Rejected, Abused, I Fall for the Forbidden Alpha (by Riley Scott) novel Chapter 35

Chapter 35

“I want better for you,” her voice is hushed and her body trembles slightly, “after everything you’ve been forced to endure, I want you to have the one thing that was denied you for so long. We’re siblings Hades, I’m your sister,” she said, her voice rising passionately, “and for what it’s worth I’ve never stopped loving you all these years, starting from when we were little to now. I won’t stop trying to reach you. I won’t stop trying to find a small space inside your heart. Push me away,” she said, shaking her head, “and I’ll still come back to you. You’re not him,” she said thickly, “you are nothing like him, no matter how much you think it’s the case. You’re not a monster, Hades,” she exhaled and stood up, “far from it. I just wish you could see that too.”

Tears were streaming down her face. I swallowed hard, knowing just how much she loved me and how much I couldn’t reciprocate.

I’m silent. She sighs and then puts her hand on my shoulder. For a moment, I want to lean against it, show her a mediocre display of affection. I can feel the sting of tears, although I fight them back. For some reason, Aeress has always managed to get under my skin and make me want to be her brother, her protector. She’s the one person I’ve always been unable to force myself to scare away. Even when I was angry or cold to her, she came back, more determined than ever to continue loving me. She never gave up. She was tenacious like that. Besides Jackson, she was all I had.

She leaves the room, having said her piece. I look thoughtfully at the open door even as my hand slowly reaches out and grabs the beer bottle. I sip at it, pondering her words, my thoughts always going back to one person in particular. Raven. She’d gotten under my skin and made me want to lose control, to give into my primal urges and to express the dark side of my nature without protest. I passed out on the bed, beer bottle dropping to the floor, unable to forget the sight of Raven’s body sprawled out on the desk and knowing that from now on, it was going to be more difficult than ever to keep my distance from her.

If only Marissa had half of Raven’s personality or character, it wouldn’t be so difficult to bring myself to marry her. Then again, given my past, given the trauma, given the fears I had, maybe that was a good thing because my dark side was something I didn’t want to continue exploring, lest the beast inside me finally break free and cause more harm before I could stop him.