The Consort

Chapter 48: Fight

"Please just listen to me." Heloix pleads, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.

I scoff, moving to stand behind the couch and crossing my arms over my chest in an attempt to use my limbs as a barrier between us.

"Talk about what? How I was raped? Or how you lied to my face about it?"

Heloix crouches and holds out his arms for me, but I remain put, rejecting his hold. He seems genuinely upset, but I can't bring myself to care, too upset about his trickery to feel bad for him.

"Addie, I thought it would be better if you didn't know." He explains, running his hand through his curls.

"Everybody knows, Heloix!" I shout, flinging out my right arm and gesturing to the world that sits outside the wing. "How did you think I wouldn't find out when everybody knows?"

He opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, stepping around the couch towards his body. "And instead of telling me yourself, you lied and waited until I found out from a fucking note."

I watch through narrowed eyes as he stands back up and steps away from the door, his mouth set into a stern frown as he approaches me. I back away from him, moving to my original position behind the couch.

"You're a shit mate," I state, the words intended to hurt.

Heloix visibly deflates at my declaration, shoulders hunching forward in defeat.

"No, I'm not." He argues, voice losing its soft touch as it shifts into something hard and unfamiliar.

I back up another step, putting some extra distance between us.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth. I wanted to spare you the pain of knowing." He murmurs. "The image is burned into my head, and I didn't want it burned into yours as well."

Heloix moves forward abruptly and wraps his arms around me, forcing my frozen body into his chest.

I remain still under his touch, reminding myself that actions speak louder than words. If he really cared for me he wouldn't have lied, and would have told me the truth before I had to find out this way.

Grabbing onto his arms that sit around my waist, I yank at them in an attempt to avoid his touch. He adjusts his hold to my arms so there is some space between us, but it isn't enough for me. I don't want him to touch me. I don't want anybody to touch me.

"You're not sorry you didn't tell me. You're just sorry you got caught." I snap, eyes narrowing as I glare at him. "You still deny that I am your mate."

A deep growl reverberates from his chest, eyes flickering before settling on the darkness of his Beast. His claws dig into my forearms, the sharp nails jabbing painfully into the skin.

"My human, stop." He grumbles.

Smacking his hands away, I turn to walk into our bedroom, needing some distance. Large hands clamp down on my shoulders, fingers wrapping around the muscle as Heloix forcibly spins me back around to face him.

"Do not walk away from me."

"You don't get to tell me what to do." I snap, jerking out of his hold for what feels like the tenth time. "You don't get to refuse to claim me and then turn around and make demands of me in the same breath."

Heloix stares at me incredulously for a moment before breaking out into a loud laugh. I glare up at him, annoyed by his reaction to my words, my aggravation growing as he shakes his head in amusement.

"And you don't get to demand that I claim you." He deadpans, eyes cold as he spits the words at me.

My body tenses at his statement.