The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 121: Hot & Cold

Chapter 121: Hot & Cold

"I would freeze before I let you freeze, Theta."

Zina couldn’t deny that she liked the way Daemon called her title. Eldric called her Theta like it was some job beneath him which he could easily crush, but Daemon called her Theta like she was the embodiment of all things lost and chaotic.

And maybe it shouldn’t be, but Zina found the manner the word rolled off his lips to be a great turn on.

No, everything at that moment seemed like a turn on. The brush of the ice against her skin, the cold water soaking her bones, Daemon seemingly behind her and yet too far away as he refused her relief of grinding her core against him. His hands rooting her in place, disallowing her from moving further in any wanton manner as her body soaked up the ice.

Everything turned her on.

Even the small whisper of the northern wind. And Daemon’s steady breath that lightly brushed against her shoulders.

She was shivering, her teeth chattering as the bone-deep chill assaulted her sensory system, but somehow, Daemon’s presence behind her sent a wave of warmness through her body and true to his words, she didn’t freeze.

But that didn’t mean that she didn’t come close to becoming a frozen corpse.

"I...I can’t ttake tthis any more." Zina said through chattering teeth, not understanding why she must go through such an ordeal for something that was ordained as a blessing from the moon goddess.

Surely Daemon was going too far? She was yet to hear about anyone going to such extremes just to curb the wave of heat. But then, it was not everyday that a woman who took a vow of chastity acquired a second chance mate bond. Zina had indeed become fortunate in a web of what would have been normally impossible, and she couldn’t find it in her to pretend that the mate bond was thrilling.

"You’ve to endure," Daemon grunted in a hoarse voice like being in the tub with her was killing him too. "Unless you want the crystals of the Arctic Castle to be painted red with blood, this ice bath is the best solution I can come up with."

Zina squinted in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" She asked through a breathless chatter of her teeth. At that point, she was so sure her body would start to go into shock if she remained in the ice tub.

Daemon’s answer was dumping more ice over her like she needed to freeze anymore. Zina squealed, hitting him angrily... again, she could be hitting a wall but that was not the point. She was actually seething mad.

"I want out of this place!" She snarled, wishing that she could bare her canines or claw against the man and rip him some scar no matter how untouchable he might seem. At some point, she had lost awareness of her naked state.

"Request denied." He groaned his answer without leaving any room for objection. Like Zina would become his willing servant, submitting to his whims and caprices.

"Why?!" Zina cried out, her emotions raw and fried. She didn’t know why her emotions were all over the place, she didn’t even know what she was so exasperated with.

Was it the fact that Daemon had replaced her Heat with a bone chilling cold instead? Or was it the fact that it seemed he didn’t want to touch her— a fact that was evidenced by the fact that he just kept on dumping more and more ice on her?

Zina thrashed harder in the tub but to no avail. Daemon’s annoyance must have reached the peak for his next snarled words rooted her in place.

"You’re sending every cold blooded male within sight to rutting. Now will you stay put? Or should I toss you out to them? Trust me, a den of wolves is better than what your heat is unleashing in this castle!"

Zina spluttered, not finding her words.

What? Her heat was sending male werewolves into rut? But that could not possibly be. It was just the first day of her heat. Besides, only a true Luna wolf possessed such an ability.

"You’re lying." Zina said vehemently, her disbelief much more intense than the fact that Daemon was blatantly lying to her.

"Do you think I am here to argue lies and truths with you?"

Zina pouted, his seriousness like an extra sheet of cold that drowned her.

"Surely you cannot be serious?" She repeated, searching his voice for his deceit.

"Whether you think I am lying to you or not, the fact remains that it will be over my dead body when I would allow you to roam about attracting rutting males."

The gods, how was this man so heartless?

"If you say that I am sending males to rut, what about you?!" Zina screamed petulantly like a child.

"Oh, I am affected alright. But sleeping with you has never been a part of my plans."

More ice cold water was dumped on Zina, except this time, it wasn’t physical. It was his cruel words like the prick of the point of spiked ice dousing her heat.

Hot and cold... this man didn’t act in one exact way. One minute he was confessing that he has been obsessed with her. And then next minute, he was confessing that he would not sleep with her regardless.

Just what on earth did he want with her?

"But I do admit," he added grudgingly, "that we should take you out of the ice bath for now."

Zina bit her lips as it dawned on her that if anything were to ever happen with her and Daemon, she would have to do some of the chasing. The man was so confident in himself that he probably found the idea that he could be tempted to be laughable.

Zina vowed that the day his mask of control would full slip away, she would not shy away from laughing at his doom. And that day was one she was sure would come. She would make sure to mock him to no end when his control fully slipped away. Already, Zina could feel it happening.

Daemon carried her out of the water like she was some fragile thing. He wrapped her in some silk cloak that smelled just like him.

Ice and smoke. Two combinations that Zina never thought would make sense.

He placed her on a bed that smelled like him. Then he dropped ice wrapped in a towel on her abdomen.

He tugged a quilt that smelled like him up to her neck covering her naked body, and Zina felt the heat of his stare on her face as it seemed like he was staring at her, unsure of what to do with her.

She found that the man’s tenderness to tending to her was as scary as the gesture was beautiful. It was brutally beautiful in a way that made her want to reach to him and drown in his all.

"It is just three nights and everything will be over. For your sake, you must endure."

Endure? Why must she be the one to endure?

Bitterness filled her.

"You’re denying your mate, Alpha King. You’re committing a sin."

His steps receded from her as tears burned in her eyes. He seemed to pause at the doorway before he said.

"You and I tangling under the sheets will be the ultimate sin, Zina."

And then he left, and behind him was her heart that picked up like a dead engine oiled to life. It was beating to an unfamiliar rhythm that Zina found was pleasant to her ears.

For the first time, he had called her name.