Chapter 3 WITH A PROMISE OF DESTRUCTION

MERRIELYNN.

I was carried out of my dorm room struggling and kicking, all the panicked noises escaping me being muffled by the thick bag over my head.

I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew I was being carried through the halls of the female dormitory building. And it wasn’t long before I was shoved roughly into the backseat of what must have been a waiting car. My head hit the soft leather roughly, as I felt the large guy take the spot beside me.

“Drive,” he barked, and I heard the backseat door slam shut.

And then the engine revved.

Holy mother of the Goddess. There was more than one of them.

With every second that passed, sweat beaded along my skin, growing dread pooling in my stomach like yesterday’s meal.

Moments later, the car purred to a stop, and my body was being hauled out just as roughly as it was tossed in.

I fought.

I couldn’t help it.

Even though I couldn’t see a thing, I shoved at the body behind me, hitting him in the side with my elbow using all the strength I had. I took off, but it was barely two steps before strong arms wrapped around my waist and my body was being lifted off the ground.

“What did I say, huh?” he seethed, voice by my ear and growing angrier by the second. “Do as I fucking say, or I’ll hurt you, new girl.”

He carried me all the way to the destination, not even heaving like it was straining him in the least bit. I was dropped into a chair, with the bag still over my head. And then he proceeded to tie up my hands behind me, so I was completely vulnerable and helpless.

What the hell was happening? It was only my first day here and this was how intense things had already gotten? Was this… was this how the elites of Pinnthorpe intended to get me out of their territory?

Bound and helpless while they tortured me to compliance?

Or… death?

Right at the peak of the panic surging through every marrow of my bones, I felt the room empty out. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I was alone now.

Except… it was only for a fleeting moment.

Because my lungs constricted in the next breath, as an unmistakable presence filled every inch of the room I couldn’t see.

My chest pounded to a different kind of beat, for an entirely different reason.

It was a tornado of unwanted lust and desire, but most of all, an unparalleled level of fear.

“I see they got you here nicely,” he said.

Chaos.

He was here.

He orchestrated this.

How hadn’t I put two and two together?

The bag was pulled off my head in one swift move, and I wasn’t prepared for how close he was. His face was mere inches from mine, bright green eyes pooling with dangerous intent.

I sucked in a breath. He was so close our noses almost touched. My heart skipped a beat as he tilted his head, watching me so intently, it was almost like he wasn’t breathing.

His eyes searched my face, as he practically whispered, “Do you remember?”

My brows furrowed, and I was taken aback by the… transparency of his expression.

Confused, I stuttered, “W-what?”

Only seconds passed, but it felt like full minutes of him just watching me so attentively.

And then suddenly, like the slow closing of a curtain, the earnestness splattered all over his face fell.

Giving way to a darkness I wasn’t ready for.

His mouth curled in a snarl, “So you’re the new girl, huh?”

I pursed my lips, trying to recover from the whiplash of the sudden change in his demeanour. “What do you want?” I managed to ask.

He lifted his hand to my face, tracing a single finger over my left cheek. It was disturbing how slow he was with it, how his eyes followed the movement like he was transfixed by it. A cascade of electricity erupted in the exact trail his finger followed, my body reacting to his touch in all the positive and most involuntary ways.

“What do you want?” I spat, trying my best to make my voice echo out firmer this time. “You kidnapped me. I don’t know you, I’ve never met you, and I don’t want to have anything to do with—”

My words were cut off by the sudden force of his hand closing around my throat. My breath caught, but he didn’t press hard enough to cut off my oxygen, just enough to silence me.

His face inched even closer, anger coating his features, “You know why I brought you here?”

The restriction of his hand didn’t let me gulp down my anxiety. He could have been doing this for two reasons I knew of; one being the alarming fact that we were mates, or the other; what I had walked in on that morning.

Slowly, I shook my head in refutal.

A devilish grin barely lifted the corner of his mouth, just as he whispered, “Liar.”

I studied him through my lashes, quiet. His attractiveness was unnatural, in a way that worked like a weapon when you thought about the fact that such undeniable beauty coated what must be such a blackened soul. His dark lashes fluttered over those foresty depths, brushing the olive skin of his cheekbones like a teasing form of effortless seduction.

He released my neck, “I want you to repeat to me what you walked in on this morning.”

My hands curled into fists behind me, as I held his gaze, “I saw nothing.”

“Exactly.” He growled, taking me aback instantly. “You saw nothing. You know it, I know it. And if you dare, ever try to open your fucking mouth to declare otherwise, then ask me what I’ll do.”

I gritted my teeth, hating how scared I felt at the moment.

He could probably kill me and do away with my body, and no one would be any the wiser.

“Ask me what I’ll do,” he repeated, through clenched teeth.

“What?” I whispered.

He rested both hands on the armrests of the chair I was bound to. Leaning close, his lips brushed my ear, sending opposing tingles of tension and anticipation through me. And then he whispered, so low, so very slowly, “I’ll ruin you.”

A tortured breath slithered through my parted lips.

