Snake Mate Chapter 1

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."

Gideon’s 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."