Mate (Bride, #2)

by Ali Hazelwood

She tore him apart and remade him. It took her less than a second.

OH HO HO LET'S GOOOO

I clear my throat. “I like Bob.” “Bob the Vampyre. Love it.” “That’s not my na—” “It is if the lady says so, shartstain. Wanna tell me what you’re doing in my territory before I rip off your balls and shove them down your throat?”

HELP

His hand comes up to my face. Wraps around my cheek, thumb pressing into my lower lip. “Would you, Serena? Enjoy it?” Panic bursts anew in my chest. I shake my head violently. No. No. “Well, then.” His eyes soften, and he lets out a half-resigned, half-amused sigh. “Better make use of that rock in your hand, killer.”

YEAHHHHHH

“Yeah? You look like shit.” “Do I.” Gelid sweat slides down my temple and between my breasts, which I hurry to cover as best as I can. “Is this the way you talk to your beloved mate?” A single eyebrow lifts. “I said you were my mate. Not that I loved you.”

OH MY GODDDDDDD

“What the fuck have I done to deserve this?” he mutters. “Excuse me?” “Actually, I just remembered.” He lowers his chin and sighs. His voice is deep and gravelly. “I’ve been a piece of shit for most of my life, that’s what.”

LMFAO BYE

“What Misery is to Lowe, you are to me.” Oh. Oh? Oh. “Is this a, um…terminal diagnosis?” His lips twitch. “No cure, I’m afraid.”

Classic ali humour

“Will you come in, please? And, ah, sit down.” He does, no questions asked—kneeling briefly to plug my damn charger into the damn socket. I pretend not to see it, and close the door.

TENDER CONSIDERATION I'M SICK

“God. I do sound conceited. I’m sorry. I promise I don’t walk around thinking that my face launches a thousand erections—” “You’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen,” he says simply.

The way i stopped breathing.......

Koen is not hitting on me. He’s not trying to cha-cha real smooth into my life.

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH DDFHKJFBGF PLEASEEEEEE

“You are correct,” I say calmly, feeling a burning pressure behind my eyes. “And I’m not going to say that I can fend off whoever comes for me. However, if I know about a threat, I can prepare and take care of myself—” “I will take care of you,” he says roughly. Oh. “Oh.”

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

“I think you owe me an apology.” “For what?” “The way you stared at my tits.” Silence. Then, instead of the I’m sorry or Go to fucking sleep I expect, he says, “I think you owe me an apology.” “For what?” “How spectacular your tits are.”

THEMMMMMMMM

I stop, because suddenly the screen is fully taken up by a pair of piercing light green eyes. They blink at me as a small, sleepy voice asks, “Serena, did they tell you I lost two tooths?” The angle shifts, and a small tongue wiggles in and out of a wide front gap. For way longer than is needed for a demonstration.

ANA MY BELOVED

“Don’t worry,” Misery reassures me, “every day I drill into her that we’ll be disappointed in anything but a DJing career.” “You’re such a good role model.” “I know. Right, Lowe?” Lowe just looks exhausted, like he did every day of the weeks I spent at his house. In his defense, we are a lot.

I love women!!!!

“Shut up. Acknowledge me as your Alpha!” “Love, we’ve been over this,” Lowe murmurs, patting her knee. “It’s not how it works.” “And bring me gifts of gold, frankincense, and peanut butter!”

PLEASEEEEEE

“Since you obviously already knew, why did you make me say it?” “Hearing you verbally acknowledge your limitations brings flavor and spice to my life. Why were you keeping it a secret?”

LOLLLL

His jaw tics. “Here’s the deal: you’re not an idiot.” “Wow. What a compliment.” “Sure. Keep that in mind when I ask you why the fuck you are acting like one. How. Long?”

I love their banter so much

I cannot help myself. I lift my hand, and with the backs of my fingers I stroke the skin of his cheek. It’s the lightest touch, barely anything. But it sends currents trembling down my arm, clamoring for more.

RAHHHHHHHH

“Be good, Vampyre,” he tells Misery, in that affectionate tone that he uses only with her and Ana. It should be at odds with his usual orneriness but somehow fits him like a glove.

