OLEANDER
If I had known Hex would be at the Halloween party, I wouldn’t have come.
But it was still a better option than staying behind at the villa with Dante close by.
Dante.
I shivered involuntarily.
After he left yesterday, I hadn’t seen him again.
Even Celina mentioned something about him vanishing from the house entirely.
Hex, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised.
He hadn’t said a word about it.
I was relieved Dante wasn’t here.
I was still reeling from what had happened.
As much as I knew I had no power in my situation, I still secretly wished for a miracle.
Just once.
Something for me.
“Don’t touch anything here,” Hex murmured, breaking my thoughts as he stepped closer.
I scoffed and turned my back to him, walking toward one of the tables.
A few plastic bowls were lined up, filled with drinks.
I grabbed a disposable cup, dipped it in, and scooped some of what I assumed was lemonade.
Before I could take a sip, Hex snatched it from my hand and dumped it in the trash.
I spun toward him, my eyes flashing.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“I should be asking you that,” he snapped, jaw tight, hands tucked deep into his pockets.
“I clearly warned you that things here aren’t fit to be drunk,” he grunted.
“When I say don’t do something, for your sake, listen to me.”
I snorted in disbelief.
“I don’t want to listen to you, Hex. I want you to leave me the hell alone.”
Everyone else had been drinking from that same damn bowl.
I’d seen it.
Every single person here.
Why the hell was he stopping me specifically?
His jaw tightened.
“I know you’re mad at me for keeping things from you—”
I laughed.
A bitter, mocking sound.
“Mad at you? Why would I be mad at someone I don’t even know?” I jabbed a finger at him, eyes narrowed.
Hex didn’t flinch.
He just kept talking.
“It’s okay for you to feel that way. But trust me, Olea. Everything I did, everything, I did for your good.”
“Like telling me to obey Dante? To let him touch me however he wants?” I fired, the words ripping from my throat, fury boiling over.
All the rage I had buried from yesterday, everything I hadn’t been able to scream at Dante was now crashing to the surface.
And Hex stood right in front of it.
“Is that what you do to women, too?” I muttered in disgust.
“You kidnap them from their comfort zone, drag them to an unknown location, and have your way with them multiple times…!”
“Oleander!” Hex growled, eyes narrowed.
Veins ticked along his jaw, his gaze flashing so brightly it made him look far more dangerous than usual.
“Did I hurt your cold, monstrous ego?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.
His eyes closed briefly before opening again.
“I’ve never hurt any woman before,” he said.
“As if I’d ever believe that!”
He was pissing me off with those blatant lies.
Wasn’t he the reason I was here?
If he hadn’t stepped into my life, then Dante wouldn’t have either.
He hurt me.
He did.
And yet he stood there pretending he’d never done anything wrong.
And yesterday—
Bile rose in my throat as the memory slammed back into me.
“Did you know Dante was going to force himself on me?” I demanded.
“Is that why you told me to obey everything he asked of me?”
He said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
It was written all over his face.
I puffed out a breath, pushing back the nausea rising in my throat.
It stayed down, but it left a bitter, acidic taste on my tongue.
“Just stay the hell away from me. Okay? I don’t ever want to speak to you again.” My voice shook, but the words came out firm.
I didn’t wait for a reply.
I turned and walked away, ignoring the way I could feel his gaze burning holes into my back.
Every step I took felt heavy, as if the room itself were trying to keep me tethered to him, but I kept going.
By the time I reached the main hall, the music had shifted into something louder.
Deeper.
Heavier.
Bodies moved wildly on the dance floor, writhing against each other like they were hypnotized.
Skin gleamed with sweat under the flashing disco lights.
Laughter and moans of pleasure swirled through the space like smoke.
It should have looked like a normal party.
Should have.
But something about it felt…off.
A chill crawled up my spine.
I couldn’t say why, but every instinct in me screamed that something was wrong here.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” someone barked, roughly bumping my shoulder.
I staggered back and slammed into another body behind me.
“Shit—sorry,” I mumbled, barely glancing over my shoulder as I moved forward again.
I was almost at the pool area when the yelling started.
I stopped walking, turning to see what the commotion was about.
“Hex?” I whispered, brows furrowing as I spotted him holding the guy I’d accidentally bumped into by the scruff of his shirt.
The music had stopped—the dancing, frozen.
Every pair of eyes in the room was locked on them.
Fear shimmered in the air, thick and suffocating, but I couldn’t tell who it was directed at.
Still, I stepped closer.
“Shove her like that again,” Hex thundered, “and you’re dead.”
“She bumped into me, and I—I spilled my drink all over my shirt. This shirt was expensive!”
Beta?
I glanced down at the so-called “expensive” shirt—something straight out of a tacky summer catalog, all loud prints and sour taste.
And totally ridiculous for a night like this, considering how cold it was.
But apparently, he wasn’t the only one inappropriately dressed.
“Expensive shirt?” Hex repeated, his eyes glowing strangely.
“Let’s see if you feel the same way in ten seconds.”
With one swift tug, Hex ripped the shirt clean down the front, splitting it from the neckline straight through the buttons.
A collective gasp echoed around us.
The man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he scrambled back, but Hex didn’t let go.
He wasn’t finished yet.
For some reason, Hex wasn’t satisfied with tearing the shirt.
He looked like he wanted to destroy what was left of it completely.
With a sharp shove, he sent the man sprawling onto the floor, landing hard on his butt.
“Get the fuck up,” Hex ordered, crooking his finger in a taunting gesture.
“Please…” the guy whimpered.
“I swear, I didn’t mean to shove her like that. It wasn’t intentional!”
“I said, get up!” Hex barked, louder this time.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I stepped forward, placing myself between them, blocking Hex’s path.
His body was rigid, eyes blazing, still locked on his target.
“Hex, stop,” I said firmly.
“It’s my fault. I should’ve—”
“Move,” he grunted, barely sparing me a glance.
I flinched at the coldness in his voice.
He stepped sideways to go around me, but I reached out and grabbed his arm, holding him still.
“I don’t need you jumping in to defend me at every turn,” I said.
“I’m not fragile. I can take responsibility for my own mistakes.”
His jaw ticked.
“I bumped into him because I wasn’t looking. That’s on me.”
Hex yanked his hand free without hesitation.
Clearly, he didn’t care about anything I’d just said, because the next moment, he seized the man by the hair and started dragging him away.
“What the hell’s gotten into him?” I muttered, watching in disbelief as he stormed out of the hall.
“Poor Hex,” Celina said from behind me.
I frowned, glancing back at her, waiting for her to explain.
“Rutting,” she said simply, almost casually.
“With the full moon suddenly showing up, I think he’s going through it pretty badly.”
“Rut?” I repeated, eyebrows lifting in confusion.
“Is he some kind of animal?”
Celina stared at me like I’d just asked the dumbest question in the world — like it was something I should obviously already know.
Then she shrugged.
“I probably should go calm him down. After all, I’m supposed to be his mate…I mean, wife, soon.”
My face heated as I watched her skip off in the direction Hex had gone.
It was probably because of me.