He shifted his stance so his lips brushed my cheek on a feather-light touch. The way he spoke and the ease of his actions were such a contradiction from the venomous words.

I didn’t even know how to react.

“Do we have an understanding, Merrielynn?” My name rolled off his tongue like butter. Complicating the emotions I was feeling even further.

Was I the only one feeling the effect the mate bond was having? He seemed so oblivious to it, so unaffected?

“Is it one sided?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

His demonic smile returned, taking a faint position at the corner of his mouth as he cocked his head in question.

“The mate bond.” I clarified. “Am I the only one feeling it then?”

He pushed away from the chair, rising to his full height. He strolled backwards, his gaze still on mine. And then he whistled.

In a second, two bulky figures wearing those same masks barged into the room. He tossed the black bag to one of the guys as he passed him.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Merrielynn,” he said. And then turned on his heel.

The last thing I caught a glimpse of was his retreating back, before the cloth was shoved over my head again.

––*––

The next day rolled around a lot faster than you’d expect when you didn’t get a wink of sleep.

And that was exactly the type of predicament I was in after everything Cormac put me through the night before.

I had shown up later than I would have liked, just as the final bell for the start of classes echoed through the parking lot. Most of the students had already headed into the academic building, but some still lingered. And as the bell went off, I watched as the rest of the waiting crowd flooded into the main building.

But my eyes were set on one group in particular. I didn’t tear my gaze from Cormac’s back, as he and his friends disappeared into the main door.

The need for retribution made every single nerve ending of mine tingle with the need to act. And I strolled towards the sleek black Mercedes sports car once I was the only one left in the parking lot, with just that in mind.

I had thought that in order to survive here I would need to keep my head down. Stay out of everyone’s way and make myself unseen. But I had already been seen, and I had already been sought out by none other than the worst of the worst.

Now, I knew better.

Now, I knew that if I wanted to survive here, then I was going to have to fight back.

Fight for respect.

Fight for my place.

And right now, fight for retribution.

The pocket knife felt just the right weight as I held it in my grip, inching closer and closer to Cormac’s precious, expensive car.

If he thought he could treat me like a nobody in need of a lesson, then he was sorely mistaken.

He couldn’t just do what he did and face zero consequences. And he was right. He was King Killian’s son, practically a deity not only at this school, but also the rest of the realm. No one would ever make him face the consequences for his actions.

I on the other hand, couldn’t care less.

And if I couldn’t get justice the straitlaced way, then I’d just have to cut corners. Or in this case… tyres.

I took one last cautionary glance around me, making extra sure that I was alone. And then, I slashed into each pristine, perfect tyre on his oh-so-precious motor vehicle.

Sure, justice might not have been served, but as I inspected the damage of my work, I knew I had just hit him where it was definitely bound to hurt.

My smile was damn near contagious as I concealed the knife, and made my way into the school building.

But I had barely taken two steps past the threshold when a strong grip tightened on my arm. I was pulled to the side in an instant, coming face to face with a senior staff I recognized—Mr. Vaughn, the homeroom teacher.

My heart stuttered a beat, as he pinned me with a disapproving stare, “Miss Forbes.”

“Morning,” I managed to say, trying to keep my voice steady.

We were the only ones in the hallway, the rest of the students already in for their respective classes. He was most likely there to caution me for my tardiness. There was an apology on the tip of my tongue, but before I could voice it out, he cut me off with a sentence that chilled me.

“I saw what you did.”

My eyes flew up to meet his.

Shit.

He saw me wreck the prince of the realm’s car.

Shit.

“Uh, sir, uh…” I stammered, “I swear to you sir, I have good reason for—”

“Be quiet,” he instructed, the lines of his face full of disapproval. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”

“Sir—”

“Answer the question,” he interrupted again, “Because it seems to me, like you don’t. The very fact that you could carry out such an act, proves to me that you don’t.”

“Chaos—”

“Was given that nickname for a reason.”

I bit my tongue. His eyes were hard, watching me. And that was when I noticed not only the growing disapproval, but also, the rising urgency behind his gaze.

“I don’t know what it is that occurred that made you do what you just did. I don’t know the history you have with Cormac. But I do know one thing, and it’s that you better pray he never finds out it was you who did that.” He gestured toward the parking lot. “Cormac Graves is not someone I’d advise you associate with, much less provoke.”

I swallowed thickly.

This couldn’t be happening.

He couldn’t be that…

My thoughts were silenced at the memory of him having my dorm room broken into and having me kidnapped within the first twenty-four hours of knowing me.

“I’m not saying this to scare you, Miss Forbes,” he continued. “Take it as a warning.” He said, “A plea even. Stay away from Cormac Graves. Stay far, far away. Or the only one to blame for the consequences of what he might do to you, will be yourself. Am I clear?”

As he voiced out the question, I felt like a shell of the girl who had just boldly taken her revenge minutes ago.

I felt… terrified.

He must have taken my silence as some sort of understanding, knowing that his words must have gotten to me.

He let go of my arm. “Get to class.”

I did so with slow steps, hating the thoughts that coursed throughout my brain at lightning speed.

Did I… just make the biggest mistake of my life?