Koen x Misery friendship supremacy

Look at her. Just—look at her.

HE'S SO FUCKING DOWN BAD

I used to take a lot of pride in looking the way I chose. Learning how to dress, how to style my hair, how to do makeup felt like a radical act of agency. Joyful and fun. Liberating. Finding myself. But the sallow, emaciated girl blinking at me in the changing room mirror is no one at all. Her dark hair hangs limply from a middle part, far too long. Her collarbones are sharper than knives. Her identity has been peeled off layer by layer.

Nooooooooo baby girl :'(

every single pair of underwear he selected for me is red. Bright red. Dull red. Wine red. Blood red. All. Kinds. Of. Red.

Why is that so hot

Because every single thing I glanced at, grazed, examined, eyed, or even considered when we were at the grocery store, every single thing I decided to walk past, every single thing I told myself I didn’t need—every single thing has somehow made it here, inside Koen’s house.

SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPP I CAN'T TAKE THIS

When I look over, Koen’s a couple of feet away. Looking bored. “Mouthy, isn’t she, Boden?” He sighs. “Never thought I’d be into that, and yet. Bane of my fucking existence.” His eyes flit to mine. “Don’t stop on my account,” he says with a lopsided smile. “I love watching asses being ridden. It’s my favorite kind of porn.”

THIS IS CRAZY

“Now, you just press—like this. Yeah.” The simple chord rises up, enveloping us. “You did it. Look at you.” I grin wide, lift my eyes to meet his, and find that he’s already staring at me, black eyed and voracious. “Look at you,” he says. At least, I think so. I could have imagined it, because it’s little more than a whispered growl,

SCREAMMMMMMM

“I told you,” he says calmly. All of a sudden, he’s ice cold. “I’m not interested.”

YOU'VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME

“Serena, the Alpha of Northwest pack is traditionally asked to honor a celibacy covenant. He’s forbidden by law to engage in any kind of intimate relationships—emotional or physical.”

WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT

He told her that he would never touch her because he didn’t want her enough; in truth, he will never touch her because he wants her too much. The make-believe, he thinks, was kinder to both of them.

I'm sick to my stomach

“Serena.” His voice is so harsh, my entire body clenches. I freeze in place. After a long moment, turn around. “W-what?” “Don’t run.” I swallow thickly. “I…Why?” “Walk slowly to the washing machine and get rid of the clothes.” His voice pins me to the ground. Something builds in my belly. “Do not make me chase after you.”

BIIIIIIIITCH

“He’s not,” I say distractedly. “He’s not…?” Anneke asks. “Breaking the covenant. I remain tragically unfucked.” There’s sudden tension in his bare back, the trip of a heartbeat that I can detect only because I’m in his space, touching him. A tic of his jaw. Ah. So you were hoping I wouldn’t find out.

GOTCHA!!!

“And, killer?” “What?” “Tuck that T-shirt in your pants. It’ll look less like it’s mine.”

RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“What about you, Koen Alexander? Are you your parents’ son?” Koen freezes. His shoulders go rigid. “Boy, I’m faster than you, and a hell of a lot stronger. If you run, I will catch you within one hundred feet, and I’ll probably end up hurting you.” “You will pay for what you did. And Constantine will see you shortly.”

The mystery of it all....

“It’s just been a lot. In very little time. I think I’m ready for the musical episode, you know?” “I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.” I laugh again. This time he smiles, too.

Themmmmmm

He shakes his head, at a loss for words, and in this moment—when he looks as confused as I feel, when he chooses to share his lack of understanding with me, I think I love him. Just a little bit.

EEEEEE!!!!!!

“I might be the Eva person he was talking about.” The prospect is disorienting. Makes me sick to my stomach. Koen’s hand shifts to my cheek. “Look at me.” I do. His eyes are dark and steady. Make me forget what led us here, and what’s to come. “Your name doesn’t fucking matter. You are my killer. Okay?”

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

Then, just a few feet from me, he turns around. “Killer?” “Yeah?” There is a false start. Like the words are too foreign to flow out with ease. But then he says, “Before I leave, I think I need to hold you for a minute.” I’m in his arms before I know how I got there.

