Page 3

Lilith

“W hat do we do?” Callum asks. “Our mate is a fucking witch .”

Rude. I’m standing right here.

“Can’t we just drain her powers?” Kael asks.

“No. She’ll just get them back. It’s only temporary,” Daemon says, still staring at me.

“Well, we are not killing her,” Kael snaps.

“Of course not,” Daemon says.

“No one will accept a witch as our mate,” Kael says.

“We can just reject her,” Callum says.

“No,” Daemon and Kael say at the same time.

This can’t be happening. I am the fated mate of three men who want me dead, but they won’t reject me. Why won’t they reject me? If they reject me, their problem is solved. In a few short days, they won’t feel connected to me anymore and they’d be free to kill me.

“I can just reject you guys,” I say, trying to offer a solution.

Daemon’s eyes flash anger as he advances on me. My first and only reaction is to bow my head and nearly cower in fear. Just because I am his fated mate doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me, and my instincts damn well know it. He grabs my face and forces me to look at him. “Is that what you want, witch? Do you want to reject us?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” I say quietly.

“Answer me,” he growls. “Do you want to reject us?”

“No,” I admit. If I don’t reject them and they don’t reject me, I won’t be killed. I will be stuck with three people who hate me though.

“Then I don’t ever want to hear you say that again. Do you understand me, witch?”

“It’s Lilith,” I say, correcting him.

“You will be whoever I tell you to be,” he counters.

“Yes, sir,” I whisper. He grunts in response to me calling him “sir” and backs off from me. Apparently, fawning is what happens when he scares me. I just people please until the threat backs off.

“Well?” Kael asks. “What are we going to do?”

“We choose her to be our maiden, then we can see just how much this little witch can take,” Daemon says, glaring at me.

“Why don’t you just reject me if you hate me that much?” I snap. “Reject me so you can drain and kill me like you do every other innocent witch.”

“There is no such thing as an innocent witch,” Kael growls at me.

“I have never known a witch who practices dark magic,” I say, raising my voice.

“Who are these other witches then?” Kael asks.

“Fuck you, Kael ,” I say with venom in my tone. Kael suddenly grabs me by the throat and pushes me back against the wall. When he tightens his hold around my neck, fear floods my brain, and I react on instinct when I realize my feet aren’t on the ground and I can’t breathe.

“ Inpulsa ,” I choke out. A pulse of electricity shoots through me and into Kael. He suddenly drops me to the ground when he feels the shock surge through his arm. I bring my knees to my chest as I inch myself back into my corner. I shouldn’t have done that. All I did was prove to him that witches are dangerous.

“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.

“That something was 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 I do want 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.”

“What about you?” I ask.

“Do you want me to hate fuck you, Lilith?” he asks.

“Maybe,” I shrug. “If I’m stuck with you forever, I’d like to know what’s in store for me.”

He leans in and whispers in my ear, “Keep up with that attitude of yours and I’ll fuck it out of you, little witch.” An involuntary shiver shakes through my body and my breath hitches. He smiles when he sees how his words have affected me. “Come on. Let’s do this so you can get settled in.”

I straighten my robe and follow him out of the room and back to where the five other girls are standing with Daemon and Kael. Callum puts me between him and Daemon while he talks.

“We have chosen Lilith as our maiden. The rest of you are free to return to your regions and resume your normal duties. All of you should receive new postings,” Callum says. All the girls have a look of utter relief when he dismisses them.

We stand and watch the two men who escorted me here, take them down to the basement to gather their belongings. A few minutes later, the larger man comes up with my two bags and sets them in front of Daemon before leaving me alone with them.

Daemon picks up my bags and walks toward the staircase. “Come on. We’ll show you your room,” he says. I wait for the others to walk but Kael shoves me toward the staircase instead.

“Asshole,” I mutter as I stomp up the stairs to follow Daemon.

When we get up the stairs, we go right down the hallway. Daemon opens the door, steps to the side, and motions for me to walk in. The first thing I notice is four large beds in each corner of the room. Three of them have personal belongings on the nightstand, but the fourth is barren.

“I share a room with you all?” I ask, staring at the fourth bed.

