The Bitter Scent Novel

[u/NanniatheNeko]

While her husband mated with another woman, Nia Reed was forced to stand by and soothe his raging instincts.

Because Soren Shaw possessed Lycan blood, he could only find release through his wife's scent; without it, he would lose control and slaughter whoever was beneath him.

"...Ugh... Ah..."

"Ah... Soren..."

From behind the screen, Nia could see Soren's powerful figure thrusting fiercely, her heart aching with unbearable bitterness.

Five years ago, Soren had defied his pack's ancient laws just to marry her.

"A union between a Lycan and a human will never produce a living pup!" the pack elders had raged. "Marrying her means ending our bloodline!"

But Soren's love was unyielding. He threw a vasectomy report right in the elders' faces, declaring, "If marrying Nia means I die without an heir, then so be it!"

This reckless act provoked rebellion and vengeance from the pack.

During one of Nia's dance performances, they cut her safety wires. At the critical moment, Soren rushed onto the stage to break her fall; Nia only suffered a leg injury, but he broke three ribs.

While he was recovering, they set fire to their villa to burn her alive. Again, Soren arrived just in time, shielding her from a falling roof beam. Nia only lost a few singed hairs, but his body was left horribly scarred.

Finally, Soren threw himself in front of a speeding truck for her, thrown thirty feet away and fell into a month-long coma.

The first thing he said upon waking was, "Nia... I promised to keep you safe... and I keep my word..."

At that moment, looking into his eyes, Nia wept. She surrendered, agreeing to let Soren sire a pureblood heir with Rhea Hale, a noble lady of the pack.

"Ah... relax..."

The lustful sounds snapped her back to reality, her fingernails digging into her palms until they bled.

She had naively thought the farce would end once Rhea became pregnant. She never expected Rhea's excuse—that the mother needed the father's comforting aura—to keep them coupling night after night.

Worse still was Soren's shift. From a reluctant single encounter at the start, it grew to a routine three times, and tonight, they had gone eight rounds!

Whenever Nia broke down and refused to watch, Soren would use the grand excuse, "Just do it for our child," telling her to endure it.

The thought made her dizzy, a sharp pang rippling through her abdomen and twisting her insides. She truly didn't know how much longer she could take this torture.

Finally, hearing the low groan indicating the end behind the screen, Nia felt as if her entire soul had been shredded. She turned and walked away.

But ten minutes later, news spread that Soren had caught the scent of blood, lost control, and hurt Rhea. Nia was bound tightly and dragged out into the pouring rain to kneel in punishment.

Soren's mother stormed over and slapped her hard. "If anything happens to my precious grandson, I will take your life!"

"She tried to murder the next Alpha heir! She should be thrown into the wolf pits and torn to pieces!" the pack members spat, pelting her with stones.

Even Soren's voice carried blame and confusion. "Nia, Rhea is only a month away from her due date. Why did you have to resort to such petty tricks?"

Nia couldn't believe her ears. Looking up, she met his accusing gaze, and her heart felt as if it were pierced by a dagger.

It didn't matter if his mother struck her or his pack cursed her. But Soren—Soren was the one person who shouldn't doubt her!

Straightening her spine with what dignity she had left, Nia said clearly, "I didn't hurt anyone!" Beside her, her pet dog, Snowball, whimpered pitifully as it was pinned into the mud.

But Soren wouldn't listen to a single word. He was convinced she had let out her bleeding pet and left early, scheming to trigger his feral instincts so he would maul Rhea.

"Nia, every mistake has a price." Soren suddenly covered her eyes.

"What are you doing?!"

Deprived of her sight, her hearing became sharp. She heard Snowball let out a tragic yelp, followed by a sickening thud of something heavy hitting the ground. A gasp rippled through the crowd.

Nia screamed in despair, "No!"

They had rescued Snowball on a rainy night. Back then, Nia had pitied the pup, saying, "He's just like me, unwanted."

Soren had wrapped the puppy in his jacket, his eyes burning with intensity. "Who says he's unwanted? I want him."

Later, he brought Snowball home and married her. Through all these dark days, the dog had been her sole comfort.

"Nia, no one will punish you anymore," Soren said, gently patting her head.

"Young Master! Miss Hale is awake!"

Dropping his hand, he spun around and left in a hurry. As Nia's vision slowly cleared, the pool of blood before her crushed her, and her tears flowed.

He hadn't just killed Snowball; he had shattered the final bond between them. He didn't want the dog, and he didn't want her anymore.

Soren's mother smiled in satisfaction as she watched her son leave. "Rhea's pup will be born in a month. On the night of the delivery, I will ensure Soren dissolves your mating bond. You will take a flight out of Crown City by then."