BITCH I'M HYPERVENTILATING

Tears slide down my face. I’m about to explode. “But why are they—” Koen’s fist darts out to punch the mirror, shattering my reflection into a thousand small shards. “Here. Now they’re not doing that anymore.” His palm rests against my forehead. “You’re burning up. This is not the first time, is it?” Yes. No. I don’t know. “Answer me.” “N-no.” “Good girl. Is it a fever?”

SHUT THE FUCK UP

I have no choice but to make this real. “After I die.” The second the words are out, hanging heavy in the air between us, Koen…smiles. He bends further, and there isn’t a single trace of doubt on his face. He’s an immovable object and an unstoppable force. And he says, slowly, “If you think I’m going to let you die, Serena, you know fuck all.”

YEAHHHHHHHH KOEN!!!!!!!!

“—but I’m at peace with it. I wish I had more time. With…with the people I love. With the universe. With”—I gesticulate around me—“with the ocean and the trees and…I love this territory so much. But it’s such a privilege, to know that even if I won’t live much longer, Misery is taken care of, and so is Ana.”

I'm gonna cry

“If I weren’t Alpha,” he asks, eventually. “And you weren’t sick. What then, Serena?”

INSANE.

“Anything that’s going to happen to you,” he promises, voice honest and pitched low in the swish of the breeze, “is going to be over my dead body.”

I am inconsolable

He easily resigned himself to a lifetime without her, but… Simply put, he is unwilling to contemplate a universe in which she no longer exists.

I KNOW THATS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

“Feel free to stop acting with reckless disregard for your life.” “Aw. Thank you. Anything else I’m allowed to do, Alpha?” His hand comes up to snatch my chin. “You could be fucking good, for once.”

HOTTTTT

But Koen commands “Stay still” and does something very weird. Swipes the hair away from the back of my neck. Angles my head down an inch or two. Bends to run the flat of his tongue against the first few vertebrae of my spine. And I fucking die.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

“Please, use your fingers. Why don’t you want to—” “You need to shut the fuck up about what you think I want. This is a mess, and you’re not in any condition to make any asks. You promised to do what I say.” A kiss on my cheek. “Is this who you are? Someone who breaks her promises?” I shake my head, feverish, panting. “Good girl. Fingers,” he orders. “Now.”

THE GASP I JUST GUSPED

“You’re doing so good, killer.” “Yeah?” I whimper. “Yeah, baby.” His laughter is soft. Wound up. “I’m trying to come up with a list of things I wouldn’t do just to be allowed to eat your cunt right now, and I can’t think of a single item.” “Why don’t you, then?” I whine. “ ’Cause you’ve never asked me to before. And no, now doesn’t count. Open your legs wider. A little more. Yeah.”

This should be illegal fr

“I hate it,” he breathes out. “What?” “How perfect you are. I spent the last twenty years hoping that if there was a mate for me out there, I’d never come across them. And then I found you, and, Serena…there isn’t one thing I would change about you. Or one single thing I regret about knowing you.”

MANNNNNNNNN.

“Shit, you smell so good.” He sounds as shaken as I feel. “Fuck the covenant. I want to be so deep in your cunt, you’d be squirming to breathe—” That’s what does it—the picture he paints of him, buried inside me. Of a world in which he and I—we—are a possibility. My body clenches, my vision whites out, and the orgasm that follows is so sharp and sudden, I cannot tell the pleasure apart from the pain.

SCREAMINGGGGGG

“I’m sorry,” I say, and I am. I’m sorry for everything. “That’s okay.” He sighs. Somehow, gathers me even closer. “I’ve never been less sorry about a thing.” Koen kisses me on the forehead. His hold never loosens, and we both fall asleep.

Why am i so emotional over this..... He loves her so bad

“I…Brenna, could we stop by the store?” “Sure. Why?” “I…” A tear slides down my cheek. I cover my smile with the palm of my hand. “I just realized that I’m going to need some sunscreen.”

BABY GIRLLLLLLL

He laughs. Rubs his palm against his mouth. “The truth is, if you decide to spend your Heat with someone else, they’ll have to chain me at the bottom of a well and seal its mouth with concrete.”

RAHHHHHHHHH