Reborn As Cursed Alpha's Mate-Chapter 18: Barbarian Or A Bastard?

Cassandra’s eyes opened suddenly because of the bumps her body experienced. For a second, she was lost, for her surroundings were so unfamiliar. Her head still hurt so this time she gradually sat up from among the silken sheets she had been lying in.

It was a carriage with no seats, the floor had been cushioned with a feathery mattress and silks to make it more comfortable. The low light filtered through the carriage’s tinted window.

The galloping of the horses outside was loud and Cassandra panicked. She was alone, there was no female escort with her.

Staring down at herself, she saw that her clothes had been changed; she was clad in a thin cotton dress which wasn’t too fancy but rather light and airy. There was no corset, the reason she could easily breathe. Her lungs seemed to be able to function at their full capacity but that was the only relief, she needed to know where she was being taken.

Frantically she banged with her fist at the side of the carriage and shouted.

"Stop! Where are you taking me?"

Her hand ached from the force she applied but she didn’t pause in her action. The neighing of the steeds was followed by murmurs and the carriage finally came to a halt.

Cassandra clutched the silken sheets tighter, her knuckles turned snow white. The door of the carriage was pushed open and the hulking frame of Siroos peeked inside like a peeping Tom.

Seeing her frightened out of her wits, he let out a low sigh and his bare shoulders hunched low. He swiftly climbed inside, his movements so agile like a panther’s.

He closed the door behind him and locked it from inside. Tapping it he ordered.

"Let’s go." The carriage resumed its movements. The hooves thundered on the ground as the convoy began to move again.

Siroos turned his head to face a cowering Cassandra.

"How are you feeling?" He queried with worry.

Staying at a distance from her so his long legs wouldn’t touch her and he wouldn’t freak her out any further. But he couldn’t help but inhale that alluring scent of hers that hung like warm notes in this carriage and drew him in like a magnet to the iron.

Her pupils had enlarged in fear, and her heart was galloping in her chest, just like the horses outside; he could clearly hear it.

"Where am I?" Her eyes darted from him to outside, trying to get a hold of her surroundings.

"En route to your new home, Dusartine," Siroos answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Turning her into a concoction of anger, regrets and vulnerability, all swirling inside her at the same time, rendering her to speak in angry bursts.

"You took me away while I was unconscious. You didn’t have the decency to let me say goodbye."

Siroos visibly relaxed, letting his ripped body slide down and settle comfortably against the velvet cushions. His corded arms went behind his head, and the biceps in his arms flexed as he leaned on his intertwined hands against the carriage’s interior.

"To whom, exactly? Your characterless father or psychotic elder sister who wanted you dead or maybe that spineless wimp you called fiancé. The only person who cared for you was Lotus and she agreed with my decision to take you away. That shadow controlling freak was planning to kill you in your sleep. Lotus and I had to act," he told her in his calm and composed voice.

Cassandra bristled at his words. Why did he feel the need to mock her?

"They are still my family, I had a right to at least get some closure. Going with someone like you means I will never get to see them again, especially Lotus."

The mere thought pained her already wounded heart. One after the other people were deciding her fate without her having any say. Now she was at the mercy of a cruel man who claimed her as his, forcing her to be his mate. She could only wonder what he would do to her when she would be all alone with him, away from her family. At least in her father’s kingdom, she was protected or she believed.

"Someone like me?" He raised a brow at her but he clearly wasn’t ready for the words she threw at him next.

"Just remember if you force yourself on me, I will fight back with everything I have," she fumed, her eyes holding fears and regrets he knew would take a long time to assuage.

The silence followed her words, it painfully stretched for a few seconds, filled with clamouring of the horses and dragging of the cart along the dirt road.

"Such a high opinion you hold off me." Hurt stung his voice, the pain prickled his heart as his gaze roamed her face. The bond squirmed and tightened his chest, she didn’t feel the fraction of what he did towards her, he assumed. freewebnøvel.coɱ

"What else am I to think of a person who doesn’t understand consent? You haven’t given me a reason to believe otherwise."

Seriousness in his gaze amplified at her words, and a scoff fell through his partially parted lips. He straightened up, and the relaxed posture disappeared. His back stiffened.

"You know nothing, we haven’t even begun and you have formed an opinion. Rest assured princess, I might be a barbarian but I am far from being a bastard."

The hurt crawled its way out and stood like an ugly truth between them, wedging itself, creating a rift.

His large hand reached out and tapped the carriage door in loud and quick succession.

The carriage halted, instantly.

"We will be stopping for dinner shortly, you must be hungry. There is water skin under your pillow, quench your thirst. My lands are hot, keep hydrated."

Without a further glance in her direction, he threw the door open and exited, leaving her pondering and her heart hammering in her chest.

The dreams were so real and the man she usually saw in them had been personified. But why did he seem so different from the versions her reveries projected?

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