<h4>Chapter 152: _ Let Her Go</h4>


    I had bent to sniff in her opening before devouring it when the scent of something else caught my attention.


    I inclined closer to her neck, inhaling deeply and letting her scent fill my lungs.


    <i>Blood.</i>


    I could smell it. It was so thick, rich, tantalizing, and pulsing beneath the surface of her trembling skin. I could feel the hunger crawling up my throat, my demon fangs aching to sink into her skin, to <i>fix</i> what Axel had ruined.


    The scent of her blood... that soft and sweet scent like the ripest fruit waiting to be devoured, invaded my senses and made my head spin.


    My fangs ached.


    I wanted to mark her. <i>I needed</i> to mark her. I wanted to rip Axel’s pathetic im from her body and <i>rece</i> it with my own.


    I knew it wasn’t possible to rip his im off, but maybe we could both share a bond with her. The thought of sharing her with another man could drive me nuts just thinking about it, but I’d rather share than to lose her.


    Later, when I was done proving my love to her, when I’d done better than Axel could ever do for her, when I killed Luis Miguel and his friends for her, when I stole her father’s wolf and gave it to her, she would finally see.


    She would see that it wasn’t only Axel who could break boundaries for her. I, Luis Montenegro would crack the universe open if something in it interests María José.


    That was how deep my love for her was. <i>Oh, this obsession of mine... </i>


    I grabbed her chin and forced her head to the side, my mouth inches from the untainted side of her neck. My breathing was ragged and my vision was heavily hazy with need.


    One bite. Just one bite, and she would be mine in ways Axel never could have imagined.


    "Tell me, <i>mi flor</i>, would Axel still want you if I did this?"


    And finally, I let out my fangs. They were dark and impossibly long, the tips gleaming with a slick, venomous sheen.


    An animalistic growl reverberated in my chest. I could feel the pulse throbbing in her neck.


    I let out a small, terrified gasp that sent a jolt of perverse pleasure through me. I could smell the fear radiating off her, mixed with a faint, intoxicating sweetness that only fueled my desire.


    "Answer me, mi flor," I hissed. "Would he still care for you if you were tainted by me? What would the pack call you? The slutty Omega, getting marked by two men outside of the mate bond. But since you let him do it, I need to as well."


    I could feel her vibrating, the bones of her chin shuddering beneath my grip. The anticipation was a burning agony, but s, a delicious torment.


    Then, a single tear escaped her eye, running slowly down her cheek. It was a silent answer, I presumed.


    Or maybe a fragile surrender.


    The growl in me intensified, the urge threatening to overwhelm me. I lowered my head, the tips of my fangs brushing against her skin. The scent of her fear, of her <i>life</i>, was intoxicating.


    And I pulled her closer.


    Just a little more...


    Just enough to...


    A full-bodied sob wracked through her.


    And I felt it.


    For the first time, I <i>felt</i> it.


    It wasn’t grief. It wasn’t heartbreak.


    It wasn’t pain from Axel’s betrayal.


    Not just fear.


    Not just shame.


    <i>Despair.</i>


    Fear of <i>me.</i>


    Not Axel. Not her father.


    <i>Me.</i>


    Her whole body sagged against me, trembling so hard I thought she would copse if I let go. Her wrists which were still pinned beneath my grip, were weak. She was no longer fighting, no longer struggling.


    She was crying. I loved when she cried because someone else had hurt her. That meant I could fix it for her and teach them some lessons.


    I loved when she cried because of Axel. It meant loving him was hurting her. It meant there was a chance she could let go of the fantasy.


    However, she was crying because she was terrified of <i>me.</i>


    The realization cracked something inside my chest.


    My body was still pressed against hers, my breath still ghosting over her skin, my hands still <i>dangerously</i> close to ces they had no business being...


    But I didn’t move.


    I didn’t rip. I didn’t bite. I didn’t <i>take.</i>


    I just... stopped.


    I <i>terrified</i> her.


    I had never cared about that before. I <i>shouldn’t</i> have cared about it now. I had wanted her to be afraid—to understand that she was <i>mine</i> and that there was nothing she could do about it.


    But this...


    This was different.


    Her sobs tore through me like razor des, lodging themselves in my throat, my chest, my <i>soul</i>.


    And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I hesitated.


    My grip loosened.


    What...


    What was I doing?


    I had thought I wanted to break her, to force her to see that Axel wasn’t her salvation—that <i>I</i> was the one who truly cared. That <i>I</i> was the one who would never leave her.


    But looking at her now...


    Looking at the sheer horror in her tear-filled eyes, the way her lips trembled, the way her entire body <i>shrank</i> away from me...


    I realized I had done the one thing I <i>never</i> wanted to do.


    I had made her afraid of me.


    Not in the way I wanted.


    Not in the way that would make her <i>mine</i>.


    But in a way that would make her <i>run</i>.


    My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth might crack. My fingers twitched, desperate to reim their hold on her, to keep her against me, to <i>fix</i> this.


    But it was toote.


    I had broken something I couldn’t repair.


    Her tears weren’t for Axel.


    They were for herself.


    And they were because of <i>me</i>.


    I let out a shaky breath, stepping back. My hands slid away from her body, suddenly cold and suddenly empty.


    María José didn’t move at first. She just stood there, frozen, her breathing in shallow, erratic gasps.


    The room was silent, except for the sound of María José’s huped sobs.


    I stared at her, drinking in the sight of her teary, desperate face, her trembling lips, the way she was <ipletely</i> at my mercy.


    I should’ve enjoyed this.


    I <i>did</i> enjoy this.


    But the sobs kepting.


    And I couldn’t ignore them.


    I closed my eyes.


    Then, with a sharp inhale, I yanked myself away from her.


    She nearly copsed, catching herself against the wall with her arms immediately wrapping around her torn dress in a desperate attempt to shield herself.


    I took a step back. Then another.


    What the hell was wrong with me?


    I turned away, running a hand through my hair, breathing through the sudden, sickening sensation curling in my stomach.


    I wanted her. I <i>needed</i> her.


    But not like this.


    Not when she was <i>afraid</i> of me.


    Not when the sound of her crying made me want to rip my own skin off.


    "I’ll go. But know this, María José, that I will spend every moment of my life working to prove myself to you. I will clean messes after you, protect you, and stay close until you realize I am your one true mate, not Axel. This, María José, is a match made from the pit of destiny. You can’t flee from it."