Inner Demons- ON HOLD

Chapter 12.

*A/N: TRIGGER Warning! This chapter contains nonconsensual forced intimacy. Please skip if you are uncomfortable reading!

Xander growled as the guard yanked me up by my leash. I gasped at the tight tug on my throat and clumsily stood to my feet, eyes meeting his angry gaze. The guard chuckled and handed Fin his leash to hold as he stayed planted on his knees. I felt him press against my back, feeling his body stiffen against me. His hardness grew and pressed against my back, causing my spine to straighten. I stepped to move away but his arm snaked around my waist and yanked me hard against him, causing me to yelp. Xander growled and lowered his stance, preparing to fight. 

"I can see why you want her young prince. Her scent truly is irresistible. And that body...". The guards hand drug down my waist and my outer hip before grazing back inside my thighs and hovering on my sex, firmly holding his hand against it. 

I bit my tongue to keep from screaming as a tear dropped down my cheek. My eyes held Xander's feral gaze in terror. In an instant, the guard was knocked backwards, tripping over Fin as Xander launched to push him away from me. I stood in shock at his quickness before finally turning around to see the guard laying unconscious on the floor. Xander's fists were covered in his blood from where he'd beat them into the guard's bloodied face.

Xander's eyes cut to Fin who stood silently watching. "Get back to your cage and tell no one you saw me take her, understood?"

Fin nodded shortly and walked away, quickly headed for the pet's room. Xander flashed to me and scooped me up before heading straight for his room. I had to shut my eyes to keep from being dizzy from the movement. Once inside, Xander gently placed me on the edge of the bed before flashing to the closet and bringing me one of his tee shirts. His hand reached behind my neck and unclasped the collar, tossing it on the floor with a snarl. As I slipped the shirt over my head, he walked over to grab the bottle of dark amber whiskey along with two glasses and brought them to the bed. He poured my glass and handed it to me as I met his pale blue eyes. They held sorrow and pain deep inside. My own emerald green gaze matched his as we drank silently. 

Finally he spoke, low and strained. "Emma, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I will find a way to get you out from my father's hold."

I nodded and took another long drag on my glass, finishing it and holding my glass up for a refill.

He continued as he poured. "If I thought he would care, I'd mark you right now as my mate! But he'd just break it and do what he wanted anyway."

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

He paced in front of me, dragging his hand roughly through his hair. "If a vampire marks someone as his mate, that's a signal for all others to never touch her. She belongs to only him. She would also mark him to say the same thing. If the two mark each other at the same time, the two souls will join and they become one. But, if someone wants her, it is possible to break it. A stronger vampire can try and erase the bond, but it's very rare and extremely difficult. But my father has done is once before. He could do it again. And then you'd be connected to him alone."

I sat listening, trying to absorb his words and hold myself together. "So I'd be mated to your father?"

He shook his head sharply. "No. But you would be connected to him. Everyone would know you were his alone. You would only be mated to him if you completed the bond, which isn't possible since he's already mated to my mother."

"When did he break a bond before?" I asked breathily.

Xander stopped pacing and ran his hand down his face before draining his glass and placing it on the table. Quietly, he answered, "When he took my mother from her mate."

My eyebrows shot up. Xander's face was scowling and I could see this was difficult for him to discuss, so I decided to let him continue at his own pace. He walked to the bed and sat next to me. My hands instinctively reached over to take his, my fingers rubbing gently against his knuckles.

"My mother was young and caught my father's eye while he visited one of the neighboring kingdoms. She was the daughter of another bloodline and already mated to someone before she had fully matured. After negotiating with her father, he agreed that if the bond could be broken, he'd allow it. So he broke it and brought her here to complete the bond."