Alpha’s Mark

Athena



Everything around me stopped, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk, my eyes stayed glued to the sight of Winona's beheaded body and my shaking hand moved to touch my cheek where lingered her blood.

A momentary disbelieve shrouded my body and soul.

He killed her?

He...Killed her.

He just killed her right in front of my eyes and I couldn't do anything to save the girl who was only trying to help me.

She died because of me....

I stilled on the spot, my blood felt cold as ice. For a moment I forgot how to move, and maybe even breathe. I did not know how to react, the horror I witnessed with my eyes left me petrified. I was shaken to my soul.

He was a murderer. A bloody killer.

"Now that the first culprit has reached where sit deserved to be, it's your turn to pay for your mistakes, Athena Campbell," His voice sounded through the silent room breaking my trance.

I looked at him, absolutely having no intention to run away or stop him even if, in his mind, he decided to kill me.

I just simply didn't care, I knew I'd already lost this battle. In search of an escape for myself, I'd already earned a regret that'd haunt me even after my death.

An innocent got killed because of me, in the arms of my mate, who did not even deserve to be called a mate— He was a monster, a heartless sadistic being who could thrive in others' pain and suffering.

A smirk spread on his lips as he looked at the lifeless body of Winona then looked at her head that remained on the floor on the other side of the room, all I could see in the darkness of his orbs was....satisfaction.

He simply wiped off the blood traces on his face with his hand and walked over to me.

"The color red looks on you," He said as he traced the bloodstains on my face, his voice cold and expression impassive as it always had been, "But not as much as your own blood do."

"So tonight I'll create embellishments on you, adornments that'll never leave you," He let out before he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room.

I did not struggle, maybe because I'd finally accepted my fate.

I gave up, completely.

He did not take me to the room he'd kept me in, instead, he opened the door and shoved me inside a room that was actually his.

I fell on the floor because of his harsh push, and a whimper threatened to slip past my lips but I held it in. I did not make any sound as he closed the door shut.

He crouched down in front of me, grabbing my neck under his bruising grip.

"What did I say when I brought you to my house from that auction?" He asked through gritted teeth, "Have you forgotten it?"

I decided not to say anything. I already knew, anything I say was not going to change the decision he'd made up in his mind.

All I did was -- Desperately wait for his torture to start so that it all could end soon.

"I know you haven't; You still remember everything I have said, yet you dared to plan an escape," He tore my dress with one hand, "I don't think you understand when I say that you are stuck with me till the day you die, Athena. I mean every word I say. I don't bluff."

"Then throw me back in the hands of those auctioneers," It automatically left my mouth, "Do it!"

Something passed through his eyes that I couldn't decipher. It was as inexplicable as he was and then the next thing he did was to force me up on my feet.

"So that they can make it easy for you to die? There's no way I'm going to allow that after what you did today. I'll make you go through worse, you can't even imagine what I'd do to you." Venom dripped from his voice.

"That's the only thing a cursed monster like you is capable of, all you can do is to make others' life hell," I finally snapped, "I mean, what can I even expect? You are the one who killed his own father. Even the goddess has cursed you, that's how disgusting and cheap you are!"

I felt his body freeze in a way I had never seen before.

But for once I did not care about his reaction or the outcomes my outburst would bring to me.

I wanted to let it all out, everything I'd kept suppressed inside myself during all these days with him.

"You are the killer of your own father, a fucking monster!" I shouted, "And worst of all, you probably don't even have any guilt that you have committed such a crime, killing the one who was the reason you have come into this world. You think your barbaric deeds make you great because they create fear within people, but you don't know the truth— You don't even know that when you'll be the one needing help, needing someone to be by your side, you'll find yourself all alone. I pity you."

For a moment the emotion I saw crossing his orbs at the mention of his father was pure terror, the first for me to witness any sort of hesitance within him and it was indeed unmistakable.

"How could you kill your father, Sebastian? What are you even getting by being such a monster and taking innocent lives for no reason?!"

His breathing got heavy and rose a few octaves, I felt his and around my neck loosening its hold.

If I wasn't in so much rage, maybe his reaction would have surprised me but after how he killed Winona in front of my very eyes, I was not in the correct state of my mind.

Everything inside my head was in a clutter. I did not care about what I was saying, all I knew was that I wanted to get rid of this huge weight from over my chest, I wanted to wipe off everything I'd clasped inside.

"Moon Goddess shouldn't have cursed, she should have destroyed you. She should have wiped off the existence of a person like you, who is not just a curse for himself but everyone else!"

And then he snapped—All fear and hesitation I could sense from him, Vanished in a matter of a second; He released his hold around my neck, grabbing the back of my head he threw me on his bed.

I did not even get the time to gather myself as he was too fast to climb up and grab a fist of my hair and yank me to sit me on my knees and face him.

