21

Acela POV

"Remember... human, it is their fault you will die here today... NOT MINE!!"

*****

I wake up gasping for air and feeling like I can't breathe. I glance around the room and I can't see Caelan, I'm panicking and feel light-headed, oh my god, what if-if..

The door slams open and a heaving Caelan stands there out of breath as he scans the room on high alert, he caused me to jump from the suddenness and the noise. When he sees me and no one else in the room he relaxes.

Caelan comes over to me with sadness written on his face. "Acela? Did you have a bad dream? I'm sorry.. I was getting you something to eat.. I shouldn't have left you i-"

I interrupt him with a nervous chuckle. "N-No it's fi-ine, I just had a nightmare.." I say avoiding eye contact as I steady my breathing and heartbeat. He scared me.

I taste the flavor of metal in my mouth, blood? And that's when last night's events come running back to me. Caelan fed me his blood. My eyes snap to Caelan who looks at me with so much guilt, this wasn't his fault so why does he feel the need to blame himself?

I swallow hard as I look at Caelan. "What did you do.. to me, last night?"

He pales and avoids eye contact as he rubs his face and sighs out loudly, standing up he begins to pace without looking at me. "I-I did the only thing I could to help you! Y-You were in pain, this is all my fault, if you weren't my mate this would've never happened to you." He says with dread and my heart breaks at this beautiful caring man who literally blames himself for what happened.

"Do you think I'm in shock? Is that why you did it?" I ask quietly, my head begins to pound and I start to get annoyed. He thinks because I'm- I was human, that I was weak.

He whips his head in my direction and frowns. "You almost died Acela, I just wanted to keep you safe, my blood will keep you saf-"

I snap. "QUIT JOKING!"

I take a deep breath. "Caelan I am not that weak!" I say angrily as I get up from the bed and glared at him.

I walk past him and walk into the bathroom, I slam the door as he stands in the same spot, unmoving.

He's unbelievable, I'm not some weak human girl, for him to decide something so important for me is not only a betrayal of my trust but he totally took advantage of the situation. I'm alive.. I didn't die, I'm fine but he still did what he wanted.

I rub my face in frustration and walk over to the sink to splash water on my face. It feels so nice, I'm alive, I'm safe here. I sigh out and look in the mirror, I probably look as bad as I feel right now, not to mention my hair..

And that's when I see it.

Hand marks around my neck.

From.. that time? The man with the scar on his face, he almost killed me. I feel the tears before I see them as I stare at myself in the mirror, I didn't even notice Caelan enter the room as he comes up behind me and looks at the hand marks around my neck with guilt in his eyes.

"Who gave you that?" He asks deadly silent and I swallow hard, I can't even look at him. I'm so weak, why am I crying? Stop it..

I feel sick knowing he touched me, his handprint is burning my neck and it feels gross, I hate it, I want it gone, I can't look at myself at how ashamed I am, I didn't even fight back.. I almost died.

"Are you afraid of me?" Caelan asks as he turns me around and holds my chin up in his hand as I stare into his eyes.

I sob and shake my head. "I-I'm not afraid." I say truthfully as I stare into his eyes.

I love all of him. He doesn't scare me, even after I saw his true form, I wasn't afraid like the first time, I love all of him, truly every part of him I love, I wouldn't change a thing about Caelan, I love him so much.

He puts his hand around my neck and squeezes and I gasp and look up at him in horror, my eyes wide as he squeezes slightly. His eyes are pitch black and he looks angry, I stare at him, my mouth is dry and my eyes are unafraid as I stare back at him. I trust him completely.

He squeezes again and never moves his eyes from mine."You are mine Acela, I am the only one who can leave marks on your body.. I will erase this memory for you." He says, his eyes hard and voice steady.

"If it's y-you, I trust you Caelan." I say as my heart beats faster. His eyes flicker and he smiles sweetly at me.

He unties my robe that is wrapped around my body and I let it fall onto the floor behind me, he wastes no time as he picks me up, my legs wrap around his waist and my arms around his neck as he carries me back into the bedroom, our eyes never leaving one another.

He puts me on the bed, slightly roughly but I don't have time to react to it as Caelan is stripping in front of me, his eyes black and I'm mesmerized by his chiseled chest rising and falling.

He is stripped and completely naked in front of me, looking at me hungrily and in charge, he gets on top of me and his hand goes straight to my neck and he grips down then he squeezes hard. It makes me nervous and scared but happy it's Caelan and not that man, that man from the cold basement.

I feel safe with Caelan's hand around me, I feel warm and safe.

He positions himself and I stare at him nervously as my eyes lock on his. He looks at me and we never look away from each other as his hand is tight around my neck and his cock enters deep inside of me.

It hurts and it's tight, but the pain doesn't last for long as Caelan begins to move in and out of me, he slows his thrusts and I can tell he is holding back as he keeps his hand tightly around my neck, he's growling fiercely with each thrust and each time he releases a growl I feel myself get wetter for him. I don't even notice his hand choking me anymore, all I feel is Caelan inside me.

He releases his grip from around my neck. That it will definitely leave a bruise. As soon as his hand leaves my neck he thrusts into me hard, every thrust he does is shaking me up inside, I feel myself coming undone, he is tearing my insides up, emotionally he is healing me from his touch.

He leans in and locks me in with both elbows rested next to my head and he thrusts into me punishingly hard. He breathes out roughly while growling into my ear as he never once stops or slows the pace, he is putting everything into it, not taking it easy on me as he breaks deep into me with his cock, it hurts, it hurts a lot but I don't want him to stop.