37

Xander hung from the chains Seth had created with his dark magic. Seth was lenient enough to chain him and leave a dark dagger in his chest and dagger shaped holes in other parts of his body. He was weak and could barely move a muscle. Seth would eventually come for him and he knew it, sooner or later, he would once again be at the mercy of the devil. He kept thinking though of how he would escape Seth's dark chains and a while later, he heard footsteps approaching. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest. That was a bit too fast, wasn't he supposed to be with Scarlett? As much as he hated to think that, he wanted Seth to be with Scarlett right now so he could live and have another opportunity at Scarlett.

"I warned you to stay from her Xander, to forget everything you feel for Scarlett…even when you know she belongs to someone else, you still want to bargain with death," Michael said, his voice filled with anger. He'd tried everything to keep this asshole alive but here he was hanging almost lifeless. Xander looked up surprised and relieved at Chris and Michael. He knew if it was Seth who was standing there right now, he wouldn't be breathing but wait…they knew?

"You…you guys know she's mated to him?"

"We're her best friends…jackass,"

"You're meant to protect her if that's the case; I know Scarlett knows nothing about this kind of stuff and you're not helping her with any of it,"

"And you're helping her?" Chris asked. "Trying to take advantage of the heat she's on is not helping her Xander," he said as a matter of fact. "Seth is perfect for her; you don't know Quinn like we do. You're infatuated by what you're seeing and nothing more, you're not in love her, so stop trying to get close to her. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Scarlett will never look at you the way you want her to,"

"What's Nicole got to say about this?

"She doesn't like Seth but she's also not in support of you dating Scarlett either," Michael answered.

"Take it from us Xander, we have friends who've tried dating her and it didn't end well. Quinn's not your type neither are you hers,"

"Just get me the fuck out of here," Xander groaned. He didn't want to listen anymore.

"That's some nerve for someone who could lose his life in seconds," Chris threatened with a smirk.

"I think Seth has dealt with him enough Chris," Michael said. "Anyway we have the other half of your photograph," Michael said as he picked up a crumpled paper from the ground. He put his hand in his back pocket and brought out a paper that looked identical to the other. "Nicole has had this for as long as I can remember, right now she thinks she's lost it," he said. Chris used his dark magic to put the photograph together…the complete photograph was of a man with nut brown hair and sea blue eyes carrying a baby girl who had nut brown hair and sky blue eyes standing next to a woman who had auburn hair and bright sky blue eyes carrying a baby boy who had auburn hair and sea blue eyes.

Xander stared at the photograph dumbstruck, the boy was…him in his mother's arm and that was his father carrying his sister and that was...that was Nicole. 

"Old Man Quinn saved both of you from the burning mansion; he gave her your parents' property in Ensco while you got the pack and everything they owned here in Devaria,"

"What happened to them?" Xander asked; his voice shaky because of the lump in his throat.

"We're having trouble finding out what happened to them but we'll tell you if we dig up some dirt,"

"I'm not a kid Michael neither am I stupid Chris,"

"Seriously, maybe I should just kill you and save Nicole the stress of knowing she had a brother like you," Chris threatened. Xander stayed shut, he had no idea what to think or say anymore. He knew Michael and Chris were using Nicole as a means of making him forget about Scarlett but listening to them right now, they were actually being serious.

"If this is a joke Chris,"

"You can't do anything," Chris said with a tone of finality. "We're more concerned about Nicole than you Xander, the last thing we'd ever play with is Nicole's family…we love her too much to open such a sensitive chapter in her life without any leads,"

"C-can I see her? Can I see my sister?" Xander choked as a tear rolled down his cheek.

***

Seth did everything he could to reduce the effect of the mark on her but it was harder than he thought. With time, her heat began to affect him, her moans to his kisses turned him so on that he wondered how he still had in his arms and was just kissing her instead of fucking her brains out. He knew if he stayed any longer with her on his bed, he would definitely fuck her...then he realized that lycan's scent was still on her.

He lifted her up from the bed bridal style and took her to the bathroom, still trailing kisses down her nape; he put her down and turned the shower on. The cold water came at full blast and drenched them; his hands remained protectively around her waist and his lips kept wandering above her chest. He couldn't deny she was provocatively beautiful, her brows were perfectly carved; her dazed grey eyes held an intense yet calm gaze, her lips were enigmatic and pressed into a thin line, small and perfect for her face, her slender waist fit perfectly into his arms like she was made just for him. He wondered how someone as beautiful as her could be so innocent that she didn't even know anything a freaking mating mark. How can someone be so freaking pure? Gallus had told him she was the great granddaughter of the devil but he couldn't bring himself to believe a word of it. The devil was the definition of all things evil and his great granddaughter was purely opposite.

He ordered one of the maids to get clothes for her and dress her up since he'd soaked hers in water. He remained under the cold shower after handing her over to the maid. The water hadn't changed a thing when she was with him and it still wouldn't but it would at least reduce the effect just her scent had on him.

When he finally decided to leave the cold shower, he walked straight into his walk-in-closet through the connecting door of the bathroom. He pulled a pair of loose grey pants on and a white vest. Normally he didn't wear anything over his torso but he couldn't risk it with her lying next to him on his bed. He stopped short in his tracks when his eyes settled on a petite figure dressed in his clothes standing in front of the full length mirror…damn it! He couldn't believe she was wearing his clothes, didn't she know she was like a living temptation dressed like that?

