Hate

by K. A Knight

  She can handle it, she can always handle me.

  Pressing my arm across her throat, I hold her like that as I rip away the trousers, leaving her pussy bare for me as I snarl, “That you are mine. You want to fuck a beast? You want your new toy, your minotaur?”

  She grins lazily, pressing herself harder against my arm.

  “You should remember, Vasculo,” I purr, leaning closer. “I’m the biggest monster of them all, not because of what I can change into...but because I could really hurt you. I could kill you and you would love it, you would let me.”

  She moans, rubbing herself against me as I yank one of her legs higher and undo my trousers, palming my cock as I keep her there, whispering vile, almost hateful words to her. My madness seeps from me, taking over my mind until all I see is the council.

  The ones who killed my parents.

  The nephilim who betrayed me, who tortured me.

  I see it all in her place, and she accepts it, her body pliant against me. Taking all that anger and hate inside of her and aching for more, she takes my madness and twirls it with hers.

  “Wouldn’t you? You would let me kill you, here and now with my cock buried in you,” I growl.

  “Yes,” she wheezes, pushing against me, daring me to.

  Pressing my cock against her soaking pussy, I slam inside her. She screams, thrashing against me, so I slam her back into the wall with more force as I pull out and thrust back in, fighting the tightness of her pussy as it tries to cling to me.

  “More,” she demands, as I lift my arm a bit for her to breathe. Her eyes are wild, leaking black, white, and is that purple? Like a galaxy in those orbs, all mine. All those powers are useless against me as I fuck her, reminding her that she might be theirs, but she is also mine.

  “Griffin,” she moans, lifting her hips to meet my brutal thrusts.

  There is nothing better than being buried in my mate, this is as close to heaven as I will ever be.

  Us monsters thrive in the dark, but here, between us, is only light. Our love fights off the madness, her body and mind taking it from me and giving me some sanity in return. She sees my pain, my need through the hate I’m feeling, and gives herself freely.

  Groaning, I press my hand to the wall by her head. Her eyes are closed as she moves, rolling against me, but something makes me look to the left, and when I do my eyebrows raise. The wolf is there watching us, its eyes locked on our joined bodies and it doesn’t look pleased. I falter for a moment, weirded out, but he huffs and with a snap at me, turns his back and watches the hallway like he’s protecting us.

  Dawn kicks my ass, urging me on, and I turn back to her to see her grinning, obviously catching my interaction with her new pet. Gripping her hip, I drive into her again and again, our breathing mixing in the quiet hallway. My need is too strong, I can’t stop. I want it to hurt, but she likes the pain.

  It makes her scream as I fuck her until I don’t want to hurt her anymore. I want to love her. I see her eyes through the darkness in my mind and reach down, rubbing her clit as she gasps and shakes through an orgasm. I fuck her through it, needing to imprint myself on her.

  Needing her to remember me even when she’s with the others.

  She moans my name, her pussy clenching around my cock as my balls draw up, but I try to hold off, to make this last. We can both feel the impending end coming, knowing something is going to happen and this could be our last time together. I need her to remember this, remember me if something transpires.

  But I can’t, she pushes down, grinding on my cock, and I come with a yell, filling her pussy with my cum as she grins at me, still panting. “Fuck.”

  “We just did that,” she teases as I lean against her. She wraps her arms around me, holding me close, always knowing what I need without me having to ask. We should move before we are caught, but I don’t want to and neither does she.

  “What happened?” I question.

  She sighs and tells me everything. My anger fills me again, but she stops me from going off and killing everyone. “We will get them, just not yet. What about the council, what did you learn?”

  “Titus is up to something, he tried to befriend me,” I divulge.

  “Can we trust him?” she queries, and I look away.

  “I don’t know,” I mutter. I’ve trusted the wrong people before.

  “Fine, then we trust no one, figure out who is part of it, who I can kill.” The dark expression on her face calls to my madness and sends a bolt of lust straight to my hardening cock that’s still inside her.

