Chapter 236
7:16 pm P PPP
Goddess Of The Underworld
This is No Fairytale.
Macey
This was ridiculous.
Wrong.
Fucked up.
Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run, to fight, to claw and kick and make him regret ever tooching me, but I wasn’t stupid.
Not now.
Not here.
Not in front of a hundred rogues who looked like they’d tear me apart the second he gave the word.
So I did what I had to do.
I stood still and silent.
Breathing through my nose while Dean stood there, grinning like a goddamn king, shouting his delusional speech about justice and destiny and our bond.
My heart pounded so hard it felt like my ribs would split. I didn’t move when he raised my hand to the crowd, didn’t flinch when they screamed our names
like a prayer. I just watched. Memorised faces. Counted exits. Every piece of information I could hold onto, because that’s what might save me later.
And then, finally, the noise started to die down. One by one, the rogues drifted away, some still chanting, others shoving each other playfully, drunk on the
idea of war and freedom and whatever fantasy Dean had just fed them. He tugged at my hand, sharp enough to jolt me forward.
“Come on,” he said, like this was just another date night.
I didn’t resist, not yet. My legs felt like glass, but I followed him toward the mouth of a cave carved into the rock behind the platform. The air changed as
soon as we stepped inside, it was cooler, damp and echoing with faint drips of water. Torches lined the walls, leading deeper until the tunnel opened into a cavern big enough to hold a small house. The glow from the fires made the stone shimmer like old bone. There was a thick, red velvet curtain hanging from the jagged rock, cutting off part of the space. Dean pulled it aside with a flourish and gested for me to go in, like he was showing off a surprise. I hesitated for just a second, then I stepped through. The room behind it was… unsettling. It was far too clean and much too prepared. A sassive bed took up most of the space, draped in dark furs and heavy blankets. A few candles flickered on a nearby table, next to a jug of water and a chipped bowl. In the
corner, someone had stacked crates and folded clothes. Everything about it screamed temporary captivity dressed up as comfort and when I turned, he was
watching me.
“So,” Dean said, smiling like this was something normal, “what do you think? Not bad for a King’s quarters, right?”
Something inside me snapped.
“Are you insane?” I shot back, iny voice sharp enough to cut through the stale air. “This isn’t some fairytale, Dean. You can’t just kidnap someone and tell
them they’re your Luna like that makes it true!”
He blinked, like he hadn’t expected me actually to speak.
“You’re trying to force fate,” I said, stepping closer, heat crawling up my neck. “You think because your wall says so, because you’ve got some twisted idea of destiny, that you can just take what you want? That’s not how it works. You’re not some God. You’re a boy! An arrogant, self-obsessed, stupid buy who’s in
1/3
7:17 pm P P P
This is No Eairytale.
way your his head!”
His smile faltered, just slightly.
“You don’t even know me,” he said.
“No,” I hissed, “but I know what this is. You’re not fighting for justice. You’re not trying to save anyone. You’re doing this because you want power, because
you think having me beside you will make you look stronger.
He opened his mouth, but I didn’t stop.
“You’re a coward, Dean. You couldn’t build a pack of your own, so you stole one and now you’re trying to steal me too.”
The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on. The flickering candlelight made his eyes look darker, too dark.
He stepped forward, slow and deliberate, and my stomach turned cold.
“You’re the one who was talking all that crap about saving yourself for your mate,” he said, voice smooth as oil, sliding into every crack of my fear. Then he
spread his arms wide in a grand, mocking gesture – a twisted performance. “Well, here I am.”
It was meant to sound triumphant, but it landed like a bad punchline.
–
“Okay,” I said, my veice shaking with a mix of anger and disbelief, “one I don’t even have my wolf yet. So I can’t confirm or deny any of this fate-mate bullshit you’re spouting. And two-”
I took a step forward, jabbing my finger into his chest hard enough that he blinked in surprise.
“You literally said you fucked my best friend. Then you pushed me, hit me, tied me up, and kidnapped me and dragged me off to whatever godforsaken hole
this is!”
My pulse was roaring in my ears now, and I could hear my breath conting foo fast, too loud, but I didn’t stop.
“That’s not what a mate does, Dean!” I spat, every word cracking with fury. “That’s what an asshole with a power complex does!”
For a heartbeat, the whole cavern went still. The torches flickered against the stone, shadows dancing over his face and then something changed in his expression. That smug grin faltered, tightening into something darker and meaner.
He stepped closer again, the effortless swagger bleeding out of his movements.
“You don’t get it, do you?” he said quietly, almost gently, but the edge in his tone made my skin crawl. “You don’t get what you are. You were made for me. Macey. All this fighting, all this noise, it’s pointless.”
I held my ground, even as my body screamed at me to move. “No, Dean. You want to believe I was made for you because you need it, because without that story, you’re just another rogue who gos lost.”
His jaw ticked. “You think your precious pack would’ve accepted you if it wasn’t for them? Your mummy and daddy? You think they’d love you if they knew what you really are?”
I frog, and that cruel little smirk crept back onto his face when he saw it.
“Yeah,” he said Bunty, ulting his head, eyes narrowing like he was studying me under glass. “That hit a nerve, dida’t it? You’ve not one of them, Mace ynu
2:3
7:17 pm P PPP
This is No Eairytale.
nover were. I’m the only one who’ll ever understand you, I’m the only one who’ll ever truly see you.”
My throat burned, but I forced the words out anyway. “You don’t see me. You see what you want.”
He laughed a short, sharp sound with no humour in it. “Call it whatever you want. But when that wolf of yours finally wakes up, you’ll see too. You’ll feel it,
and then you’ll beg me to mark you.”
He took another step forward, and I took one back carefully, until my heel hit stone. My heart thundered because I knew that look in his eyes.
“Don’t you touch me,” I said, voice low, shaking but steady. “Not again.”
He smiled, slow and feral. “Oh, I will touch you. Whenever I want, however I want, wherever I want. You’re mine.”