Snake Mate

I was never meant for the rough life. I was soft, a girl who loved her comforts.

When I first crossed over into the Wildlands, my mate spoiled me rotten. He treated me like a rare, delicate treasure.

But then a new female arrived in our territory, and she was the exact opposite of me. Sienna was rugged. She hunted alongside the males, worked her fingers to the bone, and did not care if she got dirt under her nails.

Gideon looked at her with shining eyes. And just like that, my soft curves and delicate nature became a burden to him. He started complaining that I was too high maintenance, that my insistence on having the best food and the warmest pelts was too much trouble.

He invited Sienna to discipline me.

For the past three years, whenever I dared to talk back, she would punish me without mercy.

And Gideon would just stand there, throwing out his favorite threat.

"If you do not learn to behave, I will dump you in the Serpent Basin!"

He knew I was terrified of snakes.

Today, he used that threat again. The sheer weight of his cruelty finally broke me. I pushed him away, tears streaming down my face.

"Then I do not want you anymore! I will find a new mate!"

The only response I got was the vicious crack of a vine whip.

A blistering, fiery pain tore across my chest. I looked down through my blurry vision. The soft fur of my bodice had been split open, revealing my pale skin and a stark, bloody welt swelling right across my collarbone.

My skin was so sensitive that a papercut used to make me cry. This kind of agony was blinding.

"Sienna, back off!" I screamed.

But Sienna just stood there, dripping with self-righteousness. "You crossed the line, Aria. As Gideon's female, how dare you speak to him like that?"

I sniffled, my eyes red and burning, staring at her in absolute disbelief.

Gideon froze for a split second when he heard her words. Then his face hardened into a sneer.

"Look at you. Pathetic and useless. Who else in this pack would even want you if I did not claim you?"

"Sienna is right, Aria. Stop being such an ungrateful brat."

He raked his cold gaze over my body, lingering on my slender waist with nothing but impatience and disgust.

I knew it. Ever since Sienna showed up, he despised how fragile I was. He hated that I could not run through the bloody woods with him and hunt down prey. He hated that I needed my drinking water boiled, my meat thoroughly cooked, and my body wrapped in thick, warm furs to survive the winter.

I was nothing like Sienna, who paraded around the camp in a skimpy leather skirt, completely unbothered by the cold or the stares.

But I had tried. Gods knew I had tried to be like them in the beginning. It resulted in a fever that nearly killed me. Only then did Gideon realize I was physically different, and he promised to let me live at my own pace.

The memory of that broken promise made me clench my fists.

"There are hundreds of males out there. It does not have to be you. You do not even like me anymore, so let us just call it quits."

Gideons face did not soften. His scowl only deepened.

"Enough! I just wanted you to learn half of what Sienna knows so I could let you off the hook. But if you keep throwing these childish tantrums, I will stop holding back."

He was so utterly confident. He thought I was throwing a fit. He thought I could never survive without him.

After all, despite my delicate nature, I had spent the last few years being completely submissive to him. He genuinely believed I was entirely dependent on him.

He had no idea how terrified I was when I first dropped into this alien world, completely alone. He was the one who walked up to me, handed me a handful of sweet berries, and claimed me as his mate. I clung to him because he was my only anchor in a terrifying new reality.

But now? He did not love me. He only gave me pain and humiliation. It was time to cut the cord.

The icy indifference in his voice cemented my decision. I wiped my face and stood tall.

"No. I meant what I said. We are done. I am getting a new mate."

I grabbed the torn edges of my top to cover myself, bit my lip, and turned to walk out.

A heavy hand clamped down on my arm.

Gideon gripped my wrist with bone-crushing force. My skin turned violently red, sending a piercing ache up my arm. He did not care. He just glared at me with furious eyes.

"I really spoiled you to death, did I not?"

"I let Sienna train you day and night for three years so you could become a proper mate. I did all of this for your own good, and you spit in my face!"

Sienna finally chimed in, perfectly playing the victim.

"Gideon, it is my fault. I just hate seeing her disrespect you like this. Maybe I should just leave."

She sighed, looking incredibly helpless.

"I never imagined she would be this soft. We get clawed and bitten on hunts all the time, and no one cries like this. A female like her... she will never survive as a proper mate."

Gideon scoffed.

"She is just spoiled rotten. She contributes nothing to the pack, and now she thinks she can talk down to us. She needs a real lesson."

With a brutal shove, he threw me down onto the stone slab in the corner of the room.

Panic seized my chest. I thrashed wildly.

"Gideon, what are you doing! Let me go, please..."

It was useless. His grip was like iron, completely immobilizing my arms.

Seeing me pinned, Sienna stepped forward with a twisted smile.

And this time, she raised the thick vine whip, aiming right at my bare legs.

