Sold To The Demon Alpha
Chapter 27

Roma’s POV: Blessing or Curse

If there was one thing that I appreciated about Scian and the entire infirmary, it was that no matter what, they worked first and Scian asked questions later.

I was counting on it as I rushed into the infirmary, covered in b***d and carrying an unconscious and wounded Aria in my arms, her body cold and pale from the rain and her pulse so slow, it made me grit my teeth to stop myself from punching something.

Scian took one look at me as some of her healers took Aria from my hands and I knew she saw the panic in my eyes.

I knew that I was doing a s**t job of hiding the terror in my eyes and I didn’t know my hands were shaking until she held my hand and shook her head.

“We will take care of her.” She whispered and all I could do was nod before I watched her disappear into the room.

I had forgotten that Raphael was behind me until I finally turned to face him and his expression had a lot of questions, some of which I had answers to and the others still unfathomable to me.

Immediately he had informed me of Aria’s disappearance, I had agreed to go with him to the forbidden forest first because the chances of her getting hurt there was higher than if she went down the woods that separated us from the town.

And we had one plan; I would handle the ferals and he would extract her. Because I knew she would be more resistant to me saving her than she would if it was him, a knowledge that made me stew in annoyance.

All had gone according to plan until I had stumbled on the ferals first and seen that she was hurt.

It was a split second and I had forgotten that letting my emotions out would only summon the beast but the last thing I remembered was shedding my pants and shirts, unable to stop my transformation.

But what had baffled me and Raphael who I had sensed in the vicinity before the turn wasn’t that I had given in to the beast. It was what had come after.

I had trusted Raphael to quickly extract her and flee before the Beast was done with the ferals and focused on the next victim to destroy.

But that was not what happened.

Because the Beast found Aria before Raphael did.

And it did….nothing.

Nothing. That, I knew because when I shifted back to human form, Aria was lying unconscious by a large tree, bearing only the injuries that had been inflicted on her when I first spotted her.

“Ask me. I can see the wheels in your head spinning, Rafa.”

He released a breath and ran a hand through his hair as he looked at me in shock.

“How was that possible? I saw the Beast head for her and I hid in a tree, horrified that I had failed to save her from the Demon. That I…”

He shook his head and looked at me like he was seeing someone new.

“Was this what happened in the West wing? When you didn’t kill her?”

The events of the West wing were blurry at best but I knew that for some reason, the Beast had retreated and I had taken control of my body.

But I was in human form then, so it could just have been that the Beast wasn’t in full control.

In wolf form, it was another story entirely, which was why I didn’t ever turn except the will was taken from me. The goddess had known it would be punishment to ignore my other form knowing that I would unleash a Demon whenever I shifted.

“I don’t know.” I responded, looking at my hands that were covered in b***d. In the b***d of the ferals that had died at my hand.

I supposed I should count it a mercy that I only had glimpses of the Beast’s memories whenever it engaged in a b***d bath.

But the dead bodies that I opened my eyes to whenever I returned to my human form, I would never forget.

“Then let me tell you what I watched. I saw her begging for mercy as you walked towards her and I knew that there was nothing I could have done. But you stopped. Right in front of her and laid on the ground. The Beast stopped and laid on the ground in front of her.”

“You had one job, Raphael. To get her out before the Beast ever even got that close. What would have happened if I had hurt her? What would you have done if I had actually hurt her?” I growled, knowing that it was not Raphael’s fault that this needed to happen but getting upset all the same.

His eyes widened and he shook his head.

“She’s human! You would have wanted me to still interfere and risk my life to save her when you were possessed by that thing? She’s not one of us. She…”

Holding him against the wall, I shook and he froze in shock.

“She is mine.” I growled and he nodded.

“You need to calm down. You must calm down, Roma. We are in the infirmary. You must not become possessed here. Not here.”

Eyes widening as I realized that I had let my rage get the best of me, I blew a breath and released him, pacing the room as I tried to reign in all of the emotions that threatened to pull me under.

Rage. Agony. Frustration. Guilt. Terror.

Because if she died, then I was not sure I would ever forgive myself.

“She’s my mate.” I whispered and sat on the bench in the hallway, holding my head in my hands.

This was definitely not a blessing. Aria Ajello was a curse. The goddess had chosen to torture me once more with this pairing.

Raphael sat beside me and when I looked up, his eyes were wide and I saw as he finally pieced things together in understanding.

“That has not been heard of in centuries. A human? How? She will not survive it if you mark her.”

“I know.”

“That was why you could not kill her.”

“What?” I raised my brows in confusion.

‘The goddess was the one who cursed you. And if she was the one responsible for this pairing, I doubt she would want you to kill your mate.” He whispered the last part and I rolled my eyes, letting out a bitter laugh.

“You speak of a being that cursed me for killing a tyrant and ridding the world of evil like she cares about what is good and right. Perhaps she made my mate human so that she would die by my hand. Have you thought of that?”

Raphael’s eyes widened and I grinned even though my heart was hollow. Even though I felt empty inside. Because despite whatever the goddess was planning, it didn’t matter if Aria died tonight.

And I couldn’t let her die, no matter what. I knew that it was not rational, that perhaps my life would be much easier if she did, but I could not lose Aria Ajello.

Not now when I had seen the life in her bright eyes.