Chapter 10 10

Chapter 10

Tessa's POV

I gasped as I felt something wet land on my neck, a spot just a bit below the back of my ear.

The burning feeling caused by the bond punishment slowly became bearable as a tongue slowly slid on the temporary mark on my neck.

"No..." I tried to protest, but a moan came out of me instead as Zane started sucking on my skin and his body touching mine, but not enough for me to carry his weight.

And just like that, the burning feeling in me turned into a heat of lust, making me thirst for more. Subconsciously, I raised my hand, pressing my palms on his chest and sliding it up until I had it wrapped around his nape.

Just as I arched my body, I slowly drowned in the tingling sensations brought by Zane's actions and the temporary mark he gave me. He pulled away from me as if nothing happened, leaving me restless and needing more.

I panted as my body fell on the mattress, feeling so wet in my core like I'd never been before, and my throat went dry like I'd been thirsty to death.

"Better?" he arrogantly asked, licking his lips almost seductively before he nonchalantly sat on the single sofa near the bed, crossing his legs.

Finally, having what just happened sunk into me, I crawled back to the headboard and covered myself with the blanket. My chest rose and fell in a mixture of nervousness and excitement as I held the area where Zane had just sucked on.

Without even looking at the mirror, I'm pretty sure it probably already had a kiss mark on it by now, surrounding the marked area.

"W-why did you do that?" I shouted.

He raised his eyebrow, acting offensively. "Is that how you thank your savior?"

I scoffed, not able to stop myself. "Savior? You're merely a pervert taking advantage!"

In a span of seconds, he was back in front of me. Jaw clenched, teeth-gritting, and eyes red. "Say that again."

With fake courage, I raised my chin and scolded, "What? Am I wrong? You know that I'm under the punishment of mate bond, and yet..."

"You would still be writhing in pain right now if I didn't do that, or are you too stupid to know that?"

My heart stopped as I stared back at his blazing eyes. Of course... Of course, I know that...

The mark Zane gave me bonded us together. It was not as strong as the mate's, but enough to give both of us that tingling sensation until the official marking, which was mating, was done.

It made sense. He did help me by making that mark's effects much stronger, masking the pain caused by Eric's betrayal.

"I thought so," he smugly uttered before pulling away from me, giving me space to let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Suddenly feeling ungrateful and my stupid conscience starting to eat up on me, I stammered, "S-sorry..."

His face turned stony. "This is ridiculous. You need to reject your mate."

I gaped at him. "What? He's the Alpha of my pack!"

"So? Of what use is that to you? Why do you care? He's fine treating you like trash anyway. You don't have to give a shit about it."

Well... If he put it that way... He did have a point.

"Still..." I trailed off. "I don't know. I-I-" I swallowed my words and looked up at Zane.

I wanted to tell him it wasn't that easy – it wasn't as easy as he made it out to be. Eric was my mate, after all, and as much as I tried to deny it, I liked him. I wasn't sure if I still liked him but rejecting him... wasn't easy.

"You can't keep letting him make you suffer," Zane said, his gaze fixed on me. "Just let it go once and for all."

And for the first time, I saw his gaze soften, and I fell silent momentarily, considering his words.

He was right. I had no reason to care whether or not Eric's power would be affected, not after how he'd treated me so far.

"Do it. Now. There is absolutely no reason for you to keep suffering." For a second, I think I've seen a glint of pain in his eyes.

Why? He couldn't possibly know what I was feeling, could he?

Flashes of torture Peige and Eric brought me when they threw me on the basement flashed before my eyes, making my heart ache again and acting as fuel to my weakness.

"Okay," I finally mumbled.

His shoulders relaxed slightly. "Good. Now do it." He paused, stared at me for a moment, and added. "Brace yourself. It's gonna hurt like shit."

I narrowed my eyes. 'How would you know?' I wanted to ask, but I decided it would be best to keep my mouth shut. I already reached the quota of angering him, which was better than pushing my luck.

I cringed but nodded as bravely as I could. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth. For some reason, I had planned to suffer through the pain and spare Eric the loss of his power.

It could be done if I asked genuinely for it... But it's known to hurt far more than usual.

I could endure one more painful episode as long as it spared me in the future. I took a deep breath.

"I, Tessa Griffin, reject you, Alpha Eric, as my mate," I said.

At first, there was nothing, and I frowned, thinking I had somehow messed it up. Then, suddenly, an odd feeling went through me, like something inside was creaking and cracking. Just when I was trying to figure out what it was, it shattered into tiny pieces, causing a pain like I'd never felt before.

I screamed. So loud as if I'm being battered.

Zane buried my face in his chest to muffle my screams. It was like my insides were burning up. No. It was like a thousand knives slicing through my gut. The sensation shifted constantly, flitting from one sort of pain to the other.

Tears leaked out of my eyes, soaking his shirt. I didn't want him to see me this way, but I couldn't help the sobs that wracked through my body.

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, it started to fade, the pain easing rapidly until it completely disappeared. Almost as if it was never even there in the first place.

There was a sudden lightness. It felt almost empty, but I preferred it to the constant turbulent emotions that plagued me after being tied to Eric.

The mate bond was gone. Completely and utterly.

No more craving someone who did not want me. Or enduring mind-numbing pain every couple of days. I was free of that wretched bond and Eric himself.

He'd be upset about his power as it turned out I'm not genuine enough nor a martyr, but I found I didn't care. I looked up to Zane, who had a much stronger smile.

He lifted a brow at me, pulling away from me as if he had been burned.

Nonetheless, he asked, "Are you okay?"

I hesitantly took stock of myself. "I actually think so." It was then that I noticed how close we both were, as caught up in the intensity of the moment as we were. I flushed.