"Exactly. Your behavior is a disgrace to all females, Aria."

"I am going to teach you how to behave."

Crack.

The whip lashed down.

"That is for disrespecting your mate."

My vision went black. A sickening cocktail of numbness and burning agony ripped a loud, ugly sob from my throat.

Gideon did not stop her. Instead, he grabbed the thick hide ropes from the wall and tied my wrists and ankles to the stone bed.

He stood above me, staring down at my tear-stained face with zero emotion.

"Keep going."

Before I could even process the pain or beg for mercy, a blinding sting slapped across my mouth.

Sienna had whipped my face. She smiled down at me, her eyes dancing with vicious glee.

"Hold still, Aria."

"Gideon is your mate. He specifically asked me for a favor, and I am not going to let him down."

"That one is to teach you not to hurl insults."

The vine rose and fell again.

This time, it struck my breasts.

I screamed. The flesh went completely numb before exploding into radiating fire.

"That one is for being weak and forcing your mate to waste his time hunting down soft pelts just to clothe you."

Then came the second strike. And the third.

Across my waist. Down my thighs.

Every strike came with a self-righteous lecture.

My body convulsed violently. I looked up at Gideon through a veil of tears, my voice breaking.

"It hurts. Gideon, please, it hurts so much. Let me go..."

His eyes were dead. He did not flinch.

My heart turned to ash. It felt like a massive boulder had been dropped onto my chest, dragging me down into a dark, suffocating abyss.

Sienna raised her arm again.

The rough vine hovered over my pale, bruised thigh.

"This one is to teach you..."

A low, thunderous voice suddenly echoed through the room.

"Enough."

I lay there, soaked in cold sweat, barely able to keep my eyes open.

Gideon had finally decided to intervene.

He stared intensely at me, untying the thick ropes. His voice was a dangerous rumble.

"Do you understand your mistakes now, Aria?"

I did not answer. Swallowing the bile and the pain, I forced myself to stand. My legs shook violently as I walked silently toward the door.

As I brushed past him, his suppressed anger flared again.

"Not speaking? Do you want another round?"

I stopped. I raised my hand and slapped him directly across the face with every ounce of strength I had left.

My throat was raw and shredded from screaming.

"If you love Sienna so much, go be her mate."

"I hate you."

The slap did not even leave a mark on his jaw. But my own palm burned like it had been pierced by a thousand needles.

Still, Gideon froze. I had never raised a hand to him in my entire life.

He was so shocked he forgot to grab me. He just darkened his expression and threw one last threat at my back.

"You are making a huge mistake, Aria!"

My chest felt hollow. I shoved past the doorframe and stumbled out into the cold air, dragging my broken body back to my own little hut.

I had not slept there since Gideon brought Sienna in to break me.

Thank the gods, my things were still there.

I dug through a dusty pile in the corner and pulled out a small wooden carving of a coiled snake.

It was given to me by a boy from the Viper Scale Clan during my first few weeks in this world.

He had shadowed me for days. No matter where I went, he was there, completely ignoring Gideons lethal glares.

But I was terrified of snakes. The moment I looked into his vertical, golden irises, I would start hyperventilating. I could not even bear to stand near him.

When he realized my fear was genuine, his eyes lost their light. He stopped following me after that.

But before he vanished, he pressed this wooden carving into my hand.

He told me that if I ever needed a way out, all I had to do was snap the wood in half. He would find me within three days.

I took it in a daze back then and hid it from Gideon.

I never thought the day would actually come where I would need it.

Compared to the slithering monsters I used to fear, looking at Gideons face was infinitely worse.

I traced the grooves of the wooden snake with my thumb. Then, without a second thought, I snapped it in two.

Staring at the broken pieces, a wave of profound relief washed over me. I started gathering whatever I could carry.

It was not much.

A few worn-out tunics. Some cheap bone trinkets.

Ever since Sienna showed up, Gideon had stopped bringing me gifts. Even the fresh kills and the sweet berries he used to gather just for me were now handed directly to her.

He was acting more like her mate than mine.

But it did not matter now. Three days. I just had to survive three more days.

Goodbye, Gideon.

Actually, no. See you never.

I was just letting out a shaky breath when Sienna strolled through my door.

She looked at my bruised, pathetic state, a nasty smirk playing on her lips.

And then, she said something that made my blood run cold.

"For a girl from Earth, you are incredibly useless."

I stared at her, deadpan, and kept my mouth shut.

I had suspected she was a modern girl from the moment she arrived in the Wildlands. I just did not expect her to waltz in and confess it to my face.

Sienna crossed her arms, her eyes dripping with contempt.

"Gideon is the strongest Alpha in the pack. You do not deserve him."

