Chapter Twenty Seven

Lillian

I wake the next morning, feeling as if I have been beaten with a large stick. Every bone in my body hurts as I stretch. I stare blankly out as I lie on the bed, still in a daze, as I try to make out my surroundings.

That’s right. When I agreed to being his, he brought me to a spare room.

“What time is it?” Grandmother asks from the couch beside the bed.

“I don’t know. All I can tell is it’s daylight and probably hasn’t been for long.”

Footsteps come quickly up the stairs and then two heavy boots thud against the floor, on the other side of the door.

"Remember, do what you need to do. You have to get out of here, so if you must, play the part and do it well,” she says quietly.

"Grandmother, are you insane? Why would I-" I'm cut off as he swings the door open wide. Rising from the bed, I stare at him and watch every move he makes toward me.

"There is my kitten. Did you sleep well?" He asks as he enters the room. There is an air of arrogance about him as he holds a tray full of food, making my mouth water at the mere sight.

"I slept fine." The words come out with a bite to them, but it goes unnoticed. My grandmother is shooting daggers in my direction in an attempt to tell me to play nice with the devil.

"That's great to hear. I thought you might like some treats." He brings the tray closer and stops at the edge of my bed. I reach up to grab the tray from him, but he pulls it away. "What do you say?"

I scoff. "You mutt.”

He leans down close to my face, his scent assaulting my senses. "I own you, kitten. You are mine to do as I please, and if you don't start showing some appreciation, then you will not have the life you hope for. I can easily throw you into the dungeon and only pull you out when it’s needed. If all else fails, we can move a bed down there as well and then you’ll never have to leave.”

"Is that a threat?" I growl low, but I hear my grandmother clear her throat. I know what she's trying to do, but my wolf is refusing to bow down to him. The alpha in me will not submit to him.

Corbin notices the change of my scent and smirks. He moves from my face to the side of my neck in one fluid motion and puts his nose in the crook of where my shoulder meets my throat, sending a shiver down my spine. The tray he was holding is suddenly crashing to the floor as he grips my arms and shoves me onto the bed. His head snaps to the side as he looks at my grandmother.

"Get out."

As I look at my grandmother, she still hasn’t recovered fully and can't fight him like this, nor will I allow her. For her safety and my sanity, I nod for her to go. She leaves, but she casts one glance when she reaches the door. With a solemn nod, she's out of the room, and I'm left to deal with him.

"Corbin, get off me!" I squirm in his grasp, but he uses his weight to pin me.

"Why would I do such a thing, mate? You want to play alpha, let's play and see who wins." He rises up, pulling his belt loose with one hand while holding my hands in his other. This can't be good.

"What are you doing? Let me go, Corbin."

He bites his lip as he takes the belt and snakes it under my hands, then wraps them. I strain my neck to see what he is doing and see him secure it to the bed. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you've tied me to the bed." I swallow hard as I look at the belt, which is now tied into a restraint. Sadly, I didn't notice that there when I came into the room, or I would have ensured I ripped it from the wall.

"Now, I can do what I want." He settles on top of me and leans until his nose is touching my neck. "Your scent is intoxicating."

"Corbin, please. The full moon is three days. We have to wait until the ceremony." I pant between words as he kisses the place where the mating mark will be. "Please, don't do this."

He raises up and looks into my eyes. "That old tradition should be buried, don't you think? Personally, I think that was an alpha's way of controlling the pack."

I tremble underneath him, afraid of what this means. "Are you sure you want to challenge that? What if whoever decided this rule was told by someone higher and if we break it, we end up doomed or worse?"

He kisses my neck, and my breath hitches in my chest. His hand pulls at my skirt until he can touch the bare skin of my thigh freely. "For you, I'd challenge anyone and everything."

"Corbin, you know I'm not your fated mate. What if you meet her someday and here you are tied to me?" I'm trying to appeal to reason, but I don't know that he has any. The beast told me I had to hold on a few more nights. I bite my lip as I regret the way I acted with him.

He is right to call me a brat, and I should have never accused him of killing my parents, not after he saved me from Nigel. Surely, there is more to that story.

Corbin lifts off me and strips his shirt over his head. The sight of his muscles makes me freeze up for a moment as I stare. He catches me, his tongue darting out between his lips to wet them. "Do you like what you see? Is your mate satisfactory? Also, no one will ever wander into the pack, so my fated mate will never come knocking at the door. You might as well move past that."

As our eyes meet, I tug harder on the bindings, causing him to laugh. I disregard most of what he says and focus on the one thing I need right now. For him to get off me. "Corbin, I don't think we should push our luck."

