Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce!-Chapter 34

Aria’s POV

Everything was burning.

My skin. My blood. My bones.

I couldn’t tell where I was anymore. The world had melted into a blur of shadows and heat. Colors bled together. Shapes lost their edges.

All I knew was the fire consuming me from the inside out.

A car. I was in a car. Moving. The leather seat stuck to my feverish skin. Every bump in the road sent waves of dizziness crashing through my skull.

Hands. There were hands on me. Pulling. Guiding. Keeping me upright when all I wanted to do was collapse.

"Kael..." The name slipped from my lips without permission. A prayer. A plea. "Kael..."

A harsh laugh. Close. Too close.

"Still thinking about him?"

The voice was wrong. All wrong.

I tried to focus. Tried to see through the haze clouding my vision. But everything kept spinning. Tilting. Refusing to stay still.

The car stopped.

A door opened. Cold air rushed in. It should have helped. Should have cooled the fire raging beneath my skin.

It didn’t.

Hands grabbed my arms. Hauled me out of the vehicle. My legs buckled immediately. I would have fallen if not for the grip bruising my biceps.

"Walk." The command was sharp. Impatient.

I couldn’t walk. Could barely stand. My body had stopped obeying me hours ago. Or was it minutes? I’d lost all sense of time.

"Kael..." I whispered again. Where was he? He said he’d come back. He said—

"Shut up about him."

I was being dragged now. My feet scraped against concrete. Then carpet. Then hardwood.

A door slammed behind us.

The hands released me. I stumbled forward. Hit something solid. A couch? A bed?

No. A couch. Leather. Cool against my burning cheek.

I pressed my face into the cushion. Tried to breathe. Tried to think.

The heat was getting worse. Building. Coiling low in my stomach like a serpent waiting to strike. My inner wolf whimpered. Artemis was just as affected. Just as confused.

*What’s happening to us?*

I didn’t know. Couldn’t explain. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

All I knew was that I needed—

"Get up."

The command cut through my fog. I recognized that tone. That cold, dismissive authority.

No.

No, it couldn’t be.

I pushed myself up on trembling arms. Blinked hard. Forced my eyes to focus.

The room slowly materialized around me. Familiar furniture. Familiar walls. Familiar everything.

This was the Nightfang estate.

This was Finn’s house.

And there he stood.

He was watching me. Those amber eyes cold. Calculating.

"Welcome home, Aria."

Terror sliced through the heat clouding my brain. Sharp. Clarifying.

"You." The word came out raw. Broken. "It was you. At The Pit. You—"

"Took what’s mine." He shrugged. Casual. Like we were discussing the weather. "Did you really think I’d let you walk away? Let you embarrass me in front of everyone and just... disappear?"

I pushed myself upright. The room spun. My stomach lurched.

"What..." I had to swallow. Had to force my thick tongue to form words. "What did you give me?"

Finn smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes.

"Just a little something to make you more... cooperative." He took a step closer. "You remember your heats, don’t you, Aria? How desperate you used to get? How you’d beg me to touch you?"

Horror washed over me. Ice cold despite the fire in my veins.

My voice shook. "You drugged me to trigger a—"

"I did what was necessary." Another step. Closer. "You were supposed to give me an heir, remember? That was your one job. Your only purpose."

I scrambled backward on the couch. My limbs were clumsy. Uncoordinated. The drug made everything feel like I was moving through water.

"Stay away from me."

"Or what?" He laughed. The sound was ugly. "You’ll call for your new Alpha? Your precious Kael?" He spat the name like poison. "He’s not here, Aria. No one’s coming to save you."

The heat surged again. My body temperature spiked. Sweat beaded on my forehead. Between my shoulder blades.

I hated this. Hated how my body was betraying me. Hated how the drug made everything feel simultaneously too much and not enough.

"The divorce papers." I grasped for anything. Any weapon. Any leverage. "I signed them. You signed them. It’s over, Finn. I’m not your wife anymore."

"Paperwork." He waved his hand dismissively. "Do you really think a few signatures mean anything? We were bonded, Aria. Fated mates. You can’t just walk away from that."

"I rejected you!" The words tore from my throat. "In front of everyone! The bond is broken!"

"Bonds can be remade." He stopped at the edge of the couch. Looking down at me. "All it takes is another bite. Another mark. Another child."

My blood ran cold.

"No."

"You don’t get to say no." His voice dropped. Dangerous. "You lost that right when you chose to humiliate me. When you paraded around with the Blood Crown heir like some kind of trophy. When you made me look like a fool."

"I didn’t—"

"SHUT UP!"

The roar made me flinch. Made me press back into the couch cushions.

This was the Finn I remembered. Not the cold, dismissive husband. This was the monster underneath. The one who’d threatened me. Controlled me. Made me feel like nothing for five years.

"You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing?" He leaned closer. His breath was hot on my face. "Running around with that Alpha. Letting him touch you. Letting him call you his mate."

"Kael and I haven’t—"

"Don’t lie to me!"

His hand shot out. Grabbed my chin. Forced me to look at him.

The contact sent conflicting signals through my drug-addled body. Revulsion. Fear. And underneath it all, that horrible artificial heat demanding more. Demanding touch. Demanding relief.

I wanted to scream. Wanted to claw out of my own skin.

"I saw you." Finn’s voice was a hiss. "At that hotel. He took you there, didn’t he? Spent the night with you. Did you spread your legs for him, Aria? Did you let him have what belongs to me?"

"I don’t belong to you!"

"You’ll always belong to me." He squeezed harder. His fingers dug into my jaw. "You’re the mother of my child. The woman who bears my mark. Nothing changes that."

"The mark is gone." I forced the words through gritted teeth. "I rejected you. It’s over."

Something dark flickered in his eyes.

"Then I’ll just have to mark you again."

Before I could react, his mouth crashed against mine.

No.

NO.

I screamed against his lips. Pushed at his chest. Twisted. Fought.

But my body was weak. The drug had stolen my strength. Stolen my coordination. Every movement felt like swimming through honey.

His tongue forced its way into my mouth. Claiming. Violating.

I bit down. Hard.

He jerked back with a curse. Blood dripped from his lip.

"You bitch!"

The backhand came fast. Stars exploded across my vision. Pain bloomed across my cheekbone.

I used the momentum. Rolled off the couch. Hit the floor on my hands and knees.

Run. I needed to run.

I crawled toward the door. One hand. One knee. Then again. Pathetically slow.

Finn’s hand closed around my ankle.

He dragged me back. The carpet burned against my skin. My dress rode up. I kicked. Screamed.

"Stop fighting!" He flipped me onto my back. Pinned me down with his weight. "This would be so much easier if you just accepted it!"

"Get off me!"

"You want this." His voice was a snarl. "Your body wants this. I can smell it on you, Aria. The heat. The need. Your inner wolf is begging for release."

Tears streamed down my face. He was right. God help me, he was right. The drug had turned my body into a traitor. Made it crave touch even as my mind screamed in horror.

"That’s not—that’s not real—" I choked on a sob. "You drugged me—"

"I gave you what you needed." He grabbed my wrists. Both of them. Slammed them above my head. "And now I’m going to give you what you’ve always wanted. A real mate. "