“Orion, please,” I plead with him to help.
I see how he tries to step forward, but Ryland’s hand stops him. “Leave her,” he tells him, making my blood run cold. Why won’t they help?
I struggle against Thaddeus, but his grip gets stronger as he tugs my towel down until he can palm my breast. His hold is so tight, so rough, it’s painful. I cry out when he squeezes it. I feel his fingers bruise my skin. I try to free my hands that are trapped in one of his. Thaddeus’ face is leaning closer, his eyes don’t leave my neck, and I can tell he wants to feed on me.
He is gone, too far gone; at this moment, everything that makes him part human is gone. His growl is feral, and I see Orion hesitate, but Ryland’s hand grips his wrist, tugging him back.
“She needs to learn,” Ryland says, making my eyebrows furrow.
Learn what? How to fucking die? I think I am a master at near-death experiences.
Thaddeus watches me curiously, his head tilting to the side as he examines my face like he is trying to remember who I am and what I am to him. His eyes flicker oddly between their hypnotic green and the black orbs.
My eyes dart to his razor-sharp fangs so close to my face, making me wonder if dying will hurt when he sinks them into me. Adrenaline courses through me. I watch as he sniffs the air, closing his eyes and relishing my scent, and I do the only thing I can in the position I am in, completely at his mercy.
I kiss him.
His fangs slice through the skin on my lips. He freezes for a second, and I can practically see the wheels turning in his head, trying to decide if he wants to kill me or take me.
I am about to pull back from him, unsure, when his hand grips my hair tightly, making me scream at his viciousness. His tongue plunges into my mouth, swallowing my scream as he hungrily devours my lips, pushing himself between my legs.
His hand grips my hips, and his nails bite into my flesh painfully as he continues his brutal assault on my lips before finally letting me catch my breath. His lips move to my chin, and I suck in much-needed air. His lips bite and suck on my flesh savagely as he uses his hand to tug my towel down, exposing my breast before he bites into it.
Tears brim in my eyes and fall down my face as I try to get him to loosen his grip, his nails cut into me everywhere he grabs me, his fangs graze my ribs as he hungrily devours my skin.
The pain becomes too much, and I know I am covered in bite marks and am bleeding onto the carpet. I feel his fangs sink into my other breast, and I gasp, choking on air at the searing pain.
“Please stop! You’re hurting me, Thaddeus,” I choke out, and he freezes again.
My hand shakily touches his face, pulling it away from my chest. He looks at me as if it’s the first time he has noticed me. Really noticed what he is doing to me. He sits up on his elbows and looks over my body, and I can see the fear in his eyes at what he has just done. His hand goes to the bite mark on the top of my breast, and I wince when his fingertips brush it, making his eyes dart to mine.
“I’m sorry. I… I…” He doesn’t finish, just gets up and looks down at me as I clutch the towel, trying to wrap it around me and cover myself. He then turns on his heel and leaves the room.
Ryland and Orion watch me as I sit up. Orion offers me his hand, and I slap it away. “Why didn’t you help me?” I ask, feeling tears run down my cheeks. My skin is stinging, and I can feel blood running down my thigh from my hips as I stand up. Orion looks hurt by my words, but then, he turns and glares at Ryland.
* * *
Ryland
Helping her will just frighten her and cause more damage. Plus, she could get hurt in the process.
Orion, I can tell, isn’t forgiving of what I just did, leaving her at his mercy. She is terrified of him, and she has a good reason. Thaddeus is more a monster than a man. More instinctual and runs purely off of emotions.
Evelyn needs to learn that her fear only entices him and makes him crave her like a drug. She doesn’t realize how much her fear perfumes the room; how strong her scent becomes when she is in this state. Some may think what I’m doing is cruel, but she needs to realize that she needs to control her emotions when being around Thaddeus.
We wouldn’t let him rape her, I would step in if he tried. We can both see he is hurting her, but I want to see if she can rein him in and bring him back from the darkness that holds him.
Orion and I have tried for decades to help him remain in control, both of us already gave up hope of taming him. I want to help him become a better man, but the lifestyle, I must admit, is addictive, taking what you want when you want it.
Orion never agreed, but to me, it is just easier than putting up with his wrath. I know Thaddeus loves us in his way, as much as the Dark Tribrid can.
However, I can feel him fighting himself more with Evelyn, trying more with her. She just sees him as a monster. If she knew him before we saw her, she would be right in thinking that, but he is always holding himself back with her, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Trying to be what she wants so she doesn’t fear him.
Anyone else, he would have just fucked them and ripped them to pieces when he was done, or drained them. Humans are mere toys to him, something to fulfill his needs and a food source, but he struggles not to take what he wants with her.
A struggle it is, but at least he is struggling. If she weren’t our mate, she would be dead already, and the fact she is ours gives me hope that there is still a part of him clinging to the shred of humanity he has left.
When Evelyn cries out that he is hurting her, I watch his back tense. I can feel him trying to bring himself back at the sound of her voice; he sits up as if a switch has been flipped.
As he looks down at her battered and bruised body, his guilt hits me like a ton of bricks. I watch as he stutters over his words, and in the thirty-seven years I have been with him, I have never seen him try to apologize to someone, let alone ever felt guilt or fear through the bond from his actions.
Even when he hurts us, he never apologizes, just becomes angered. Evelyn has brought back emotions I have never felt from him before. Emotions that I know Thaddeus sees as weakness. The merciless monster feels something that neither Orion nor I could extract from him.
Decades we tried and failed; she has been with us for just over twenty-four hours and got more emotion out of him than we ever have. She may think he is a monster, may fear him, but little does she know, she will have him wrapped around her fingers in no time. She has the power to change him, and witnessing this moment gives me hope. He isn’t gone completely, isn’t lost to the darkness; maybe he can be saved. Maybe she can be the one that saves him.
Evelyn
“Why didn’t you help me? You just stood there and watched!” I yell at Orion.
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