Chapter 70: Chapter 70: DELUSIONAL EX MATE

VALORIA WILDEROSE

My heart is racing, beating out of my chest like drums, and I am breathless. Gasping for air even after I’ve gotten back into the mansion, far away from Azrael.

Even with the distance, his existence continues to hover around me like a curse.

The warmth of his lips resides on mine, his touch still tickles my skin, and every second I lose focus on counting my steps, my mind relapses again—replaying that kiss and the feeling of his tongue, so sinful.

So… good.

It felt good, but that is all I’ll let myself read into that.

I admit I let myself fall into his games and get into my head.

I let myself react to his taunting and kiss him, but it was to prove a point that I could seduce him if I really wanted to, and I haven’t because it’s not what I want to.

Because my plan no longer resides on making him bend to my will, if it were ever possible.

Yes… my plans to find the dagger and kill him.

The fresh reminder is like a bucket of ice that hits me right in the face, stripping away the foolishness of the moment.

What are you even thinking, Valoria… playing around with the enemy, letting him make you laugh and let your guard down? Kissing him like that…

I smack myself on the forehead, strengthening my resolve again. Reminding myself that Azrael is a monster that needs to be vanquished, and all of this is just sweetness meant to guide me off track.

He still has plans of killing me the moment I lose importance, after all.

My walking finally leads me to the floor my room is on, at the very end of it, and unfortunately, standing just outside my door is Ronan—my former mate and my younger sister’s husband and baby daddy.

I freeze a few steps away from him, just as he looks up and meets my eyes. A small smile stretches across his face, and he leans off the wall, taking a step closer to me.

“Hey.”

I take a step back instinctively, building up a defensive wall in mere seconds of seeing him.

He reads my reaction, thankfully taking the hint and retreating backward again, maintaining the distance between us.

“I’m sorry for showing up unannounced,” Ronan apologizes.

Not like it means anything.

All that pain and sorrow I have managed to bury thanks to Azrael comes surfacing back again simply from looking at him and meeting his eyes.

Memories of what we had and how easily it all fell come rushing back, and I can’t handle it right now.

I can tell he has something to say, standing there and waiting, but my gut stirs painfully. Whatever it is he wants to say, I don’t want to hear it.

I take another step back, turning around—deciding to go somewhere else or maybe wander the hallways until he leaves—but he rushes for me, grabbing ahold of my arm before I can leave.

“Where are you going?”

Fingers dig into my naked skin painfully.

“D-Don’t t-touch me!” I snap violently, slapping his hand away from me. Reeling away like I’ve been burned by the slightest contact.

He raises both hands in surrender, rushing backward again, treating me like a terrified exotic animal: giving me space but refusing to let me leave.

“I just wanted to talk to you. You look prettier,” he begins nervously.

“I d-don’t w-w-want t-to t-ta-talk.”

“C’mon, Valoria. Are we going to do this for the entire week that you’re here?” he sighs, disappointed.

All it does is add to my repulsion.

How dare he act like I should just wipe everything that’s happened between us under the rug?

“Didn’t you miss me?” He takes two steps forward again.

Reflexively, I flinch again, putting both hands ahead of myself like a shield. He sees it, turning hurt and offended. With a tired sigh, he rubs his temples, stepping back again.

“Fine. You want me to apologize? I’ll apologize. I’m sorry.”

“I-I d-don’t n-ne-eed your ap-po-ology.”

“Okay, then what’s it going to take for things to go back to how they used to be before?”

Are you kidding me?

He wants us to go back to before—when I hung on every lie he uttered with so much falsified charisma, pinned my hopes on him like a fool even though nine times out of ten, I was let down by all his promises?

“I want to apologize. I mean, we had something special. I was all you had, and I just abandoned you to be with your little sister and strung you along up until our wedding before, but you have to understand. You of all people know what Marcella is like. If she wants something, she absolutely must have it.”

The more he speaks with that smug, unapologetic tone, the more infuriated I become.

And to think once upon a time I loved his smug, prideful attitude—the way he wore his arrogance like a badge and felt entitled to things that didn’t belong to him—all just because I was desperate for a love I hoped he would give me.

The idea of matehood amazed me: a being crafted just for you, to love you, was everything I wanted after living a life void of it.

I made it a point back then, loving every odd, irritating thing about him, hoping he would do the same thing for me.

“I d-don’t n-need you t-to te-ll me wh-what Marcella is l-like.”

“Then you should know. I had no choice.”

There’s no point listening to all this bullshit.

I try to leave again, but just like before, he holds onto my arm—this time without letting go.

“For what it’s worth, the attraction is still there. Marcella is my wife, but you’re my mate,” he spits, forcing me nauseatingly close to him.

I try to push him away, my small fists banging against his chest that seems broader than the last time I’d seen him; even his height seems considerably increased.

Like he’s hit some kind of secondary growth spurt in three weeks.

“Do you want me to make it up to you? I can, if you want. The Alpha and I have been undergoing this secret project, and I swear I’m telling you—it’s going to answer all my prayers. Now I can have anything, everything I want.”

He squeezes harder, and I can’t help but yelp in pain.

“L-let m-m-me go.”

“I just want to look at you for old time’s sake.”

His hands crassly fall on my waist, pressing my upper body against his so our faces are just inches away. More repulsion takes over, and I’m tempted to puke.

My entire body rejects him violently as if we were never mates at all.

“See, we fit like a glove. And when our plans are complete, I’ll be coming for you, Valoria.”

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