The Artist

Chapter 11

“Can’t you do anything for yourself?” I asked, looking at the driver with disapproval.

“I’m very self-sufficient, Henley. But as you have yet to embrace our bond. I cannot trust you.”

“This is your bond, not ours.” Telling him for the hundredth time.

“You can learn to be content,” Alexander said, sighing as he repeated his delusion.

“Content in the confines of hell?” The bitterness in my tone made the question sound more like an accusation. “Let me take away your life, your love, and your freedom. How fucking content would you be?”

“I did not take these from you, Henley. I merely changed your perception.” The devil purred, trying to soothe my agitation. “You will find peace.”

“I will,” I agreed. “When I die. But you won’t. I hope you live to be a hundred: you and your delusions.” I threatened him, praying he would have enteral life. Alexander’s scent changed, trying to restrain himself from going into caveman mode. I was betting on the hulk, let his driver see the devil in action. Disappointed when he didn’t morph, I turned to look out at nothing.

“Would you like some music?”

“I could care less, devil.”

Alexander had taken me to a home outside of the city. It was late fall, a time that I had always loved. Now, I felt nothing at seeing the colored leaves. I sat here every afternoon for the past 4 days, watching the world with disinterest. I didn’t turn when I heard footsteps. Alexander was relentless in his determination to bond with me, never leaving me alone for too long. But the voice that called my name was not his.

“Mo, what are you doing?” I asked my friend, stunned to see her here again. Mo looked at me, worried and hurt, having found me sitting on the wooden swing by the frosted garden.

“I am here for you, Henley.” My heart spasmed at the feel of Mo’s hand on mine. It hurt physical pain prickled my nerves. I had missed her, the woman I loved like a sister. Alexander had taken so much from me. He’s self-declared, divine rights had forced me to give up my life, my love, and my friends. Blurry eyed, I squeezed Mo’s hand. She could not even begin to understand my feelings, the dark thoughts that consumed me. I would not drag her into the blackness with me. But she needed to know that I did not intend to live as a traitor or prisoner. The beautiful country view became harsh; the air around us changed. I drew what little strength I had left to my core.

“Monica, I want you to leave.” The harsh words were cold. My voice sounded foreign to my ears. I almost choked on the emotional lump in my throat, noting the pained expression in Mo’s eyes. I let her go, physically moving away from her warmth.

“No.” Mo protested, grabbing my hand, pulling it back to her.

I stiffened; she didn’t understand. And I didn’t have the energy to make her.

“I buried you, both of you, weeks ago.” The desperate plea tore through me. “I am dying; Mo, let me go.” The chill rippled through us both. Mo was such an expressive person. One of the many qualities I had always loved about her. She was unable to mask her emotions. Good or bad, they never left me unsure of her feelings. Today was no different. I saw her shock, her disbelief, and pain. The tears were an automated response to the grief that filled her. Mo struggled visible fighting for a reason, for me. That was a battle I had lost. By surrendering my life, I’d won Kita’s.

“No, Henley.” The raw edge of her denial clung heavy in her throat. The grittiness tainted her voice. “Your fans, your family.” Her hand dug into mine. “We deserve to know the truth.” I shook my head. There was nothing to tell. But Mo refused to be ignored, crying harder than I’d ever seen before. Her sorrow was devastating. “I deserve the truth, Henley.” Mo was a fighter. She meant to stand her ground.

I had kept my genetic identity hidden from the entire world, intentionally. As an Omega, I had no rights, none. I would have been auctioned off to the wealthiest Alpha. No matter my feelings on the subject. Omegas were not people; we were possessions. I had chosen to live a lie. To live as the Beta female, I had been declared as at my birth. All my efforts, my freedom, my love, it was all gone. The loss was still raw, new with the throbbing pain. I looked away from Mo. I had no reason to lie to her anymore.

“I am Omega, Mo. There is nothing else to say.” I cringed at the agonizing look in her eyes. Guilt soured my blood as it raced along my nerves.

“Bullshit Henley, I would have understood, I would have protected you.”

“You would be punished too, serving a life sentence right alongside me.” I reminded her. The law was strict. She would be in as much trouble as me.

“We are friends, best friends Henley. You kept me in the dark.” Monica was hurting, lashing out at me to ease her pain. It still hurt. My honest effort to keep her safe meant I had lied to her as well. I did not regret my choice. I would have done anything to save her, and Kita. If my current state didn’t reflect that, I had failed.

I prayed she’d walk away. I hoped she see my sacrifice for what it was, but she didn’t. Mo pulled me tightly to her chest. Breaking my cold heart with the warmth of her love, I crumbled. My tears ran profusely, reminding me how much I had missed her. We held on to each other, crying as we worried.

