CHAPTER 230: LICK IT OFF

"Once again, from the top! Say it like you mean it!"

Kade stood tall, arms crossed on his chest, tapping his foot impatiently, and staring down at Jared like a strict teacher, forcing his pupil to repeat the material again and again, because they couldn’t get it right. For someone who had initially stopped Felix from asking to try it again, he surely was oddly dedicated to trying it over and over again now!

Well, of course, there was a difference between doing it back in the conference room, and when they were alone, just the three of them... But even in that conference room, the only other people present were his parents and one elder who knew about Felix’s situation. Did that mean that Kade wanted to keep the fact that the bond didn’t break even from his parents? It would appear so. Felix didn’t ask, though, as he didn’t want to meddle in Kade’s family affairs too much.

He just stood next to Kade, listening to Jared spit out the words in between surges of the black sludge, and repeating, "I accept your rejection," at the appropriate times. Although, to be honest, he was starting to get tired of it... Although he desperately wanted to end that damned fated mate bond, it clearly wasn’t working... And if it hadn’t worked the first, second, or twenty-second time, then it was unlikely to work on the fifty-second, when Jared was on the verge of fainting, and his words were hardly comprehensible...

The numbers were, of course, just a general estimation. Felix had stopped counting at the twenty-seventh attempt, as he simply couldn’t be bothered. He was about to open up his mouth to say something to Kade, but just then, Jared weakly lifted his hand.

"Dri... drink... fi...rst... Ple... plea... se..." he muttered.

What he meant was the antidote. Until now, Kade had only been waving it in front of his eyes, but without giving Jared a single drop. It was supposed to be a reward, and the condition to receive it was breaking the bond.

The condition that, despite the numerous attempts, Jared still failed to complete.

Kade scoffed, waving his hand with the bottle again, causing the liquid to slosh inside. "Oh? You want it?" he asked, giving the other Alpha a look filled with mockery. "And why should I give it to you?"

"I... I can...t..."

Translation: I can’t speak.

And he really couldn’t. From the look on his face, it was obvious that Jared was barely holding on. He wasn’t a good enough actor to pull something like that off, and he wouldn’t have done it regardless - even if that would get him the antidote, his pride would be hurt. And between the two, Jared was the type to value his pride more.

A bit too much, in fact, as far as Felix was concerned.

Kade glanced at Felix, unsure what to do. He actually wasn’t planning to give Jared any more of the antidote at all, since the negotiations were all done and over with, and the man was only ’resting’ a bit before leaving... And he didn’t even have to drive away on his own, since Einar’s assistant would take him away in the van, to where Jared’s car was parked. Based on what Kade had heard from Felix, the effects of the curse would disappear once Jared was far enough away from Felix, with or without the antidote. So, there was no need to spare the Alpha from that little bit of suffering.

But now, Kade wasn’t so sure. The bond still wasn’t broken, but Jared could no longer speak from throwing up so much... And as pointless as forcing him to repeat the same phrase over and over was, once he had left the Bloodmoon Pack, breaking the bond would have to wait. After all, he might have told Felix that he was planning to kill Jared - and it was the truth, of course - but to eliminate a leader of the pack discreetly, in Jared’s own territory, without leaving any evidence that might trace back to the Bloodmoon Pack, would be difficult. Not impossible, but it would require a lot of careful planning. The easiest and fastest way would be to use the spy they had in the Moonhill Pack, but there was no way that his father would agree to that. Good spies took too much time and effort to plant to waste them like that.

This is why he had been insisting on forcing Jared to reject Felix over and over again. He didn’t want his future cute little mate to stay connected to that Alpha in any way, shape, or form, as he planned Jared’s demise...

All those thoughts passed through his head, as he stared at the seemingly emotionless Omega next to him, while Jared was throwing up black sludge onto the massive bowl that was almost overflowing right in front of them. He was just about to make his decision, and feed the cursed Alpha another sip of the antidote...

When Felix intervened. He reached out, and before Kade could do anything, he snatched the glass bottle from his hand, uncorked it again... And poured it down on the floor, among the splashes of the thick, black, liquid that spilled out, and the traces of mud they had brought from the outside.

"You want to drink the antidote?" he asked coldly. "Alright. There you go. Lick it off, if you want!"

Both Kade and Jared stared at him with wide eyes, as the last few remaining droplets slowly dripped from the mouth of the bottle, falling down to merge with the sad, dirty puddle on the ground. Not even a little bit of the antidote remained...

Then, Kade burst out laughing.

Yes, he had been planning to give some of the antidote to Jared... But he liked this solution even more! As expected of his future cute little mate!

"Didn’t you hear him?" he asked, turning back to Jared. "Drink it, if you want!"

...Of course, Jared didn’t.