Rejected Queen by Meg Xuemei X.

CHAPTER 20

Loki

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d missed her terribly, even though another part of me couldn’t stand to see the woman who had toyed with my heart and betrayed me mercilessly.

My wolf, on the other hand, had no qualms or didn’t understand the concept of treachery, so I had to constantly fend off his nagging and bellowing when I refused to go to Tessa and make up with her. But at least the beast understood that one more bout like we’d had last time and we’d both go insane and lose ourselves, and it wouldn’t do anyone any good.

He was now certain that I’d dig my heels in when I thought I was in the right. I also learned the hard way that the wolf couldn’t be tamed. So, we’d reached a temporary truce to avoid tearing each other apart.

Quickly, the asshole adapted and changed his strategy to slowly torture me or goad me, even in my sleep. He was the most relentless, wildest, and nastiest creature I’d met, and he was too powerful and cunning for me to underestimate him again.

I’d tried damn hard to expel Tessa from my mind, but when my spies hadn’t spotted Tessa for a day and a half, I grew anxious even without the beast’s harassment.

Snowflake wouldn’t tell me anything when I caught her. She hissed and called me dick while running away from me. That damn cat had switched her loyalty for a hat, a scarf, and the fairytale of horror porn. I yelled after her, mercilessly pointing out that the hat looked ridiculous on her.

To draw Tessa out, I had Esme make it mandatory for all of the contestants to have lunch in Hell’s Academy. No matter how heartless the ice queen was, it wasn’t in me to see her go hungry. Both the male and the wolf in me couldn’t fight our instinct to feed her.

And then I’d arranged to have Tessa brought to my nightclub. I wanted to see her and how she’d react to me after our breakup. I changed the club’s name to Bad Bunny. The joke was on her.

I lounged in the sector on the second floor where I could see almost every corner, waiting impatiently for her arrival. I allowed the women to drape all over me or even rub against me, as I wanted to see the betrayer’s reaction.

These women’s touches did nothing for me. And now I had to suffer the irritation of enduring them, thanks to the ice queen.

She’d ruined me worse than I thought. No woman could arouse me anymore after I’d had a taste of her. One good thing was that she didn’t know that, and I’d never tell her.

How is that a good thing? my wolf scolded. We don’t hide feelings from our own mate. It’s so stupid.

Shut up, I yelled at him. I don’t need your negativity.

I wouldn’t give the coldhearted first-class assassin any more chances to wrap me around her little pinkie. I’d seen how Mari executed her power over the once ruthless and brutal demigods. Hell would freeze before I let that happen to me as well.

Hell did freeze just a couple of days ago, my beast snickered. My mate challenged your power.

I clenched my teeth. I did not need him to keep reminding me of how Tessa made it snow in Hell, which was the biggest insult to me in Hell’s history.

Shush, the fucking wolf warned me and perked up.

Tessa Morrigan stepped in, wearing a fabulous dress that exposed her long, toned legs. And that dress wouldn’t hinder her if she got into a fight. She carried a few weapons as well.

She was a killer through and through, I thought bitterly. She came to my nightclub, expecting a battle.

Anger and longing blended and coursed through my bloodstream like poison. But my pining for the betrayer grew stronger, and I had to fight the fucking urge to rush to her, scoop her up, and trap her in my arms forever.

I growled and clenched my teeth to execute my will to glue my ass to the couch while battering down my beast’s demand to bring Tessa here and let her sit on my lap. He wanted me to feed her the refreshments on the table but advised against the booze.

My gaze roved over her every inch, lust roaring in my veins. The beast peeked out eagerly, drooling pathetically.

The women around me came alive like sharks, noticing the instant change in me and the disappearance of my boredom. I brushed them away, as I wanted to fix my sole attention on Tessa.

The Bunny of teeth and claws had changed. She was harder and colder than before, more closely fitting the definition of the grace of ice and steel.

Go to her and make amends, my wolf urged.

What fucking amends? I hissed as he got on my nerves again. I never wronged her. It’s the fucking other way around!

Grow up, moron, the beast growled back.

If I could stab him, I’d have done it.

Have some pride. I aimed to inspire him. If you can’t find any, borrow some from me.

He ignored me, as he was busy trying to single out her scent from hundreds of creatures in the overcrowded club. When he did it, her feminine scent mixing with the aroma of frost and blossoms in the spring wafted toward me. I inhaled, as her scent was catnip to me, just as it was to the beast.

Ice to my inferno.

My cock grew harder than rock.

Some woman gasped in glee. Somehow she’d fought off others and found an opening to climb onto my lap while I fixed on Tessa in bitter fascination. The blonde now took credit for my arousal and ground into my erection for all she was worth.

I was about to shove her off, but then I changed my mind. I wanted Tessa to see this. I wanted to see how she felt about this. I was her mark, wasn’t I?

The ice queen assessed her surroundings with a surgical detachment and lethal stillness no others possessed, which always set her apart on the battlefield. Then she waded through the crowd, never letting any touch her.

In the middle of it, she froze, raised her head, and met my gaze.

The iciness in her light blue eyes sent a chill up my spine, even though I was the King of the Underworld. My heart sank instantly despite my armor against her. She’d once been soft and warm toward me. She had almost surrendered herself to me when I brought her to the edge with an orgasm.  

