You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 3

Why had she foolishly sent her handmaidens away?

She had thought she was ready to face up to her sins, but now that her ultimate fate was creeping closer by the second, her courage failed her.

She had heard the rumours of the man Khaos had become, knew that his size overpowered her tiny frame, and that his strength was one that had yet to be defeated.

She could run all she wanted, but she could never hide from him and she could never escape, not unless he wanted her to. Any attempt at running would only add fuel to the fire, appealing to the predator inside of him.

She looked at the tiny window and weighed up her options, a dozen frantic plans whirling through her mind until finally, with a sigh, she walked to the middle of the room; her legs shaking and unsteady.

It was too late for thoughts of escape.

Ryssa knew she would be fooling herself to pretend otherwise. Khaos was a master stalker, and now he had his prey cornered.

Her head snapped to the side as the door to her room smashed open, bouncing off the wall behind it.

He was here.

He stood still, an evil smirk on his face as his eyes raked over her terrified figure. She met his cold eyes and shrank back slightly from the formidable sight in front of her. The evil seeped from every pore on his body, his enormous frame dominating the room. Everything around her seemed to shrink, closing in on her until there was just her and him.

Mother and son.

Predator and prey.

The time had come.

He was no longer the small, skinny whipping boy. The man in front of her was everything he had promised he would become, and then some. He was breath-taking, his dark eyes glinting with hatred, the blood of her mate dripping from his clothes.

Ryssa made a mental list of all the reasons she hated Khaos, and was surprised to find that she couldn’t think of any. It was not his fault that she had been left barren, and it had not been his decision to be raised by two people incapable of love.

A small weight lifted from her chest. As selfish as she knew it was, she forgave herself. Her demons were nothing compared to the ones that haunted Khaos, but she had her reasons for doing what she did.

The past couldn’t be changed.

She lifted her chin, ignoring the tremors running through her. She still had her pride, and she refused to beg. If this were the way the Fates had written her death, she would not argue with it.

As he approached her with his sword drawn, she sent a prayer to the Moon Goddess to not judge her son based on his actions tonight. Give his soul one last chance and grant him his mate, let her be his redemption before the empty void became a dark abyss there would be no returning from, and he was damned to Hell for all eternity - as she and her mate were sure to be.

She smirked inwardly as she thought of Khaos with his mate, knowing that he would destroy her in his quest for love.

Who could willingly love such a creature? Who would be proud to stand at his side and declare to the world that they belonged to him?

History had a way of repeating itself, Just as Ryssa had been locked into a loveless mating, so would Khaos. He would finally understand some of the pain she had had to live with, to realise that it wasn’t only himself that was haunted by demons.

She locked eyes with her son as he lifted his sword, his eyes blazing with hatred. She would not beg and plead for her life; she had known all along it would come to this.

Instead, she closed her eyes and smiled softly, thinking soon she would be returned to the Kingdom of Paradise where she would be with her baby, the one who had been snatched away and not this murderous beast she had foolishly raised.

Surely the Moon Goddess would not deny her entry.

She had, after all, helped create one of the most fearsome warriors the world had ever known. That had to count for something, didn’t it?