My whole body shook with pleasure, my eyes rolling back in my head. I could feel his canines inside of me, sliding deeper and deeper into my flesh and claiming me as his mate. My wolf let out a lascivious purr, and I dug my fingers into his shoulder.

He marked me. My mate just marked me.

Though my wolf loved every single second of it, I didn't. Mars wasn't the one to mark me like he wanted to, like he had told me the other night. Ares marked me out of pure possessiveness and jealousy. Taking everything away from Mars.

I pushed my hands into his chest, but my fingers curled into his muscles instead of pushing him away from me. He relaxed under our touch, his whole body slouching. A satisfied moan escaped through his mouth, his breath warming my neck.

When he pulled his teeth out of me, he was back as Mars. Not Angry Ares. Not that terrifying god of war. Just plain old Mars. My Mars.

He gazed longingly at me, then at my neck, then his eyes widened. "Oh, my Goddess." He grasped my face gently, staring at my mark as if he had no recollection of actually doing it. "You're marked. I... Ares marked you."

Just like that, Ares was gone. But I knew that one wrong move and Ares would appear again and this time--since I was his--he'd think that he could do anything for me to submit to him.

Mar's lips trembled, and I swore that if he wasn't holding my face, he would've fallen to the ground. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said as if he was lost for words. He searched my face for something, and I tried to hold back the tears.

Tears that Ares took my moment from me. Tears that Ares was going to kill me.

Elijah grunted and turned onto his side on the cold cement. Mars's eyes flashed gold. "I'm so s-s--" He grasped my face harder, shaking his head and trying to stay in control of Ares. "I didn't me-mea-mean to," he stuttered.

Though he had just marked me, my heart hurt for him. Mars was fighting that innate evil inside of him. He was fighting a demon that he would lose against time and time again. He was fighting Ares: the man who never apologized, the man who didn't give in until he had finished the job.

He shook his head again, his eyes glowing gold for a long time, then squeezed his eyes closed. "I-I--" he said. His eyes snapped open. That lovely, luscious brown had turned into a burning gold.

Mars was gone.

My mark tingled and my wolf purred at the mere sight of Ares.

"We're not sorry," Ares said, stepping closer to me. I stepped back, heart pounding wildly again. "We should complete our bond, thrust you against the wall in front of Elijah, take you so you know never to think of another man again." Elijah grunted again, and Ares turned his head to him. "But I haven't been this close to the stone ever, and I'm going to find it."

Ares stormed back to Elijah, snatching him by the neck, his claws sinking into his flesh. I pressed my lips together. No. No, he wasn't going to kill him.

"Stop, Ares," I grabbed his bicep, trying to pull him away from Elijah.

"Aurora, stop," Elijah said, voice barely audible. Brows furrowed together, eyes barely open, Elijah begged me to leave. "Go before you watch your mate kill me and see the side of him that you don't ever want to see."

My fingers were shaking, trembling. All of my fears, all of my insecurities boiled down to this moment, and I didn't even know if I was strong enough to walk out of this cell and never turn back.

Ares's mark was burning my skin, searing it, connecting me to him. And I hated it. I wished that he had never done it because now... now I didn't want to go. That was exactly what he had wanted too.

"Ares, stop, please." Desperate.

Tears welled up in my eyes at the sight of Ares doing this to him, of Ares the Monster. He pulled Elijah further from the wall, and the silver chains dug into his skin. Blistering it. Elijah tensed, trying not to cry out, trying not to show Ares that this was killing him from the inside out, but Ares didn't need to hear it to know that Elijah was breaking.

He just didn't know that so was I.

I screamed out, pressing a hand to my mouth. "I'll tell you where it is, Ares. I know where the stone is."

Ares stopped for the shortest moment, his eyes turning black. He shifted his head to turn to me. "You fucking know?"

"Yes," I said quietly.

Elijah used all of his strength to shake his head at me. "Don't, Aurora." He grasped the silver chain in his palms, burning the skin right off of it. "Please, don't. I promised your brother that I would take care of you. I can't protect you if you tell him."

Ares shook with anger. "Aurora, I swear to the Moon Goddess that if you don't tell me where it is, I will snap your precious Elijah's neck."

"Please," Elijah pleaded with me.

I gazed back and forth between the two of them, my heart racing. It was now or never. Now or fucking never. I parted my lips to say something, to say anything, but my wolf wouldn't let me speak.

"If you don't want to fucking tell me," Ares said, grabbing my wrist and jerking me toward him. He placed my hand on Elijah's throat. His hand was over my hand, making me grip his neck in my hand. "You'll fucking do it."

Though I always thought that Elijah was strong, his throat felt so fragile against my palm. Like... if I squeezed any harder, it'd snap. I would snap it. Jeremy would hate me.

"I don't know what the fuck is going on between you two, but one of you will break and will tell me where that fucking stone is," Ares said.

Moon Goddess, Ares really was crazy. He'd snap my throat in a second... but I would rather be dead than kill the only man who helped me survive that Hound attack.

"Do it," Elijah said, his face turning a deeper shade purple. "Do it, so I can see your brother again."

My heart ached, and a tear slipped down my cheek. "Ares, don't make me, please."

Don't make me say it. Don't make me make you hate me. Don't make me tell you exactly what you want to hear. I couldn't handle this. I felt like I was falling apart. I shouldn't have held this secret to myself, but I wanted to tell him when I was ready. Not like this.

He would hate me. Just like Mom. Just like I hated myself after the Hounds.

"Now, Aurora," he said through clenched teeth. "Every fucking minute that you waste is another minute--"

"Another minute, what?" I asked, desperately trying to buy myself time to think of a plan.

"Another minute that your precious Elijah gets tortured by your hand."

A blood vessel broke in Elijah's eye, making it red with blood. Another tear slipped down my cheek. He parted his lips to say something else, but Ares just tightened our hands around his throat. Elijah choked.

Ten more seconds. He had ten fucking seconds. I could feel it.

When Elijah's eyes slowly closed, I screamed. "Okay! Okay! Just stop!"

Ares let go of my hand, and Elijah's body smacked against the concrete.

Elijah rolled onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. "Aurora... don't," he pleaded.

I gazed up at an angry Ares with pure fear running through my veins.

"Now, Aurora," he said. "Tell me."

I glanced at the door to the cell and inched my way closer. Once I told him, I would make a run for it. I wouldn't get far, but it was my only option. I gulped, nervously, and faced all of my fears. "It's me," I said quietly. "It's me. I have the stone."