“I love you.”

____________________

 "Surprise!" Erin laughs like a Maniac. 

 Micah feel as if a shadow in the distance is crawling onto her body and fogging her vision. With labored breath, she makes a pathetic attempt to close the door and hide in the darkness of her chamber. 

 Erin's hand, which looks stronger than the last time, halts her action by pushing at the door harshly, making her fly back. 

 "Don't you dare try, Sweetheart!" Erin whisper-shouts at her through her clenched teeth which shine in the darkness. "You know there's no escape from me." 

 It's as if life is oozing out of every pore of her skin as she stares at Erin long enough with her horror-stricken eyes. Micah wants to run for her life but her legs rooted on the cold floor have long forgotten how to move. 

 "Thank you, Omega." Erin whispers to Fanney in a sickeningly sweet way as she slowly removes her hands around the woman making her shudder. 

 Fanney's eyes lock with Micah's and she sees fear-stained guilt swimming inside those dead brown orbs. She is the one who gave her away but what is her right to be mad? 

 "Go and sleep without a voice." Erin's voice is heavy with an undisguised threat. "We had a deal, remember? One word to anyone, you will lose your whole damn family. I will kill you without really killing you. You know me. You know I would do it without a moment of hesitation." 

 Micah almost threw up all the pieces of bread that she devoured with pleasure at dinner when her words made Fanney bite down a sob. The Erin she knew hadn't had a face like this. A face of Demon. 

 Erin pushes her to the hallway, making her stumble over a few steps. Fanney turns around to Micah once again, her trembling lips curving around the shape of her name in a pained way. 

 She assumes it is a 'sorry' that she hears from her before she vanishes between the dark walls. Leaving Micah alone with the demon in human form. 

 Erin slips into her chamber as she blows the candle in between her fingers, darkness sucks Micah in wholly as she widens her eyes in an attempt to see anything, anything that she can stay away from. 

 "God, I missed you so much…" Erin's breath ghosts over the skin of her neck making her flinch so hard she almost fell if it wasn't for Erin's ghastly hands sneaking around her waist. 

 Micah elbowed at her stomach as she got away from her, her hands reaching out in front of Erin, ready to rip Erin's face off if she dared to lay her finger on her once again. 

 Erin's pained curse slashes through the air and she sees her silhouette inching toward Micah in the moonlight slithering through the curtains. 

 "You should be happy that I came to rescue you from the beast that prisoned you here, My love." Erin's words lace with phony concern that makes Micah's jaw clutch. 

 "Don't you dare call me that!" She growled. "And did you say prison? The prison was your poor excuse of a manor, you…" Micah gulps down the insult itching my throat to be let out. 

 "Then why did you cry a river when we sent you off here, Darling?" 

 Micah's back hit the marbled wall when she tried to back away from Erin's touch. Her eyes gleam with an intensity that could burn Micah alive as Erin hovers over her. 

 The sound of Micah's uneven breathing rings in her ears as Erin hooks her fingers under her chin, her fist colloid with Erin's jaw before she can lean in. There's an unknown pleasure in the burn and wetness of blood in Micah's knuckles. 

 "Woah!" An amused laugh seeps through her broken lip as Erin licks off the blood, her eyes flashing a deep shade of red.

 "How dare you? One day at the palace and you thought you could fight me off just like that?" Erin's fingers fasten around Micah's throat, choking her. "Is it because you have a mate now? A prince as a mate? No. More like a beast as a mate." She scoffs at her face. "Is that why you hate my touch so much?" 

 Micah's lungs are on fire as she gasps for some air. She summoned all the energy left in her and pushed Erin off of her, making her fly back a few steps away from Micah. Tears sears her eyes when she presses her hand to her burning neck, breathing wildly. 

 "Why do you care? Beast or Monster. Still a thousand times better than you!" She sneers. 

 "Better than me? But I'm the one who loves you, darling." Her lips pull down in a pout and Micah's fist ich for another punch. 

 "Who needs your love?" 

 Erin steps closer to her, her smoky authoritative scent making Micah's knees weak. "Do you remember when I said to you that you aren't gonna die?" Erin clasps her wrist in a deadly grip and pins it into the wall above her head when she tries to push her back again. "Do you remember?" She stresses each of the words. 

 "I do." Micah whimpers at the pressure she applies on her wrist. 

 "And why do you think I said that? As you said before, you thought I was giving you a good word before you die?" She laughs, a cold noise that freezes her eardrums. 

 "You were so wrong, Micah! So wrong. You were wrong all this time. You think you didn't die because that beast is your mate? How ridiculous can you be?" 

 Micah's eyebrows hunch down in confusion. What kind of nonsense is she spitting? 

 "Know, my dear, you didn't die because I saved you!" Erin shrieks at her face. "You didn't die because of the magic I spell on you." 

 Micah's eyes widened in horror. 

 Magic? 

 "Believe me when I say I love you. If it wasn't for me, you would have been dead off long before."