Page 8

“You little bitch,” he snarls at me. As soon as he takes a step in my direction, Daemon shoves him away from me.

“Stop,” Daemon barks at him.

“That little bitch…” Kael starts to say.

“I don’t care,” Daemon snaps. “You attacked a witch. Don’t be surprised when she reacts, asshole.”

“We need to let the others know that we’ve chosen and let her settle in,” Callum says calmly. He is far more level-headed than the other two, but the silent ones tend to be the deadliest, in my experience.

“I agree,” Daemon says as he goes to the closet. He pulls out a thin white robe before walking back to stand in front of me. He holds his hand out for me to take but I just shake my head and wrap my arms around my legs. I don’t trust that he’s not going to kill me. Fated mates have killed each other before. If they fuck the foxes to death for fun, Gods knows what he will do to me.

Daemon kneels down to my level to look at me. “Understand that although we despise the existence of witches, no one will hurt you. We will not reject you because it shows weakness to reject a mate rather than deal with what we are given,” he says. His tone is not soft, but it’s far less harsh than how he was just speaking to Kael.

“I don’t believe you,” I say quietly.

“I know you don’t, considering how Kael has treated you, but you can’t sit on the floor forever,” he says, offering me his hand again. I sigh heavily and lay my hand in his. He pulls me up from the ground.

“Thank you,” I say, relaxing a bit.

Daemon starts to put the clean white robe on me. “Do not misunderstand my feelings, Lilith. I should be draining you of your powers and hanging you in the middle of Mirstone Square, but that isn’t an option. Do not forget that we own you, magic or no magic. You can cast any spell that you wish, I promise I can make it hurt worse,” he says, tying the robe closed.

“Good luck,” I say as he turns around to walk away from me. He pauses for a moment before facing me again. I refuse to cower to him again. He can burn me to ash, I will never bend in fear again.

“Excuse me?” he asks.

“I said, good luck,” I repeat. “You have no idea what I am capable of. Know that you are lucky that I choose to be closer to nature rather than to seek revenge for all of the witches you have had a hand in murdering.”

Daemon smirks at me before turning back and leaving the room. Kael glares at me for a second longer before following, leaving me alone with Callum. He studies me for a moment before walking closer.

“Are you going to tell me you wish you could kill me too?” I ask bitterly.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” he says simply.

“I’m not a bad person,” I say. “I shouldn’t have to hide who I am because you people are scared of something that happened in the past. Something that I had nothing to do with. Now, I’m stuck with three people who want me dead but are too…”

“Stop,” he says.

“No,” I frown. He smirks and walks closer to me as I talk. “I have had to pretend I am something I am not since I was sixteen. Now I am mated to three people who kill my people out of fear and ignorance. You’ll tell everyone that I’m just a maiden while you call me your mate. I will forever be stuck as something I’m not. Maybe, I should just reject you guys, so you’ll kill me. What the fuck is the point…?” He cuts me off when he cups my face and softly kisses me. Suddenly my body feels like it is on fire as I force myself to not jump on him.

“Shut up, Lilith,” Callum says against my lips.

“Don’t tell me to shut up. I don’t care if you’re a king or not. If you want respect from me then…”

This time, he cuts me off when he kisses me hard. I instantly melt into him and loop my arms around his neck when he grabs the backs of my thighs and picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and moan softly when he presses his erection against me. Suddenly, he moves us to the bed and lies me down on my back before pressing into me harder. I break our kiss when I arch my back as I moan.

“Thatsomethingwas a group of witches that killed thousands of shifters with little effort, Lilith. What they did still affects us today. People are scared because you all have the potential for harm. You may not kill someone without a second thought, but they don’t know that. Not when generation after generation has been taught to fear them,” Callum says.

“So, you don’t want to kill me?” I ask.

“No, but your attitude problem makes me want to bend you over my knee and mark your ass,” he says with a conniving grin.

“As long as I don’t die,” I smile. “Me and my attitude are a package deal. Sorry about your luck.”

“We’ll see how long it lasts,” he says as he sits up and pulls me off of the bed. “I will keep them in line, but if you don’t want them to hate fuck you, I’d advise that you tone down the antagonizing.”

“What if Idowant to be hate fucked? I’ve got to get my pent-up anger out somehow,” I say.

“Call Kael ‘kitten’, he hates that shit,” he chuckles. “As for Daemon…. Just keep being a brat.”