He chuckles low. "When have I ever followed the rules?"

I whisper, "Never."

"And I don't plan to start now." He leans down, settling over me, and kisses me gently on the lips. My wolf screams internally and I try to mute her, but the pain inside is too much to bear. No, this isn't right. Must get away.

I can't get away, though. This is my fate, for the good of the pack. I will become Corbin's mate and keep him in check, so they don't suffer.

The answers are within you. You have to fulfill your destiny.

As I finally kiss him, he groans with satisfaction. This is my destiny, wolf. Just bear it. It'll only hurt until he claims me. The pain is temporary.

Please, don't do this. You know the truth. Can't you just hold on a few more nights? Don't let him claim you. Wait for the beast.

I don't think I have a choice. Tears line my eyes as he kisses my jaw and down my throat. He hovers a moment over the spot that will display his mark. Inhaling deeply, he drags his tongue across it, marking me with his scent just like he did the day he trapped me in the closet.

I can feel my wolf flinch away. She had been close to the surface, but now she is retreating. This isn't right, and you know it. Every touch, every mark, shouldn't be.

As I lie there, staring at the ceiling, I wonder what the beast is doing now that our bond is silenced.

The beast. Oh, how I miss his intrusions. What I wouldn't give right now to hear his voice. Corbin moves his hand down to my side and holds my waist tightly.

"I can't get enough of you," he mumbles as he kisses my shoulder. He grows silent for a moment as he scrapes his teeth along the top of my shoulder.

I say nothing, because what is there to say? I'm not doing this out of love. It's out of duty to the pack. It's not like I haven't tried to stop him. So, what if we incur the wrath of whatever or whoever set our rules? My conscience will be clear if or when that day comes.

At least I will try to reclaim what was my grandfather’s even if it is partially. I’ll make everyone see that this is not how pack life should be.

"Are you not enjoying yourself, too?" He trails his lips up to my throat. His skin is warm as he moves across me and all I can think about is if this was the beast, I'd be thrilled. But no, it's Corbin, the son of the man who tortured me all these years. To be with Corbin will be just another prison I have to endure.

Can I really choose duty over my destiny? Aren't they the same?

Are you an idiot? I can hear the echo of my wolf’s voice from somewhere deep within.

"Lillian, hey, are you listening to me?" He grabs my chin roughly in his grasp and forces me to meet his gaze. My face is like a stone wall and shows no emotion. "What is wrong with you? You’re just lying there like a rock."

"You."

"How dare you," he says as he presses me harder into the bed. "After all, I've given you and will do for you. How can you be so ungrateful to be with me?"

"Maybe because you're not giving me a choice. It is always about you and what pleases you. You have not once asked me what I like or what I expect. You completely disregarded my request to wait until the full moon so we won't be doomed. Now here we are, with you on top of me, just waiting to take me as yours without going through the proper mating ceremony. So go on. Get it over with. I’m half undressed as it is.”

"That is not true. I took you on that picnic and made sure you had your favorites. I think of you," he argues, but then looks to the side of the bed. "You have always been so stubborn. Why can’t you give in to me just this once?"

"Stubborn, or right? It's only three days now, isn’t it Corbin? Are you really so impatient that you can't wait three days to make me your mate?"

He turns toward me with a questioning gaze. "Who's to say you'll behave that day, either?"

"I am behaving, or did you forget I'm an alpha female? You should know that alpha females are harder to conquer and don’t cave so easily.”

Corbin leans in close, his breath on my face as he tries to make his point. "Then bond with me and become my queen right now. Who cares about the ceremony when we can just take care of business ourselves? Come on, Lillian, grant me my wish of owning you.”

I smirk. "A tempting offer, I assure you, but it can wait."

The door swings open, one of his betas standing there out of breath with blood dripping down his face. "Corbin, I've been trying to get a hold of you."

He doesn't move from on top of me. Instead, he turns to look at the man with a growl rumbling low in his throat. "Can you not see I'm with my mate and in the middle of something? Can it not wait?"

Only then does the beta see me underneath him and that I'm tied to the bed. "Oh."

His face turns bright red as he shifts his gaze to look at the floor. Corbin growls as he moves from the bed and undoes the belt from my hands. "This isn't over, kitten."

I rub my wrists as soon as I'm able and sit up on the bed. Once Corbin reaches the door, he turns and gazes at me. "Don't even think about leaving this room. I have eyes everywhere, and when I come back, you are becoming my mate once and for all.”

He slams the door behind him as a sigh of relief escapes my lips.