You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 9
From all that I had heard, I knew Khaos was a strong fighter, but he couldn’t take on an entire pack by himself just for me, surely? Besides, he didn’t even know my name, he couldn’t possibly know my pack. I was safe.
I just had to pray that I stayed off his radar for the next two days, and I would be out of here, travelling from pack to pack, putting thousands of miles of distance between us. The ball was scheduled the day of our return, and I had to hope my mother found someone suitable so that I could leave with them there and then. It wasn’t the best of plans, but it was all I had.
As for The Heat… I’d figure out how to hide that later. How bad could it really be?
Chapter 2
Violet
I was fooling myself. Of course, I couldn’t put it out of my mind that easily!
I was a mess. A shaking, anxiety-riddled mess. All afternoon I had gone over and over the meeting in my mind, picking apart every tiny detail to find the mistake, to see where I had given myself away. I knew Khaos would follow me. Of course he would! Wolves would go to the end of the earth tracking their mate’s scent, threatening to destroy anyone that stopped them.
My mate destroyed people for fun. There were rumours of him having skinned people alive, another one that said he snapped the bones of the people who had wronged him until they protruded through their skin. He would then throw them to his vicious guard dogs and let them tear the bones out of their joints.
I felt sick to my stomach. I had spent hours in our home office, researching everything I could find on Khaos. He was adopted, his birth parents unknown. He had killed his adoptive father, tearing him open piece by piece until he was unrecognisable by anything other than dental records. His poor mother was down the hall, too terrified to move or call for help, feeling everything Khaos did to his mate via the mating bond, knowing that she was next. The more I researched, the more my heart broke for this poor woman who had no choice but to accept the inevitable. To know that the boy she had raised had come to murder them both. The man was a born killer, problematic from when he was a teenager. Rumour has it he is looking for his adoptive parents wherever they may be, and the Moon Goddess only knew what he had in store for them.
I stood in my bridal ball gown, all virginal white and lacy. My mother had once again decided we needed another fitting.
It had to be perfect.
She had forced the dressmaker to take it in numerous times and I was already struggling to breathe against the fitted corset, which wasn’t helping with my current anxiety issues. I held my hand to my chest as I drew in some deep, calming breaths. Get yourself together, Violet. He’s not here! I repeated to myself over and over, feeling fairly relaxed when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in!” I called out and smiled brightly when I saw Logan enter.
“Wow,” he grinned, checking me over from head to toe, “you look absolutely stunning.”
It wasn’t conceited to say that this dress completely complimented me. It pushed my breasts up high, made my waist tiny, flared around my hips to give the impression I had the perfect hourglass figure.
It took its toll on my body though - the boned corset would bruise my skin as it dug into me, the weight of the dozens of diamonds on the skirt would make my hips ache, the ridiculous heels had my feet bleeding. “Beauty is pain,” my mother would tell me. “I told you to run more often, Violet; you need to cinch that waist!” Amanda would look glamorous on her deathbed, there was no bigger priority in her life than being thin and pretty - the only area I think I disappointed her was the fact that where her body was flat and toned, mine was curvy and soft. Well, this was the only area of my life that disappointed her until Khaos came crashing in. Don’t think about that, Violet, I warned myself, she doesn’t know about him!
“What are you doing here?” I asked, returning my attention back to Logan and away from my problematic mate issue.
“I came to see how you are - you’ve not been answering my texts.”
I checked my phone, seeing the eleven missed calls and two texts. “I’m sorry! Time ran away from me. With everything that’s been going on, I just needed some freedom.”
Logan grabbed my waist and pulled me close, his forehead resting against mine. I breathed in his familiar scent. My heart dropped as I realised that although his scent brought me comfort, it no longer had the ability to fire my body up. He placed small kisses on my closed eyelids, the tip of my nose and eventually a tiny peck to my lips. Usually, I would pull him closer, initiating more and he would be happy to oblige, but today I felt nothing. I wrapped my arms around his neck and burst into tears. We both knew that this was ending, but we had both been content with the fact that I would find my mate and be happy elsewhere. It was all such a mess.
“Hey, what’s all of this? Please don’t cry, Violet, I thought you were okay with all of this? You might not even find your mate at the ball, and so you’ll still have your freedom.” I cried harder