The Beast's Possession
60: Willing to negotiate.

**Bane pov**

I couldn't think straight anymore. Whatever the hell was it that possessed me, I had to get rid of it, and fast.

Her scent followed me everywhere I went. Ever since I laid my eyes on reject, I knew there had to be something special about her.

It wasn't only the fact that she was the only woman a pack held such a tight grip on. She was sheltered from everything, hidden from the eyes of the public. But for what?

To top off the questions, there still was the issue with her scent. It was sweet, sickeningly so, but it kept lingering around like the most wonderful aroma in this universe.

She smelled like candies and cakes at birthday parties. The scent that invited everyone to enjoy themselves a little more before they were forced to return to their depressing lives.

Shaking the thoughts off, I headed inside the kitchen. The cooks were washing the pots and two steaming hot dishes were already on the kitchen counter, waiting for me. "Thank you," I said, reaching my hand to grab one of the plates and the utensils.

"Aren't you going to eat, Bane? I made the plate you're holding with you in mind," Every, the new girl asked.

I eyed her with suspicion. Ever since she arrived, she had acted a little too comfortable. It wasn't just the occasional glances or her stupid need to address me by my name, but also all those times she went out of her way to touch me. Seeing how we weren't alone and I didn't want to rip her a new one in front of all these people, and most importantly - Aife's food was cooling off, I groaned and pinned her down with my gaze.

"My Luna is waiting for me and I never said I was hungry. The food is for her, not me,” I announced sternly, emphasizing the word Luna.

Every rolled her eyes and muttered, "whatever, she won't last."

I wasn't known as someone who could take disrespect and I wasn't planning to change it either. Slowly, I set the plate down and walked towards her.

A bright smile appeared on her lips as Every ran a hand through her hair, eagerly waiting for me to get closer.

This woman had no survival instincts. A predator neared her and she acted excited.

My hand shot out and wrapped around her throat before I could register it. Her back hit the wall and a pained whimper left her soon after.

Adding pressure on her throat, I leaned a little closer and growled, "who isn't going to last now, hmm? You seem to have a lot of things to say about your Luna, why don't you raise your voice and say everything to my face? Why keep hiding behind whispers?"

I knew my voice was growing louder and the hold around her throat became tighter but I didn't care. Not when she was directly threatening the woman in my bed.

Maybe I did care too much for someone who was planning to sell her off to someone else, but it wasn't like I couldn't enjoy the time we still had together. More or less.

"Alpha," someone gasped behind me, but I paid no attention to it.

What I did pay attention to was how Every's face turned red, then purple and then, it had a nice blue tint to her skin. I wondered how long she would survive if I kept adding the pressure.

"I- I," she tried to speak, but I shut off all of her efforts by simply adding more pressure.

"What is it? Cat got your tongue? Just a moment ago, you were all for disrespecting your superiors and vomiting words. What happened, Every?" I laughed in her face.

Mutters filled the kitchen, I knew more people had joined the staff, but they knew better than to intervene. They knew it was best to stay away from me when I was like this. And then, I heard her voice.

"Bane!" She gasped.

I knew I would see the disappointment in her eyes, so I didn't bother to look at her. She knew I was a monster, she had seen the things I was capable of doing, so why the hell did she sound so surprised? The next moment, everything happened too fast. Someone grabbed my upper arm and tried to pull me away from Every. They succeeded, in a way.

I released my hold on her throat and let her collapse on the floor and turned around as I backhanded whoever was trying to get me off that woman.

You could hear a pin drop as I slowly turned around to see who it was. My own eyes widened in disbelief as I looked at Aife, laying on the floor.

Tears filled her eyes as she held her hand over her cheek. As soon as people started to approach her and ask if she was okay, I growled at them. I needed everyone to stay the fuck away from her.

However, when I took a step towards her, my heart in my throat, urging me to apologize, she started crawling away from me, shaking her head vigorously. Shock was written all over her face, but the fear I could see in her eyes... The fear of me... It didn't amuse me.

In fact, she was the only bloody person I didn't want to fear me. She was the only one who shouldn't because I wouldn't intentionally hurt her.

Or so I thought... Hadn't that been all what I had done ever since we met? Hurt her.

I tried to approach her again, tossing all caution aside, but the same thing happened. As I got closer, she did everything to increase the distance.

And when she dropped her hand from her cheek, I couldn't believe how much damage I had done with one slap. Anyone could tell my damn ring size by just looking at the imprint on her cheek.

Worst of all, it wasn't just red, I could already see a bruise forming.

That was when it hit me. I didn't mean to, but I still hurt her. For as long as I stayed around, one way or another, I would hurt her.

This had to end. The odd obsession with her presence wasn't something I asked for, so I had the right to rid myself of it. For good.

I didn't say anything as I left the kitchen and walked straight to my office. I wanted to lock the door, but knowing how my pack was gossiping, Zion had to be on his way to me already.

And he was. I barely stepped inside the office when the door swung open and his fist connected with my jaw. I deserved it.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Go back to her and fucking apologise!" He spat through gritted teeth.

"No," I said and let my gaze fall to the floor. "Get a hold of Killian and tell him we need to arrange a meeting. Tell him I have his girl and I'm willing to negotiate the exchange. Give him five days to decide how he wants this to happen. And in the meantime, move reject to the staff room, whichever is empty, just move her there. Until she's gone, your only responsibility is to keep her away from me. You can leave."