  “I will go back up and find out for us. There is a gathering tomorrow.”

  “A gathering?” She frowns.

  “The full council will be there as well as some of their subjects,” I clarify, and I see her mind turning before a smile graces her lips.

  “Then that’s when we do it. Go to the council, figure out as much as you can. I’ll set everyone free and we’ll meet you at the meeting in the morning. Will you be able to get to Nos as well?”

  “I can try, he’s here.” I sigh.

  “He’s here?” she asks, her face lighting up, and I growl, making her roll her eyes. “Calm down, Griff.”

  “Yeah, the crazy bastard walked through the front door like he owned the place,” I tell her.

  “Good, get him there too. I’ll try and contact Aska again and see where he is, and I’ll bring some others as well.”

  “How many are there?” I inquire, pulling away and dropping her to her feet.

  “Oh, just a few friends,” she says ominously, sighing when she realises her trousers are ruined. She pulls down the shirt, which barely covers her ass, making me smirk.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. We will end this and then we are free,” she declares, leaning up to kiss me. “Then we can start our lives.”

  “If I accidentally kill the dragon, how mad would you be?” I call after her as she turns away and starts to leave.

  “Very,” she retorts, and then pats her leg to call the wolf who happily trots to her side, rubbing along her hip. “I would bring him back and let him kick your ass.”

  “Then you would kiss it better.” I laugh, although that doesn’t sound too bad.

  “Griffin, don’t test me on this,” she warns, her voice filling the hallway with power, making me snarl. My wings fly out behind me as I meet her head-on.

  “Do not test me either, Vasculo,” I growl.

  She grins, the crazy bitch is loving our fight. “I just might one day, to see what you do.”

  “It might get you killed,” I reply, and she sighs wistfully.

  “That would be fun, but until then be good. Well, as good as you can be.” She turns away and saunters off with her massive wolf at her side. I watch her go with a smile playing on my lips.

  One day, we’ll probably end up killing each other. Wouldn’t that be fun?

  I wait and wait some more. I keep feeling the thread between Dawn and me stretching farther and farther until suddenly, it stops. She stops. Then comes pain and anger. It flows through her to me and I roar with it, gnashing my teeth as I beat the cell door.

  It feels like it lasts an eternity, but when it’s over I’m gulping in air as I wait for her. But she doesn’t come. I feel her drawing closer. Where is she? I try to rip the door from the cement, but it’s too strong, magically bound, so I can’t. Instead I pace my cell, counting the steps to stop myself from going mad. She is strong, she doesn’t need my protection, but I just found her. We don’t know each other very well yet, but she is already locked into my soul like the missing piece, so to lose her now?

  No, I can’t think of that.

  Just then the cell door opens, revealing my mate. A very large wolf stands behind her, its eyes narrowed on me as he pushes past her and enters first, sniffing me before circling. “New pet?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

  She smells of blood and sex, and I have to rearrange my hard cock in my trousers and ignore the urge to throw her against the neares
t wall and have her. “Something like that.” She shrugs and then her eyes darken. “It’s time.”

  “What happened?” I demand, closing the distance and ignoring the wolf that snaps at me to grab her and bring her into my arms. Feeling her solidly against me settles all that panic and worry.

  “They tried to kill me. It seems I’ve outlived my purpose. They are having a meeting tomorrow, everyone will be there. We are going to crash it.” She grins, and it’s an evil smile that has me groaning.

  “But first I need to shower and then we need to build my army.” She winks and turns away, but stops at the cell door to glance back at me. “Coming?”

  “Always.” I incline my head. Army? What army?

  I follow after my mate, the wolf at my side, as she wanders down the corridor before stopping at a scarred door and heading inside. She looks back at the wolf. “Guard the door, won’t you?” she asks in a sweet voice. He lowers his head in a strange nod before turning and sitting right in front of the door.