The female standing not far from me now was no longer my Bunny but a killer who had nothing to lose.

What did you expect, you motherfucker? The beast growled. You’re good at nothing but ruining everything. She now looks at us as if we were already dead to her. Toss that bimbo off your lap, or I will.

Fur appeared on the back of my hand. The beast was true to his threat.

I pushed the blonde off me, not because of the beast’s warning, but because I felt like somehow I was doing something wrong.

She’s a killer. She came to kill us. Get that into your thick head. I snarled back. For once, stop thinking with your short dick.

The beast and I had been at odds with each other ever since I’d threatened to kill Tessa. But the truth was, no matter what kind of bastard I was and how enraged I was, I wouldn’t kill her when I saw her.

We share the same short dick, the beast snorted. And it’s cruel to mock those who have tiny dicks, Demon King.

I’m done talking to you, I told him. I didn’t need his constant criticism.

The fucker was starting to sound like Lucifer.

Don’t ever confuse me with your father, he hissed coldly. If you’d listened to me and let go of your ego and grudge, you’d have our mate wrapping her soft, pink mouth around our cock right now.

I ignored him, and he did the same while peeking at Tessa through my eyes and trying to alter my expression to attract her. He’d been practicing that in order to introduce himself to her.

But the grin he offered her to show his affection and friendliness backfired. She glared at me, thinking I was taunting her by parading “my women” in front of her. Yeah, I had my own rage too, no matter how much I still wanted her. If I kept thinking with my dick like the dumb wolf, she’d soon slice my head off my neck.

Tessa found a corner seat at the less crowded bar, avoiding my line of sight. My wolf growled in displeasure and urged me to join her at the bar.

Things got heated from there.

My every primal instinct screamed for me to drop everything and kill every single one of the wastes of space who challenged her, but I chose a more intelligent and detached approach as the King of the Underworld, despite my wolf howling inside me.

The dukes banished the women from our circle and leaned to whisper to me.

“They’re the mercenaries who tried to kill Lady Tessa in the second trial,” Pythius said. “We hunted down most of them. The rest are here now.”

“Should we take this chance and take them all out, my king?” Leviathan asked.

Asmodeus cracked his knuckles, itching for a fight.

“Let them have fun for a little while,” I said, staring down at those jackals. “But make sure none of them leaves the building alive by the end of the day.”

“What if she can’t handle them?” Asmodeus coughed out his concern.

“Then she has no business fighting to be Queen of the Underworld,” I said coldly while cursing myself for being a bastard.

Despite the storm raging inside me, I forced myself to make a tough decision as a king. And why should I give her an easy time when she came straight to my own realm to murder me? Where was the respect?

Besides, she was doing a fantastic job of fending off the mercenaries—her every move was precise, fast, and deadly. No wonder Lucifer hired her.

Yet, by sheer will and by reminding myself that she was still working with my father to take my head, I was able to keep my ass where it was.

Until a new power popped up on the radar and revealed himself in my realm.

That being carried death power, almost like Demigod Héctor’s or mine, but it was alien.

My wolf’s hackles rose. He wanted to take down the invader, regarding him as a threat, as did I.

I rose from my seat, but then stopped cold when that being talked to Tessa in a tongue I did not understand.

And she answered in the same tongue.

They knew each other. Tessa came to slay me. Was this being her partner in crime, or a former lover? Jealousy and wrath pounded in me, but I held myself back with the steely will of the King of the Underworld.

I must find out their dark scheme and dirty deal first before I struck. I hadn’t risen to where I was today by being driven by mere passion, anger, or lust. I ordered my wolf to step down, and this time, he half listened as he studied our opponent with predatory intensity. My beast was as much a killer as I. Violence sparked at our fingertips, ready to release.

I didn’t like how the being talked to Tessa, and I didn’t like her talking to any man. She and I were no longer together, yet my possessiveness didn’t lessen one ion.

Then, suddenly, Tessa’s exchange of words with that being was clear to my ears. It was like the translation just switched on. My wolf smirked smugly to show me how useful he was. He could understand their language, and now I did too.

But how could my beast—

“If you lose, Morrigan, you’ll sleep with me,” the being offered Tessa.

That completely knocked the smirk from my beast’s face, and twin hellfires swirled in my eyes. Just when I was about to explode into action, Tessa and the prick crashed into each other.

Their duel was brief yet spectacular, and I learned that the being was called Azrael, the angel of death. The fucker came to encroach on my territory.

Tessa impressed the hell out of him, and he offered to buy her drinks. He’d try to take her home. I sneered. He’d die here tonight.

Their drinks were interrupted when the reinforcement mercenaries arrived to take down Tessa. It was like everyone wanted to kill her. I could not hold back anymore, my blood boiling in my veins as my rage hit the limit.

I erupted into violence. My beast unleashed his black energy blast, and I sent my hellfire to burn everyone who tried to hurt Tessa. The angel survived, shielding himself.

When he grinned at Tessa and asked her to spend a night with him, both my wolf and I lost our shit. I leapt from the second floor and dropped beside them, my fist ramming into his fucking face.