"I only agreed to train you because we came from the same world. I was doing you a favor. Do not be an ungrateful bitch."

I looked at her calmly.

"If you want him, take him. I do not want the garbage you're fighting over."

The second the words left my mouth, the wooden door slammed open.

Gideon stood in the frame, his face looking like a thundercloud.

Sienna did not miss a beat. Her arrogant smirk vanished, instantly replaced by her usual easygoing, 'one-of-the-boys' persona. She turned to Gideon, sighing heavily.

"I brought her some healing herbs because I was worried she was upset. I had no idea she hated me this much."

She spun a perfect web of victimhood, completely erasing the fact that she had just cornered me.

I did not know how much Gideon had heard, and I did not care. I went back to packing my meager belongings.

Gideon stormed in, grabbed my sore wrist, and barked a command.

"Apologize to Sienna."

His grip sent fresh waves of agony radiating through my battered skin.

This time, I did not cry. I did not beg. I just looked at his chest and asked quietly.

"Why should I?"

Gideons jaw clenched.

"She spent three years trying to help you. She put her heart and soul into training you, and you treat her like dirt. Apologize."

"Do not make me ask twice."

A broken laugh escaped my lips.

He actually believed it. He genuinely believed that the beatings, the starvation, and the constant humiliation of the past three years were a blessing.

Seeing me laugh instead of obeying made his anger boil over. He squeezed my wrist tighter, threatening to snap the bone.

The pain was excruciating.

I knew his game. He was trying to physically force me into submission.

Sienna stood safely behind his broad shoulders, flashing me a triumphant grin.

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, refusing to make a single sound.

Gideon was about to shout again when something on the dusty wooden table caught his eye. He let go of me instantly.

He walked over and picked up the two halves of the wooden snake. When he turned back to me, his eyes were lethal.

"What is this?"

I smiled faintly.

"Isn't it obvious? It is my ticket out of here. My invitation to the Serpent Basin."

Gideons face contorted. He stared at the carving, then at me.

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the hut before he let out a dark sneer. He dropped the wood onto the dirt floor and crushed it into splinters beneath his heavy boot.

Then, he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out the door.

"Sienna was right! I went too easy on you. Three years of training and you are still a worthless brat!"

"You want to go to the snakes? Fine! Let me help you!"

He hauled me up the rocky path toward the dark caves at the back of the mountain and violently shoved me inside.

"This cavern is a nesting ground for the serpents. If you can survive in here for three days, I will walk you to their territory myself!"

I stared at him in absolute horror. I never thought he could be this monstrous.

The heavy wooden gates slammed shut. The lock clicked.

From the pitch-black depths of the cavern came the wet, sickening sound of scales sliding against stone. Then came the hissing.

The sounds multiplied, drawing closer.

My whole body began to shake violently. Terror hijacked my brain. I threw myself against the wooden bars, sobbing hysterically as I begged the man standing outside.

"Please, let me out!"

"You know I am terrified of them! Gideon, please, please let me out!"

My screams bounced off the cave walls. I was losing my mind, completely paralyzed by the primal fear gripping my chest.

Gideon just stood there in the daylight, his arms crossed, his lips curled in a mocking sneer.

"I thought you wanted to join them? If you cannot even handle a few garden snakes, how do you expect to survive there?"

A piercing scream ripped from my throat as something cold and muscular slithered over my bare ankle. Then another wrapped around my thigh, making its way up toward my waist.

"No! Gideon, please do not do this to me!"

I shrieked like a madwoman.

Sharp fangs sank into my calf.

The fiery venom mixed with the absolute terror, breaking my mind into pieces.

Gideon turned his back and walked away. No matter how much I screamed, he never once looked back.

He kept his word. He locked me in that nightmare for three entire days.

On the first day, he came to check on me. I was curled in a fetal position on the damp stone, half-dead from the venom and shock. He mocked me through the bars.

"Look at you. You really thought they would take you? They would not even let a pathetic thing like you cross their borders."

On the second day, he stood outside the gate, his voice colder than winter ice.

"If you admit you were wrong and promise to apologize to Sienna, I will let you out early."

I did not even look at him. I just pulled my knees tighter against my chest, shivering uncontrollably.

If my counting was right, tomorrow was the third day.

The next morning, before Gideon arrived, a familiar figure materialized in the dim light.

Vertical, golden irises.

He dropped to his knees and pulled my bruised, freezing body into a desperate embrace. His voice shook with heartbreak.

"I am so sorry. I am late. Are you ready to leave with me?"

I blinked through my swollen eyelids and smiled.

"Take me away."

When Gideon finally unlocked the cavern later that day, all he found was empty space.

And lying in the dirt, abandoned like trash, was the blood-stained wolf-tooth necklace he had given me the day we mated.