IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy

Dear reader, you might want to get a glass of wine ready before reading this chapter. (wink wink)

Gabrielle

He is my mate.

He wouldn’t hurt me.

He is my mate.

I kept reciting the words in my mind as I stepped closer. My arm was already outstretched, my hand reaching for the silver key sticking out of the keyhole.

My fingers trembled as I grasped the cold metal and turned it. Once, twice.

A metal click sounded and instant, unnatural silence fell, like the world itself was holding its breath for what was to come.

My heart hammered against my ribcage and my breathing stopped momentarily. This was it. Unsure whether I was doing the right thing or not, my fingers slid over the metallic door handle.

Just when I was about to twist, a large, muscled hand fell onto my shoulder, and I yelped in surprise. The hand quickly flew past my face and turned the key in the door, locking it again from the outside.

Axel’s blackness which had seeped out from underneath the door, ripped back into the bathroom, disappearing under the wooden barricade like a piece of dark fabric being pulled through a hole.

The next moment, a loud, agonizing howl erupted from the tiny bathroom and the door between us jiggled in its hinges. The hair in the back of my neck stood up and my wolf came to the front, peering through my eyes with alertness.

The large hands gripped my shoulders forcefully and spun me around. John was standing mere inches away, looking at me intently, “are you hurt!? DID HE HURT YOU!?” He yelled, scanning his eyes over me.

The door shook violently behind us. Harsh thumping and scratching sounded from the other side of the door, so aggressively, I struggled to make out what John was saying.

I heard my own voice reciting my words from earlier over and over again in my mind.

He is our mate.

He wouldn’t hurt us.

“ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!?” John yelled again, gripping my chin in between his thumb and index finger, “I asked, did that MUTT hurt you?”

Something inside of me snapped.

“He is not a mutt!” I yelled back and shoved his hand away from my face. Anger instantly flooded my senses and I found myself stepping forward threateningly and shoving him backwards again, this time forcefully pushing onto his chest.

John’s eyes shot up in surprise, but a deep frown quickly replaced it and he seized both of my wrists in his large, tanned hands, constricting it just enough to show me he was the stronger one between us. A little display of dominance.

The bathroom door was starting to give way from the violence being inflicted upon it.

I glanced at it swiftly and saw John do so too.

“If I were you, I would make haste and get the hell out of here before that door came down,” I seethed through clenched teeth.

John’s eyes shifted between me and the shaking door. Snarls and growls echoed off the walls from within and pitch-black tendrils of darkness wafted out of every tiny gap in the door, not that John would be able to see any of it. But I knew Axel was in a fit of rage. Worse than I had ever seen it before. Cold. Deadly. Saturated.

“Don’t you EVER touch me like that again,” John growled dangerously.

I kept his stare. Did not look away. Did not falter.

“Get your hands off me,” I replied with a wicked lethal calm.

“I am not someone to play silly games with, girl.”

“You’re right. You are an old man. You don’t play games anymore.” John’s jaw began to tick, and he constricted his fingers around my wrists even more.

It had begun to hurt a while back, but I would never give him the satisfaction of showing it in my face.

“I SAID, GET YOUR PAWS OFF ME!” I ordered, this time raising my voice and letting some of my Alpha command through.

It took a few more breaths before he let go of me entirely and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Not even thirty seconds later did the bathroom door finally give way and crashed onto the hard stone floor with a loud crack.

I spun around and locked eyes with a half-shifted Axel Scott.

My mouth fell open as I took him in.

He was heaving angrily, thick red inflamed veins ran down the sides of his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. His eyes were still his pale blue, but each had a bright yellow ring around the outside of the iris.

I had never seen someone look so-so, tortured.

Sharp, destructive elongated canines peeked out from under his beautiful human lips and his ears perked and twitched, searching for signs of intruders. The rest of his face was still human, although I could see his nostrils flaring as he detected John’s scent, along with my distress.

When his eyes flicked away from mine to scan the room for the Beta, I saw pure white fur standing up at the back of his neck where his hairline was supposed to end. It was like his natural blonde hair merely continued down his neck and over his back. I had never seen a white wolf before, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like fully shifted.

The wounds in his thighs have stopped bleeding and was healing at a quickened pace as it should have been healing in the first place.

“He’s not here anymore,” I said, watching his movement closely. It looked like he was about to sprint out of the room and chase the Beta down like a predator.

“You should have left too,” he snarled, flashing me his canines, “can’t you see I am dangerous?”

He is my mate.

He wouldn’t hurt me.

“You won’t hurt me.”

He took two large, threatening steps closer until he was mere inches away from my face. I swallowed anxiously, but kept my chin up, never breaking his stare.

His breath was fanning my skin and I instinctively inhaled deeply to savour as much of it as I possibly could. His nostrils flared again, and gold flashed in his eyes.

“That is a very bold risk to take, Luna,” he growled, low and seductively. It was a mixture of Axel and his wolf. His very powerful, dominant wolf.

Damn, his voice and his scent were doing things to me. Things I had no control over.

“I can hear your heartbeat sweet wolf, you must either be very scared of me or-” he leaned in closer and pushed his nose into my neck, sniffing, “incredibly aroused.”

His nose brushed against the tender skin of my neck, and I felt my body start to tremble under his touch.

“Which is it?” He purred, moving his lips and nose down to my shoulder.

“I-I’m not scared of you.”

A low rumble reverberated from deep within his chest and he said in a husky, sultry voice, “my master would be very angry with me if I did the things to you, I am currently sending into his mind.”

I swallowed again, painfully.

My mouth has gone dry, palms sweaty and the smell of my arousal exploded into the atmosphere.

Axel’s lips curled up savagely.

“Looks like your master isn’t really in control right now, is he?” I asked.

“Is that a challenge, Milady?” As the words left his mouth, his large, calloused hands slid up my outer thighs, up and up, under my dress, pushing the black soft fabric up with it.

His hands only stopped when they reached the top of my panty line, my hips and backside completely exposed, yet he did not glance down once. His eyes kept staring into mine, waiting for my answer.

Cold air bit into my exposed skin, but all I could focus on was his rough, warm hands resting on my hips, waiting for my signal to continue their exploration.

I had no idea what I was doing, but something inside me urged me on.

My situation was starting to get more desperate by the day and after what just happened between me and John, I was certain I did not want him. Never would.

“A challenge, no. A dare, maybe.” I peered up at him through my lashes and saw the corner of his lips tug up into a smouldering, panty-dropping smirk.