Chapter 4 Beneath The Surface

Ellie's POV

I tried to shove him away, but he was a lot bigger than me. Much more potent, he yanked me toward bed without regard for my efforts to escape. Using all the strength I possessed, I attempted to crawl backwards. It was futile, however, as he reached for my arm, yanking me down so brutally that my shoulder flared with pain. I felt his breath on me, it was warm and heavy, and he was getting closer.

With one final surge of energy, I exerted every muscle in my body, and pushed him away, only for him to take a step back for a brief instance. He regarded me with an expression that was both astonished and entertained, and I saw that smirk from before. "A man who resorts to force is no man at all," I spat, trying to buy myself some time. "You're no alpha, just a spineless pussy."

As I unleashed those contemptuous words on him, I saw the anger flicker in his eyes. "You little" he growled before bringing his hand up and slamming it in the wall next to my face so hard that I shrank back in fear.

"Let go of me! "You're hurting me!" I screamed as his fingers closed around my throat, cutting off my air supply. I fought with his hand, scratching and gasping for a mere moment of air, but it was pointless as his grasp was dry without relief. My vision was beginning to go back with me feeling that I was losing out and my strength was ebbing away.

Then suddenly, as if a string had been cut somewhere, he released me and stepped back. I heard a gasp escape my lips, as my hand traveled to my hurting neck and inhaled audibly. I nevertheless possessed no discernible explanation for his disengagement, albeit I was not going to dwell about it. In that little instant, I forced everything battered and weak in my body and struck him right in the solar plexus.

He emitted a cry that revealed his inner agony and held on to his waist as he fell onto the bed. I seized the opportunity and dashed towards the exit, before kicking my legs, feverishly pulsating with adrenaline as I sprinted down the hall. I could not believe I had really gotten away, but I was too terrified to go at a more leisurely pace. Running away was all that made sense, all that bore existed.

When I got to the corridor, who should I find there but Emily, fully dressed, looking surprised and ashamed. She seemed like she was going to say something and perhaps opened her mouth, but I did not stop, did not even risk giving her a second eye. She was even more complicit than him.

I heard the romping footsteps of Daniel bringing up his rear while limping and calling my name. "Ellie! "Come back here!" I could tell he was mad, but I refused to turn back. If I did, I was sure that he was going to try and drag me back.

"Now you've done it, Ellie, you've made a huge mistake!" his furious voice trailed down the hall.

Finally, I relented and faced him partly, long enough to send him a furious look, all the anger of the past few days or even hours flooding into me at once. "No, Daniel. The only mistake I made was trusting you. I thought you loved me. The real mistake is how I agreed to be your mate and that turns out to be real deceit."

His expression contorted with rage as he pulled back his fist towards me. "You don't want me?" I do not want you either. "Understand that I will be going around telling people that you are no longer my mate," he said bitterly. "And you would be lonely, I assure you." "No one else, I am sure, would want you after that."

"Okay!" I yelled back. "Go and tell the world if that's what you want." I don't care. I would much rather be alone than waste even one more second in your presence."

For a second, he looked shocked, as if he did not anticipate any form of reaction from me. But then, his face grew dark again, this time, filled with intense loathing. "You'll wish you'd never done this, Ellie. "This will haunt you for the rest of your life," he said, hissing out the words in a volatile growl.

"Perhaps I will," I said, even though I felt tremors in my hands, my voice remained calm. "But at least, I will be away from you." I threw one last look at Emily and saw her face hiding away from me in embarrassment and guilt.

With that, I turned and walked out, my heart feeling heavy, but my head held high. I did not know what was going to happen next, but there was one thing that I was sure of: I was over Daniel and his deception. Whatever the future had in store for me, it would be as far away as possible from him and his sick interpretation of love.

As soon as I slammed the bathroom door behind me, I was at the point of hyperventilation. I felt so raw as I scrubbed the remnants of Daniel's hand off my arms. The water may have been beating against my skin, but it could not wash away the feeling of his touch, his rage, the malice that was present in his eyes. My entire frame quaked, under the effort to keep the cries that were so willing to break out from the depths of me from reaching their goal, instead locking them within, buried profoundly inside.

How did it reach here? What issue did I face at the first instance about who I was, the proud naïve girl who was treated with dignity as her most cherished possession right to the person who is trembling with mixed disgust and fury while trying to wipe him out of existence?

And then there were footsteps along the corridor for a brief moment before there was aggressive pounding on the door. "Ellie, you better get out of there this instant!" my foster mother's voice rang out. It was a voice made of ice, piercing the efforts I had put into calming down. She had never even bothered with pity, just snappy comments filled with disappointment. My suffering was simply something that disrupted her daily routine.

"W-Wait," I added, forcing the unsteady voice into submission, my attempt at controlling tension getting destroyed in the process. 'Please, just... give me a moment,' I implored, barely audible against the noise of the running water.

"Did you just make a demand?" she scoffed, the derision in her tone unmistakable. You don't get to make demands, Ellie. "You are already in enough trouble!" The equal measure of the sharpness of her words hurt, a reminder, like Daniel, that there is nowhere safe even in this house.

I tried to compose myself, cleaning my body of the evidence of Daniel's injury, thinking that if I were able to clear the scars on my flesh, I would clear the history. But before I could collect myself, the door burst open.

She walked in, her eyes drilling through me as she daunted me from head to toe with aversion