“Yes,” Daemon says. “We want to keep you close to us.”

“And you’re a witch, so we have to make sure you don’t decide to kill an entire village,” Kael says bitterly.

“Not a whole village,” I say with a sweet smile. “You’ll do just fine, kitten.” It’s a bit early to be pushing him, but he should learn now that I won’t be his doormat.

Callum chuckles at me using the nickname he suggested but Kael growls and steps toward me. “Watch who you are talking to, witch,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Anyway,” Daemon says, ignoring Kael. “The closet has a section with a dresser and a place for you to hang clothing. You are free to take up all of that section if you wish. You also have the nightstand and drawers under the bed.”

“I mean, I don’t have that much, but thank you for providing me a space,” I say.

“Get unpacked and come down for dinner,” Daemon says.

“Okay,” I say as he sits my bag on the bed in the far-right corner. His hands are on the bag with all of my magia paraphernalia and it’s making me nervous. That spell might wear off soon. I know they’ll destroy all of it if they find it.

“Don’t take long,” he says. Daemon steps away from my bags and all three leave the room. I breathe a sigh of relief when the door shuts.

I go to my bags and open them up. For now, I put the bag with my magia possessions under my pillow so I can unpack the rest. I’m having to fight the urge to be nosy and go look around the room. A person’s bedroom says a lot about them. Some of the most clear-minded people, like Zypher, can still be the messiest. The guys seem to be clean. I don’t know whose area belongs to whom, but I will find out soon enough when we go to bed.

I’ve never shared a room with anyone, so I’m nervous. The thought of sleeping in a room where others are is strange to me. Zypher fell asleep on top of me once when he was shit drunk and I ended up with his arms wrapped around me all night. I suppose I could’ve gone to sleep. It was too strange to be that close to someone when they were in a vulnerable state like that. A small part of me felt compelled to keep watch, but the other parts of me were looking for an escape so I could go to sleep by myself.

I know I won’t have to worry about getting bored here like I was with Zypher. If I wasn’t cleaning and he wasn’t fucking me, I basically had nothing to do. I wasn’t allowed to leave, so I just sat around. At least here the house is so massive that it will take me most of the day to clean. Realistically, every room does not have to be cleaned, but I will still do it that way. If I’m going to do something, I’d rather just do it right the first time so that I can avoid anyone getting mad at me.

The few times I pissed off Zypher, it all stemmed from cleaning, early on in the time I was with him. The first time was because I didn’t dust to his liking. He was a very meticulous man, even though he was a slob. My so-called punishment for that was to get fucked in the ass for three hours straight. You know for having such a high libido, you’d figure he would be better at it. Very few shifters I came into contact with did anything for me. Although, their concern was never with me. They simply wanted to come as many times as they could. That was half of my job, after all. One half was to clean, and the other half was to get fucked.

I don’t think it will be much different here. The only difference is that I will be consistently servicing three men, rather than just one. With all of the rumors surrounding them and their maidens, I’m gonna be extremely disappointed if I don’t get fucked to death. Wouldn’t that be a way to go out?

Once I have all of my clothes put away, I sit on the bed with my back to the door and pull the bag out from under the pillow. It’s been far too long since I’ve healed myself. I need time to do this properly or I fear I could end up in severe pain, or worse. I’ve never gone this long before, so I don’t know what the consequences will be.

Since the day I turned eighteen, I’ve been working on healing myself. I started learning because I was getting severe headaches by the end of the night. I would heal myself every night before bed. The few times I skipped, I was in full-body pain the next day. I learned I could build up a backlog of sorts for healing incase I wouldn’t for a while.

The last time I healed myself was yesterday morning when I got up because I hadn’t the night before. I did a massive healing since I hadn’t done one for a while. Luckily, that kept everything at bay until now. I have had a dull ache starting in the center of my forehead since the guys left the room. My brain must have realized it forgot something and now it’s all catching up to me. I quickly go through the healing spell, making sure to repeat it a few more times. Who knows when I will get another opportunity to heal? I suppose I could always move it to a bathroom, or closet for some privacy. I doubt they’ll let me openly practice.