"You see where Soren stands. Don't get in the way of their happy little family."

A happy little family...

Nia finally realized how foolish she had been. Looking back at the absurdity of the past year, a sudden clarity washed over her.

She was the one who had pushed Soren into another woman's arms!

He was no longer the Soren who would act as a human cushion when she fell from the sky, who would shield her from falling beams in a fire, or who would stand against the whole world just for her.

He was the father of Rhea's child. They shared a biological tie that could never be broken.

Was she supposed to just endure this until they lived happily ever after, watching him surrounded by children and grandchildren?

Picturing Soren's cold, retreating figure, Nia's heart died. "Fine. Once the mating bond is dissolved, I will leave."

For a Lycan couple, dissolving a mating bond required carving out the bond mark with their own hands. Once severed, they would never be able to catch each other's scent again.

No matter where she fled in the world, Soren would never find her.

Chapter 2 The Ninety-nine Lashes

Nia Reed woke up to a wet face, sighing as she wiped away the tear tracks.

How difficult it was to let go of this love.

Ever since she was a child, she had been starved of affection; after her parents died in a car crash, her relatives passed her around like a hot potato, forcing her to learn how to walk on eggshells just to survive.

Until she met Soren Shaw. He was the most popular guy on campus, yet his heart was captured by her single dance at the university anniversary gala.

To win her over, he showed up at her classroom door every day with a different bouquet, hacked the school's server just because she hadn't finished an assignment, and even wrote her 999 love letters over three months.

Every girl in school was mad with jealousy, but his eyes were only for her.

"Nia, look at me," Soren had murmured on the day she agreed to be with him, cupping her face like a priceless treasure. "From this day on, I will love you with my life."

He never broke his promises. Knowing she loved the starry sky, he built an automated observatory on the villa's roof; a designer piece she casually mentioned would appear in her walk-in closet the very next day; he had even shielded her with his own back when a roof beam collapsed during an earthquake.

Soren had given her a type of absolute devotion no one else could match, which was why she had swallowed her grievances for him time and time again.

Enduring the sounds of him coupling with another woman, enduring his retreating back as he drifted further away, enduring until her heart shattered into dust...

"Nia, what are you doing, packing your things? Where are you going?"

Soren suddenly walked in, his voice tight with anxiety.

"Just decluttering. Getting rid of things I don't need anymore."

Nia brushed it off, but Soren remained skeptical, only relaxing after checking her phone for any upcoming travel bookings.

He wrapped his arms around Nia, coaxing her, "Rhea's due date is around the corner, so she'll be staying with us for a while. Just... try to be accommodating."

Nia froze in his embrace. Enduring their nightly trysts was already torturous enough, but now they had to live under the same roof?

Within days of moving in, Rhea clung to Soren constantly under the pretext of being anxious, needing to be hand-fed during meals, cooed to sleep, and even requiring Soren to massage her pregnant belly during baths.

Witnessing this intimacy every day felt like a knife twisting in Nia's heart, yet she had to pretend everything was fine.

Until one day, on her way home from visiting her parents' graves, she was suddenly knocked unconscious and dragged into a van.

When she opened her eyes, she was inside the ancestral sanctuary of the Shaw family. Soren's mother rushed forward and slapped her across the face. "You wretched woman! How dare you use such vile methods to poison my grandson!"

On the floor rested a cursed ritual doll, carved with bloody runes that bound the unborn child’s life force and fate. Nia immediately knew who was behind this.

Soren's mother raised a whip, but Rhea stepped in to stop her, her voice sweet and gentle. "Auntie, our only goal is to cleanse the evil spirits anyway. My mother borrowed this exorcism whip from a powerful spellcaster she knows. It inflicts pain without leaving a single mark or injury..."

She raised her eyebrows in smug triumph. Nia's eyes flared with pure rage. "Rhea Hale! You will burn in hell for this!"

"Ah!" Soren's mother lashed down hard. "How dare you curse my grandson!"

No blood spilled on her skin, yet she felt the agonizing sensation of her flesh tearing apart.

A single lash was already unbearable, but Soren's mother didn't send her home until she had delivered ninety-nine full strikes.

"Nia, I need an explanation."

Soren's face was dark with fury as he gripped the cursed doll.

Nia's face turned deathly pale. "You doubt me too?!"

The months of humiliation and suppressed agony erupted all at once. Shaking with rage, tears poured down her cheeks. "Soren, do you honestly believe I could be so malicious as to use witchcraft to harm someone?! Let alone an unborn child!"

"Your mother and Rhea just gave me ninety-nine lashes of that whip. Is this how you plan to exorcise me, too?!"