn't register when he asked a guard to take the tray away. Neither did it register when he grabbed my face and shoved two thick fingers into my throat. Nor did it register when I threw up everything in my stomach.
And I kept throwing up till I was dry heaving. Till there was nothing left in my stomach but guilt and misery. Till I felt like my kidney was in my throat. Till he grabbed my face in his large palm and asked me to stop throwing up.
But still, I didn't, I couldn't. I wanted the taste of her gone from my mouth and I kept going until I knew I was broken.
And if Ares's goal was to break me? He had succeeded. Because I was finally broken into a million pieces.
Pieces that even he, wouldn't be able to piece back together.