  I step inside and shut it behind me, pondering over the strange animal. He acts like a person…is he a werewolf? No, he felt...raw, animalistic, and powerful. So what is he? But all my questions disappear as Dawn starts to undress.

  Her eyes light up as she watches me, pulling up her dress and tossing it aside, leaving her bare before me. She grins naughtily like she knows my exact thoughts and turns, sauntering into a shower stall. A moment later, I hear the water flick on and close my eyes in pain.

  I imagine the water tracing down her curves the way I wish my hands could. But she has been through a lot, and I don’t think she even realises that she doesn’t just need sexual intimacy, but comfort as well. I do not believe she knows how to ask for it, my poor little mate. It tells me a lot about her. She has been hurt before for asking, for needing. One pained soul recognises it in another. Shedding my own tattered clothes, I head into the stall. She turns with a triumphant smile on her face as her wet hands reach for me.

  “Turn around,” I tell her softly.

  She blinks but does as bid, her voice low and purring. “Want to play like that?” she teases, sticking her luscious arse out at me. I have to fist my hands and count backwards from thirty to stop myself from taking her up on her offer as she wiggles at me.

  No, this is about her needs, not mine.

  I can feel it pushing at me, she needs to feel cared for. Cherished, loved...wanted. Whatever they did shook her to her very core, left her reeling and unsure. We are heading into battle, into a war, and she needs to be her usual strong, confident self. But in here, with me, she can be weak. I will always look after her.

  A warrior knows pain, a general feels it. I will take it inside myself and add it to my own.

  Sliding my hands across her curves, I wrap my arms around her stomach and press my head to her shoulder. “Let it out.”

  “What?” She laughs, pushing back with her arse to brush my hard cock. “You need help freeing it?”

  “No, my little blood lover, you need to let it out. I don’t know what happened, I will not ask. You need to be strong, I know that. But to be strong, sometimes you need to be weak. So do it. Here and now, in my arms. Do what you need to, I will hold you through it and help put you back together again. No sex, Dawn, just the offer of someone to stand with you through it.”

  She goes quiet, her body stiffening. “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. And that’s okay, you don’t have to be this sexy, strong monster all the time, my love. You hate and rage so much because you care, because you feel so deeply, but that is a sword. It cuts both ways and right now you are bleeding from those wounds, let us seal them shut. Together.”

  She turns in my arms and I let her. Her blonde hair is pushed back and slick. Water rolls down her face, clinging to her lashes, her eyes wet with unshed tears as she searches my gaze. “I’m scared,” she admits in a low voice.

  “Of what?” I query softly, holding her closer.

  “O-Of being weak. Of letting people back in…of not being enough.” She blinks then, swallowing hard. “Of becoming what they made me, not this...I can control myself if I want to. But they are saying my power will keep growing, how will I control it? What if it controls me and I hurt someone I love?”

  “My love.” I sigh, dropping my forehead to hers and looking deep in her eyes. “Your mates will never let that happen, you know that, as do I. I see it in your head, they will be there. Anchoring you always.” I smack my hand across my chest. “I will be with you to the death. I would follow you over that cliff, into battle, or worse. We will support each other. You never have to worry, we will be there.”

  “But how do you know?” she challenges, desperate.

  “Know that you won’t become a puppet of power? You are too strong, too stubborn. You wouldn’t let it, but when you feel weak. When you are scared or the power gets to be too much, pass it to us, Dawn. Look into your mind, look at those threads to your other mates, waiting there for anything you need. Let us aid you, let us help you absorb it. I think that’s why you have so many powerful mates, Dawn, because you will be the most powerful of us all, and that power will need an outlet. You’ve got more than one. You have us, feel it. Look at what love you have brought to the darkest of us. Lighting us up once again, dusting off the relics of this world and gathering them to your heart.”

  She gasps, her eyes are closed, and I know she finally sees the tangle of threads of her mates connected to her.

  “You are never alone, not in your life, not in your power. We are here. We are yours. Let us be that.”