"Yes, I have killed my father and I don't even have a vestige amount of remorse," His growl sounded, while his grip on my hair tightened to the point of pain, "And you know what? If I get the chance to bring him up from his grave and kill him over and over again, I'd be thrilled to do that. I'd kill him over and over again, watch him die, again and again, kill him little by little and make his death more painful every time!"

"Yes, the goddess has cursed me. And I am absolutely happy to bear her curse because it doesn't let me fall weak as people like you and I have got no weaknesses to hold me back," He  spat, "It's my choice to be like this, a 'sadistic monster' in your words, and this is the choice that I'd never regret, even on the day I die."

His impassive expression was not impassive anymore, it held a promise— None of the words he'd said was a lie, he meant it. He meant every word that left his mouth.

"Everything I have chosen for myself is what I want, I thrive in others' pain and misery, I love snatching lives of people, destruction gives me peace, and possession is my power. I have built myself on my own, I have built myself into the person I am today and I'll never ever change."

"And you have no idea how far I can go and I'd go, Athena," His voice dropped low, giving me a sense of peril, "Surely I'd die alone, with none to be around me in the time I might need help but, who do you think is going there when you'll be near your death?" A smirk spread on his lips.

A shiver ran down my body upon his words.

I knew I was stuck with him for life. I was aware of the truth that he was going to be the only one. whose eyes will be there to witness my death, because he was the one who was going to push me to the end.

"You know it right?" The sinister smile on his face was more terrifying than the darkness in his eyes, "Your life and death, both are in my hand and I won't allow anyone to take what's mine away from me, not even god."

"I am not yours!"

"Yes, you are! Your body, soul, mind— I own all of them," He let out, aloud "And today I'll stalk my claim on you, I promise you, I fucking promise you that you'll never ever be able to forget this night. And don't worry, the mark I am going to leave on you will never let you forget it anyways."

I knew he was talking about the werewolf marking.

He simply did not want me as a mate or any bond, so this mark he was talking about was not the marking of werewolves. It was something else.

Before I could figure out what was going to be his next moment, he leaned over, grabbed the water glass from the nightstand, and broke it by slamming it against the corner of the stand.

I flinched due to his unanticipated movement but soon as he grabbed my wrist, my entire body froze once again.

"Glass— One of the most perfect weapons to leave marks that last till that person's demise." The corner of his lips twitched upwards as he pressed the sharp broken glass against the wrist.

I closed my eyes, preparing myself to brace for the pain but it did not come.

I heard the slicing sound, but not even one tiny tinge of pain attacked my skin.

I opened my eyes to see what happened and found the blood trailing down Sebastian's own wrist.

"This mark will never fade, like this," He said and drew another cut over his wrist, no signs of pain could be spotted on his countenance as if he was immune to it.

Why was he doing this?!

"And if I deepen it, it'll embed in the skin like many of the reminders I have ," He took the same glass piece and deepened his cut.

In his eyes, there was only satisfaction.

"Sebastian, stop it!" I tried to snatch the glass piece from his hand but he grabbed me by my neck and pushed me down the bed with one rapid movement.

"I told you, I told you not to make any move for an escape yet you disobeyed me," His raspy breath hit against my lips, "Remember you brought this to yourself, you are the reason for the pain you'll go through today, not me."

The next thing I knew was his hand moving to rip my dress into two, followed by my undergarments.

He used my own torn dress to tie my hands above my head and pinned me on the bed using his one hand on my hip whilst his other holding the broken glass moved to aim at my skin.

"Consider this a gift from me, Athena. Because none have ever gotten the privilege to wear my name," And then I felt the sharp glass piece cut through the skin below my breast.

A loud scream left my mouth, and my body instantly began struggling to move away.

But he did not stop. He kept going.

I could feel each syllable being carved onto my skin in such a painful way that the ache spread through my whole body.

He carved his entire name below my breast, ignoring all my cries and screams that only begged for him to stop despite knowing that he wouldn't.

Till he was finished I'd lost half of my consciousness; My breathing was coming as pants, my eyes were full of tears and with my foggy vision all I could see was Sebastian throwing away the glass piece and leaning closer to my ear.

"Sebastian— Sebastian Valdez." He whispered, "Every time you see my name on you, it'll remind you who owns you."

He knew it, he fucking knew it that this was the worst thing he could do to me.

Embedding his name on my skin like an ever-lasting mark that'll never get wiped off whereas all I tried with my heart and soul was to forget him, stay away from him...even his shadow.

He'd just given me the burden for a lifetime.

"You can try your entire life to wipe it off but you can never ever get rid of this." He pressed his lips against my neck, kissing down and biting on my skin whilst his blood-covered hand squeezed my breast.

Our blood ended up mixing together as his dripped down and merged where he'd carved his name on me.

A few moments later, he untied my hands and looked at me in silence.

"Sweet night, Athena." A smirk made its way on his face and then he left the room, locking the door behind me as he left me to suffer in this new affliction.

Yes, it was pain— Pain was his only language.