Addicted To Her The Alpha'S Irresistible Contract Mate novel Chapter 23

Naomi’s pov:

I shoved Elias away with both hands, my palms slamming into his chest like hitting a brick wall. He staggered back a step, surprise flickering in those golden eyes before the storm rolled in. My heart raced, the mate bond twisting like a knife in my gut, but I couldn’t give in.

“I don’t want you,” I spat, the words tasting like ash. My voice cracked, but I held his gaze, refusing to back down.

He froze, then laughed, a dark and bitter sound that sent chills down my spine. “You don’t want me? Bullshit, Naomi. The bond screams otherwise.”

He paced like a caged wolf, muscles coiling under his shirt, fists clenched. “Look at you -coming home reeking of sweat and cheap cologne, bruises on your skin from those animals at the bar. You’re working in a pit like a common whore, shaking your ass for tips, letting alphas paw at you like you’re nothing but a toy. Why? Why expose yourself to that filth when I can give you everything?”

His voice rose, echoing off the walls. “Quit that degrading job tomorrow. Stop insulting yourself like that. At least I keep you safe in my house.”

I trembled, the assault from earlier still fresh, the alpha’s meaty hands dragging me toward the alley, his hot breath on my neck before Elias had burst in like vengeance incarnate. My lip throbbed where it’d split, and tears burned my eyes, but I wouldn’t let him win.

“Safe? You mean confined like a trophy on your shelf? A pretty pet to parade and fuck whenever you please?” I shot back, voice shaking with defiance, “No, Elias. I won’t be your prisoner.”

He stepped closer, towering over me, his breath hot on my face. “Prisoner? Is that what you call a life of luxury? Better than whoring yourself out in that sleazy bar, risking your life every shift for what, a few bucks and a false sense of freedom?”

Tears spilled over now, hot tracks down my checks. I wiped them angrily, but more came. “You think I like it? The humiliation burns me alive–the constant propositions, the groping hands, the way they undress me with their eyes and call me ‘sweetheart‘ like I’m theirs for the taking. I hate smiling through it, pretending it doesn’t make my

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23 Chapter 23 Why reject your own mate?

skin crawl. I hate coming home feeling dirty, used up.”

My voice broke into a sob. “But I’d rather endure a thousand nights of that hell than become your mindless sex slave. Trapped in your mansion, no job, no friends, no choices–just waiting for you to rut me into oblivion, losing myself until I’m nothing but Elias’s mate. No autonomy, no soul left.”

He grabbed my arms, not hard enough to bruise, but firm, pulling me against him. His eyes blazed with a mix of rage and desperation. “You’d choose strangers over me? Let them touch what’s mine, when I could protect you?”

I yanked free, chest heaving. “Because with them, it’s just a job. With you, it’s forever. And I won’t lose myself to that.”

Silence hung heavy, our breaths mingling. For a moment, pain flashed in his eyes–the old wounds from my father’s betrayal, the blood of his parents on our family’s hands. But he masked it quickly, jaw set. “Then keep running, little wolf. But don’t cry when the world breaks you–and I’m the one picking up the pieces.”

I turned away, hugging myself, the bond aching like a fresh wound. How much longer could we keep tearing each other apart?

Elias’s pov:

I watched the tears carve paths down Naomi’s cheeks, each one a dagger twisting in my chest. The mate bond hummed like a live wire, pulling me toward her–my little wolf, bruised and defiant, her scent laced with fear and exhaustion from that godforsaken bar.

For a heartbeat, the rage ebbed. She looked so fragile, huddled there in that skimpy uniform, her green eyes wide with pain. I wanted to gather her up, wipe away the salt tracks, murmur promises into her hair until she melted against me. Comfort her. Make her forget every leer, every grope, every bastard who’d ever dared touch what was

mine.

But then the memories crashed in like a tidal wave. My parents‘ estate, the marble floors slick with blood, their bodies twisted and lifeless under the chandelier. Throats ripped out, eyes staring blankly at the family crest they’d died defending.

And it was all because of her father. Now my hatred wasn’t just because she ran away from me for three years or that she got herself another Alpha bastard but why she ran

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23 Chapter 23 Why reject your own mate?

away. The mere reason for her escaping. It was because she already knew what her father did and she eloped with him just to save him.

The bond snarled now, twisting protection into something darker. How could I trust her? How could I let her keep risking herself when her bloodline had already destroyed

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