  I see the moment she fully accepts us, not trying to protect us or love us, but accepts our help. She cracks, breaking in my arms. Her legs give way, and I hold her up, stroking her hair and whispering words in my native tongue. She will tell me what happened when she is ready, but for now she needs my strength.

  She can have it.

  When she is done, soft and pliant, I turn her and help her wash, scrubbing at the blood and dirt caked onto her beautiful skin until she shines like the most beautiful jewel in the world. She looks up at me when I am done with a soft smile on her mouth.

  “There, perfect once again,” I murmur.

  “Thank you,” she whispers, as we put her back together again. When we leave the shower, she is back to her usual, monstrous self. “I have no clothes, it’s a good job I don’t seem to get cold.”

  “I would offer you mine…” I lift my shirt up and she snorts. It’s basically rags, so I leave it with her shirt, but slip on my trousers after she assures me she doesn’t want them.

  “I don’t mind being naked, it makes me feel stronger...better. Like I know they can’t touch me, it’s our most vulnerable state yet when I feel the strongest,” she tells me as she grabs my hand and twines it with mine. “Let’s get our army, Jair.”

  I love the way she says the name she has given me. Like a pet name, it has a softness in it that the rest of the world doesn’t get to see. Our own private sweetness.

  We head back out into the corridor and the wolf falls into step next to her other side as we pass cell after cell as we wind around the dungeons. “What are we looking for?”

  She stops suddenly, head tilted. Frowning, I listen and then I hear it—crying. It’s soft and wispy, definitely feminine and far away. I look to Dawn to see that her eyes are black. They flick to me and I realise I am now holding hands with her monster, not her, so I hold on tight, my own fangs dropping. She turns away and leads me towards the cry. It gets louder and louder until we are outside a cell that looks like all the others.

  “Blood,” I murmur, sniffing the air and scenting the copper tang. “Human.”

  Letting go of my hand, she stabs her hand straight forward. I move to intercept, to protect her from hurting herself, but she throws me away with a thought. I hit the wall just as her hand plunges through the metal with a screech. She looks at me as I get to my feet, a look that tells me I need to trust her in this. So I nod and stand beh
ind her, although it is hard. I am used to being the first person through the door, uncaring of my safety, but these protective instincts towards my mate are strong, a continual fight between defending her and letting her do what she needs to.

  With a shriek she warps the metal and flings the easily four-hundred-pound door away like it is a feather. We both peer into the dark as the cries suddenly cut off, a small scream coming from a form huddled in the corner.

  “No, no, not again, please,” comes the soft voice. It’s weak and afraid. The whole cell stinks of fear and blood.

  My fangs descend farther, and the human woman whimpers, burying her head into her knees and rocking back and forth. We step inside and I glance around to see the bucket in the corner. Ignoring the stench of piss, I spot the rotting food on the tray next to the door. But then something else hits me.

  “Two, two heartbeats,” I snarl, looking around for the other person as the wolf snarls behind me, drawn by my anger.

  “She’s pregnant,” Dawn says softly, and I look over to see she is right. The woman’s belly is rounded, her face raised now, pink and dirty, her tears leaving white tracks down her plump face. Her eyes are a deep brown, her hair a mucky, greasy brunette. She is naked, I note in a clinical way, and her feet are also bare and covered in dirt.

  Blood coats the soles of her feet as well as her thighs. “Dawn.”

  She nods, crouching down before the woman as I block the wolf to try and help calm her. “Hello,” she begins, but the woman cries and jerks away. “I won’t hurt you, I’m not here to hurt you. Look at me, I’m not with them.”

  The woman eventually lifts her eyes, eyeing Dawn with a frown before glancing at me and cringing away. Dawn glances over her shoulder, her eyes smouldering. “Wait outside?” she pleads, and I nod, throwing the woman one last look before standing at the doorway where she can’t see me, but I can still hear. I can hear the rustle of them shifting before Dawn’s sweet voice comes again. “I’m sorry for what they have done to you. What’s your name?”