“Please, Henley, don’t end it like this. You are not done creating.” Monica pleaded with my ghost. “Tell the world that they were wrong and that you fooled them all.”

“They won Mo. The enemy still beat me.”

“Did they Henley?” She asked, pulling away to look at me. Her worry was still there, shadowing her light with my darkness.

“I won’t live this way, Mo. I will not be used.” I had made peace with my death the second I had agreed to the pair bond. I had no intention of honoring it. I felt Mo react. Her body shook with my meaning. Again, she tore at my heart with her pain. She searched my eyes, looking for the tiniest bit of hope. But I had buried that with Kita. He would be mine, just not in this world. Mo’s tears sparkled in her eyes, sniffling as she wiped them away.

“I... Henley, please.” Her head bowed as she tried and failed to understand my heartache. It was my turn to try and console. The pain bubbled back up in me. Being alive was far more exhausting, then it should have to be.

“Please, Henley, don’t hide the truth. Give me peace, and ... I will help you.”

My heart spasmed at the feel of Momo’s hand on mine. I missed her. I missed my friend. Bleary-eyed, I squeezed her hand. It had been devastating to bury my life — Mo, alongside that. But I didn’t intend to live as a traitor or as an imprisoned mate for long. I took one last look at my dear friend.

“Monica,” I swallowed the pain back down. “I want you to leave.” I tried again, noting the forlorn expression in Mo’s eyes as well. I let her go, physically withdrawing from her warmth.

“What? No.” Mo protested she cried, holding me hostage with her eyes. Shaking her head as she continued to hold my hand.

“No, Henley,” She begged me. “Leave me with the truth. Do this for us, for me.” Monica’s pleading haunted me for the next several days, mercilessly beating on the walls of my hardened heart. I was again confined in Alexander’s concrete hell. My days fell right back into the miserably routine.

The traitor ushered me into the studio again. I wondered how much this Alpha could take. I wasn’t a pleasant prisoner. I made damn sure he was as miserable as I was. I walked past the Alpha, heading for my designated spot on the floor, only to be stopped short by Mo. The Beta I referred to as wonder woman, stood in the room, smiling at me as she extended her hand out. Mo offered me a green matcha frappe, from my favorite café.

“I got you an extra shot of energy.” She said. I stood still for a few seconds. Irritated and happy to see her again. Our last meeting had been terribly emotional. Bittersweet in every sense of the word. I had not recovered from the pain it had caused. Very torn between pulling her close or pushing her further away, so I stalled.

“I don’t remember you being this stubborn,” I said, it wasn’t meant as a joke, but Mo’s eyes sparkled with humor. Another feeling I missed.

“Where do you think I learned it from?” Her smile hurt just as much as it healed, shining a ray of warm love down on my cold heart. If I had truly been her friend, I would have sent her away. But my heart was tired, so I settled down in the light. The traitor had quietly left the room. I could only assume he was ecstatic to be rid of me, briefly. If he thought Mo’s presence bought him, or Alexander peace, they were so fucking wrong. All they had done was give me the time I needed to regain my strength and energy. I had no intention of letting them leaving this battle untouched.

I sipped on my drink. My dull taste buds hummed with the flavor of something besides my bitterness. Mo watched me, pleased that I was enjoying her and her bribe.

“It’s really good today,” Mo said, taking another drink.

“Thank you, Mo,” I said as I nodded back at her. We sat for a moment, pretending we were back in my small, old studio. That life was normal. But pretending was a childish quality I had lost a long time ago, truthfully, I wondered if I’d ever really had it. That’s probably why I wasn’t very good at it. I felt the waters of my turbulent emotions rock my heart, making me feel heartbroken and resentful. I thumped my drink against my other hand, moving the ice that had made a hollow void.

“I meant what I said, Henley,” Mo stated, looking at me with bravery. Monica was a true friend, nothing but an amazing and loving woman. She had every right to be angry with me. I had kept things from her even though my motivation had only been to protect her. I had not been honest with her. Yet she was here, trying to understand and help me. It was painfully moving. I took a second to get myself ready for our next move. I prepared my heart for the end. Giving Mo my answer with a soulful smile.

“Be careful, Mo, the devil has his traitor listening, if not watching us.” The truth shocked Mo. Her body stiffened as she looked wide-eyed around the room. A worried blush warmed her cheeks.

“Are you serious?” She asked, violated, and creeped out by the thought.

“He is a sadist. Control is his thing.”

“That is... wrong.”

Well, so was abduction, blackmail, and assault. Momo was my dearest friend and a gentlewoman. I would not tell her the extent of his sins. Mo and I tried to ignore the awkwardness I had released in the room. But it was pretty pointless. Mo got the first-hand experience of what it feels like to watched. I cut our reunion short, waiting to hear the front door closed before I went looking for the devil.

