~Hazel’s POV~
I wasn’t ready for what I saw.
The door creaked open just slightly but enough to unveil the unholy sight that slammed against my chest like a hammer to glass. There he was. My mate. The Alpha. The man I had walked miles barefoot and escaped my father’s mansion, tangled in sheets with my step-sister, Natasha, draped across him like she belonged.
And for a moment, I forgot why I came.
My breath caught so violently it hurt. My heart... it stung. Like a blade slid right between my ribs and twisted slowly. For a reason I didn’t understand, I wanted to scream. Not because I was surprised—no. I knew who he was. I knew who she was. But the ache came anyway. That disgusting, hollow ache that curled around my lungs and squeezed.
Natasha’s laugh snapped through the tension. Sharp. Poisoned. "And what are the ruins of the litter doing here?" she sneered, curling the sheet tighter around herself like she needed to protect something.
I didn’t flinch.
My fists clenched by my sides, nails cutting into my palm but my face remained still. If she thought words could bruise me, she hadn’t met the version of me that survived last night. I didn’t run out of the servant quarters and scale the side of the eastern wall for nothing. Ariel and I hadn’t risked our lives slipping past the guards and their scent markers just for me to turn back now. No.
I was here for business.
I didn’t care how warm their bed was or how damp the room smelled of lust. I came to reject him. To look into the eyes of the one who discarded me like trash... and throw him away, too.
The second Natasha left huffing, swaying her hips in that performative way of hers. I straightened my spine.
This was my moment. And I would not waste it.
But then he moved.
"You must be brave," Cayden drawled, his voice lazy and amused, "to enter this place... alone."
And then he rose from the bed.
Naked. Completely. Naked.
Oh, moon goddess.
Broad shoulders carved like vengeance, every line of muscle drawn in shadows and sweat. His chest rose slowly, Slick and glistening, as if kissed by firelight—a black tattoo crawling from beneath his collarbone, coiling around his ribs like a serpent guarding secrets, then vanishing deep into the V of his abs. His long black hair clung to his face, damp and wild, framing eyes that burned like ruin. He looked like sin—a fallen god draped in darkness, wearing nothing but temptation and the scent of regret.
My heart kicked up like a hummingbird caught in a cage. I forgot how to breathe. I forgot how to stand. My knees buckled slightly, but I locked them, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Still, my traitorous eyes scanned him and stopped at a sight.
He was massive
And then—my eyes dipped lower.
I gasped.
He was hard. Already.
Long. Veined. Heavy with lust. His body responded to me like I was still his. Like I still belonged to him.
I took a step back. Another.
My spine hit the cold stone wall.
There was nowhere left to run.
Cayden approached slowly, like a predator scenting blood. My insides were turning, and I was sure my face was as red as the color itself.
He leaned forward, so close I could feel the heat off his body. His full face right in front of me, Thick eyelashes, Full brow, and perfect Siren eyes. His lips grazed the shell of my ear. His voice came softly, slick with temptation. "Enjoying the view?"
That snapped me out of it.
My cheeks flamed with heat. My pride exploded in my chest like a bomb.
I shoved him. Hard. Or as hard as my shaking hands could manage.
"I reject you," I said.
The words cracked in my throat, but they made it out. I didn’t open my eyes after I said it. I couldn’t. Not yet. I felt his presence still... massive and looming.
And then..
"What did you just say?" he asked, voice dipped in disbelief.
I opened my eyes.
His eyes was no longer normal. They had turned more red. Glowing. Dangerous.
But I didn’t shrink. Not this time.
"I said," I stepped closer, "I reject you. I will never be the Alpha’s discarded mate. I refuse to carry that title. You, Cayden Salvatore, will be the rejected Alpha because I also reject you."
His breath hitched.
And for a moment, I saw the war behind his eyes. His wolf. Fighting him. Screaming. Ripping.
He was losing control.
Perfect.
Let him feel what I felt. Let it eat him from the inside out like it did me. Let rejection crawl over his skin and into his bones. Let it choke him in bed and haunt him in dreams. Let the taste of it rot on his tongue.
His eyes burned orange now, and in a flash, he grabbed me.
His hands locked around my waist, dragging me forward until my chest pressed into his. His skin was fire wet and burning and my stomach clenched from the contact.
His hardness pressed against me.
And goddess help me my body responded.
I hated it.
I wanted to spit. Scream. Punch myself.
Because no matter how much my mind despised him... my body... my heart... something else inside me still wanted him.
"You’ll regret this," he whispered, hot breath fanning across my cheek.
His voice slithered into my ear and I gasped.
He was doing this on purpose. He knew what he was doing. Seducing. Luring. Undressing me without even touching me.
And worst of all...
It was working. I don’t have a wolf, but my stomach twisted, and heat surged between my thighs. My fingers itched to touch his chest, to mark him, to show him he was mine. Even if I rejected him, some part of me still craved him—desperately.
And then—I broke.
Without thinking, without planning... I bit him.
My teeth sank into the crook of his neck, right above the collarbone. Not a love bite. A mark. He released a soft moan as he pressed my head to bite him further.