Scarlett couldn't believe she was under the shower with Seth, her clothes were drenched and so were Seth's. The cold water had reduced the heat that was messing with her head and her foggy mind was a bit clear now. She should've thought this whole Seth drinking her blood thing out properly, all she wanted was to heal him faster not be his mate. As she walked out of the bathroom with a maid helping her walk, normally if a maid helped her with anything after she showered, it was her hair or something else but this one tried to strip her. She didn't like it nor had she ever liked the idea of someone seeing her naked. She took the towel form the maid and sent her away.

On the dresser was a black t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, she liked Seth's scent plus it was really big. Using her inhuman speed, she peeled her drenched clothes off, dried her body up and then pulled the t-shirt and boxers on. Her hair was still damp as she walked around the huge room, unlike her own room there were only two colors her, black and silver.

As Seth walked out of a completely different door, Scarlett turned to him; she was standing in front of the mirror. As she stared into his ice blue eyes, she wanted to doubt that his pale emotionless ice cold blue eyes darkened with a strange emotion she couldn't decipher and never knew existed. She noticed his Adam's apple bob up and down, his jaw bone and muscles clenched as beads of sweat formed on his perfect pale skin. She felt uneasy yet calm with the way he was staring and she closed her eyes to take a deep breath but she felt something push her back causing her eyes to fly open in surprise.

"You have no idea how the fuck I'm trying to control myself from having you right here right now and here you are dressed in my clothes, so fucking innocent and tempting, you have no idea what you're doing to me,"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Scarlett asked pissed. "It's your fault my clothes are drenched and these were on the dresser when I got out of the bathroom," Seth latched his lips on her neck in a slow and passionate kiss. Scarlett drew in a harsh breath; she was starting to feel hot again. "I can't handle this any longer…make it stop,"

"I'll have to fuck you," he breathed against her skin. Scarlett's heart skipped a beat. Seth smirked; she wasn't that pure she knew what it meant to be fucked…that was enough to taint her. He'd stopped kissing her but his breath against her skin sent chills down her spine. "You're staying the night with me," he said and licked her ear lobe. Scarlett shivered and her knees gave out. Seth held her firmly and with his inhuman speed, she was already on his bed with him towering above her.

"I can't,"

"It's not a choice,"

"Why?"

"I don't want another man's filthy hands on you," Seth said. He immediately regretted bothering to answer her. This mark was really messing with him. Scarlett was a bit stunned…did he really mean that?

"I want to be with my family, I promised my sister I'd spend time with her, I want to spend time with my great grandparents before they leave…I just can't spend the night here,"

"You have a week,"

"I don't want to stay with you don't you get it?"

"I don't want to either," Seth yelled back at her. Saying that felt a bit suffocating for him, it wasn't a lie so why did he feel like he was lying. "You brought this on yourself, on both of us which means I won't suffer it alone,"

"I regret telling you to bite me but you did anyway, knowing what would happen. We both needed each other's help…I never forced your fangs into my neck Seth, you could've backed off," Scarlett turned away from him; she didn't entirely hate that he bit her and she didn't mean for any of this to happen but couldn't he at least take some of blame, he was the one who bit her without hesitation. She kept her eyes closed, he was still towering over her, she was trying so hard to ignore him but his scent was making that difficult but it made her feel safe and she unconsciously relaxed her muscles and she didn't realize when she slept off.

Seth watched her quietly until her heartbeat calmed signaling she'd fallen asleep. She was right, a part of him had told him to bite her but he wasn't sure if that was the rational or irrational part of him. He snaked his arm round her waist and pulled her close to him. He inhaled her scent and for the first time in centuries, he slept peacefully without the nightmares that plagued his mind at night.

Scarlett didn't feel like waking up, the bed was amazing and she felt so relaxed, she was ready to sleep in before she remembered she was on Seth's bed in Seth's room with Seth lying next to her, she'd said she wasn't spending the night here so how did she end up still sleeping here? Her eyes flew open and she found herself staring at a perfectly sculpted godly face. His strong jaw line was perfectly angled, his lashes were thick and long, so long that she thought of comparing the length of his with hers, He was a perfect blend of rugged and refined, devastatingly handsome best described him.

"Kieran will take you home and bring you back here in a week." Seth said with his eyes still closed. He released her from his hold and got up from the bed. Scarlett watched his retreating figure as he walked through a door she assumed was his closet. She turned to the dresser and there were her clothes, she took them from the dresser and materialized outside still dressed in Seth's clothes. Outside, she found Kieran standing in front of a black BMW.

"I'll drive myself," she said. Kieran smirked and threw her the keys and she caught it. She threw her clothes on the back seat and got in then drove off.

Seth walked out of his closet and just as he thought, she was gone and so were his clothes. He had a smirk on his face as he stood at the balcony. He liked her in his clothes, she looked damned sexy.

"Follow her and make sure that lycan doesn't get his filthy paws on her again," he said. Behind him was Luis who wore a knowing smile. This wasn't an effect from the mark; this was Seth being a possessive mate.