“I want you to take the studio off of surveillance.” I didn’t phrase it as a question. Alexander looked up from his screen. Running a worried, but curious eye over me.

“What makes you think I have it under surveillance?” He asked me, rocking back in his high-priced chair. I wasn’t interested in playing games with him.

“Your petty and controlling.” I felt the fight I thought I lost break open in me. “You have violated every bit of life, don’t pretend otherwise?” My eyes moved to the sound of a muffled laugh. I saw Jamison bite his lip to hide his smile. “If you want me to work, then get your shit out of my prison cell.” Alexander starred at me for a second. Only the gods knew what stupidity was running wild in there. Maybe they cared.

“Done.” He agreed, not taking his green eyes off of mine. “I expect to see all of the work that you do before it leaves here.”

“You will not get to see shit.” I snapped at him. “You have no rights to what I touch, what I think, or what I create.” I bitterly reminded the devil.

“Do you think I will allow you to communicate with him?” Alexander asked me. He thought Kita was the reason I was returning to work.

“I communicate with my love the way it is.” I happily reminded him, but he already knew that. “I don’t need to do anything more than feel.”

“Then, there is no need to hide your work.” He seethed at me.

“Did you forget what happened the last time you saw my work?” Reminding him of the fact that he was nothing but an animal. “You’re not man enough.” I enjoyed the fire that erupted in his eyes, almost as much as the disbelief that dropped Jamison’s jaw. “In that room, you do not exist.”

“But I do, I very much exist, Omega.” The Alpha barked out as he shot up out of the chair. Posturing and growling, warning me as his long arm raced out to grab me. His large hand gripped me by my hair.

“Hold on to that belief, devil.” I hissed through the pain.

Cass-

I fucked her right there in my office. Her defiance and disrespect could not be allowed to go further. Henley only understood she’d gone too far when I physically corrected her. Forcing me to use our mating as a form of punishment. I hated that she made me the villain, made me feel guilty for loving her, and loathed that I was forced to hide that truth. She would rip my heart out for sport if I ever admitted that to her. Henley would gladly laugh in my face, and crush me with joy as she did it. She had turned me into a sadist, that was the only time I could openly express my feelings for her. When Henley was to overcome by my Alpha to defy me, I pounded into her tightness with my own bitterness driving me. When the first gratifying moans left her lips and clouded her eyes with pleasure, I attacked.

“Look at me, mate,” I ordered, taking her chin in my hand. I would not be denied seeing my reflection in her eyes. This was how I won my few victories over her. “I would give you anything, anything you asked of me,” I said, my hand grew frustrated as I squeezed her far harder than I needed to. Her body knew what I was capable of. I had damn near choked her to death only days ago. She tensed as I threatened her orgasm. My fingers dug in deeper when she tried to speak. I could not take her verbal abuse. “Keep your poisonous mouth shut, Henley,” I warned her as I used her silence to feed my illusion. I roared as my knot exploded in her, one she took with trembling satisfaction. I was not able to enjoy my release for long. Henley would be ready to continue her war. Guilty that she had allowed herself to take the pleasure only I could give her made her ruthless when she attacked. I picked her up off the side of the desk and moved us to the couch. With my knotted hellcat locked on to me, I waited. Henley was going to give me what I wanted. This negotiation was not going to be all her way.

Her breathing was returning to normal, just like the bitter, guilt. That was the downside of the bond.

“Look at me,” I ordered her. The tone of my voice had her spine stiffening, even as she physically retracted in on herself. I slapped her hard on the ass. She would get one warning before I beat her pale ass red. One was all it took. Enraged blue eyes burned into mine.

“You will return to working as you did before.”

“Before you ruined my life?” She asked the bliss of the moment was gone entirely.

“I will repeat myself, Henley, this is your life.” I was tired of reminding her of the facts. I was her life now, and that was how it would remain. “I will respect your need for independence in the studio.” I clarified before she got the wrong impression. “Your time in the studio is yours, but at five o’clock, I expect you to be out, and a hell of a lot more agreeable.” Her defiance had her visible fighting, and not just me. Henley was proud and self-reliant. Both were doubled-edged emotions. You could only fault her so much. She’d been forced into this state by a greedy mother.

“Agreeable? By acting like a whore?” Henley’s temper flared up, pushing herself away from me with more fury than normal. I growled a warning as I held her tighter.

“You are not my whore. You are my mate. And you will start to act as such.” Wrapping my arms around her, restraining her restless body. I forced her to look at me. “We will spend time together, conversing as a normal couple should.” I clarified myself.

“There is nothing normal about you, let alone us.” Henley hissed.

“I am very normal, Henley, and you will learn this.”