11.Matel
Ara’s POV
The stranger’s lip curled.
“How touching.” He took a step closer, his aura crackling with barely restrained power. “Get over here, little wolf, and I’ll let your boytoy live.”
“Don’t you dare come near my mate,” Kade snarled.
The air turned to ice. Why would Kade say that? Didn’t matter! It wasn’t the time to overthink.
“Come again? What did you just call her?” The stranger’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper. His eyes flashed -not just gray now, but dark silver.
“You heard me,” Kade didn’t back down. His wolf was surfacing as well. The outer rim of his eyes became
darker.
A slow, predatory grin spread across the stranger’s face. “Oh, this just got interesting.”
He rolled his shoulders, the movement lazy, but his aura spiked like a blade unsheathed.
“Back off,” Kade’s growl vibrated through his chest.
“Make me,” he spelled out each syllable
“You should leave if you want to live,” Kade warned.
The stranger laughed- a cold, humorless sound echoed the emty roads, “are you threatening me, pup?”
Who was he calling a pup? Kade was over six feet. Yeah, I got that he might be taller than Kade, but a pup?
Really?
“This is your last chance. Once I shift, you will be done for,” Kade’s eyes glowed golden. His wolf was ready to
attack
But to my surprise, the stranger wasn’t scared at all.
“Cute! But that won’t change a thing,” his eyes flicked to me. And something in them made my breath hitch. It wasn’t the anger, but something darker, hungrier,
Then everything happened too fast.
“Run Ara,” Kade charged. The stranger moved like lightning- one moment standing at the tree line, the next slamming Kade onto the road with a sickening crack.
No!
A voice echoed in my head–not mine, not Kade’s. Someone else.
‘Protect him.”
I didn’t think. My dagger was out before I realized I’d moved, my body positioning itself between Kade and the
stranger.
“Kade, are you okay?” I kept my blade steady despite my shaking hands.
The stranger froze. His storm–gray eyes locked onto mine, and for the first time I saw something break in them. The fury flickered, replaced by something raw, something wounded.
His mask slipped just for a second. But it was enough to make my stomach twisted. A rush of sudden emotions hit me. What the hell was going on?
“You’re really trying to protect him?” His voice cracked.
Something in his expression made my chest ache. Why did he look like I’d betrayed him?
He wasn’t just looking at me. His eyes could see through me.
Then like a shadow passing over the sun, his eyes smoothed back into icy cool, as if nothing mattered.
Kade groaned behind me, struggling to rise. The stranger’s gaze flickered to him, then back to me.
Damon’s POV
Ryan’s roar inside my skull was deafening.
‘MATE?!
My vision blurred red as the bastard’s words echoed in my ears. My mate. I heard some wolves had multiple mates. Was it same with her? This couldn’t be it. The Goddess couldn’t be that cruel! I didn’t want to share
her.
I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t!
SHE WAS MINE!
“Is it possible?” I demanded internally.
“LIEST Ryan snarled. ‘She can’t sense us. He’s manipulating her! He is a threat.”
The thought sent molten fury through my veins, Before I could stop myself, I’d slammed the bastard onto the road, the crack of his ribs against pavement music to my ears.
But then… she moved between us. The moment her dagger flashed between us, the world stopped.
My little wolfless mate, trembling but defiant, her dagger pointed at me.
She is pointing a blade at me!
Ryan’s snarls turned into something broken, a wounded animal thrashing inside my ribs, ‘she would bleed us to save him.”
I had spent decades believing mates were a fairy tale for lesser wolves- something for the weak, for those who still clung to hope, but I lived my life in darkness, under broken glasses. Then she showed up, like a storm, stealing my every breath.
“You’re really trying to protect him?” My voice cracked.
Ryan howled in agony inside me. ‘She chose him over us!”
The betrayal cut deeper than any silver.
“She’ll choose us from now on. I will make sure of it, I vowed, clenching my teeth.
“Are you okay?” She asked that bastard.
I couldn’t help the growl! My hands and legs were trembling in fury. That sweet voice was for me and me
alonel
So you cared about him, you could stab me for him, but what about me?
“Take another step, and-” she threatened.
DO IT! I wanted to say. Cut me. Let me bleed. Maybe then you’ll see maybe then you’ll understand that every
drop belongs to you anyway.
“And what?” Ryan’s growl merged with mine, our voice dropping into something inhuman.
A flicker of fear touched her eyes
Good!
Fear me!
Hate me!
But just look at me!
Just be with me!
Just stay with me!
Just let me feel your touch, your warmth.
You don’t have to protect me ever, Mate, I will do that I can give my life for you.
The bastard, Kade, struggled to his feet, blood dripping from his lip. “Ara, I’m gonna shift. ll hold him back.
You run.”
Ara
Her name was Ara, It suited her- fierce and delicate all at once. My Aral My mate!
“No, you go! I’ll-” She replied promptly.
“Trying to protect another man again?” The words tore from my throat like shrapnel.
Why? Why will you do that? Am I not enough?
I looked at her once again. She was fierce, beautiful and perfect!
I moved before they could react. One hand closed around her wrist, the other plucking the dagger from her
like taking candy from a pup.
grip
“This little weapon is useless,” I murmured, tossing it aside.
Her scent–lavender and wild honey–flooded my senses as I yanked her against my chest. The sparks ran through my veins. In one smooth motion, I threw her over my shoulder, her soft curves pressed against my
back
“LET ME GO!” Her fists pounded against my back.
“You’ll regret this,” Kade spat.
I turned just in time to hear bones snap. His shift was fast, impressive for a half–breed. His wolf form
Π
emerged, massive and snarling.
“Is that why you were so confident?” I scoffed. “Pathetic.”
He launched.
I didn’t move
Ara gasped as his fangs neared my throat.
My left arm lashed out, sending him flying two hundred meters into the trees. The impact shook the forest
with a loud thud.
“You disgust me, half–breed,” I snarled, my aura exploding outward. The ground trembled under the force of it.
“KADE! NO00-”
Her scream gutted me. Raw. Devastated. Like I was the monster here. Every act of hers burnt me, punched holes in my heart. Why? Why do you care about him and not me? Can’t you see my heart beats for you? You are the Goddess’s blessing for me. But what about you? Am I unfavored to you as well?
Ryan thrashed inside me. She’s terrified. Comfort her! Now!
Damn it. My pain was nothing before her trembling. She came first. She always would.
“Scared now, little wolf?” I forced the words through clenched teeth.
She stiffened, then thrashed harder. “Let go of me!”
I smacked. My palm connected with her perfect ass- a sharp, stinging warning. “Hold. Still.”
She froze, shock radiating off her.
“What do you want?” Her voice wavered.
I turned her to face me, my grip unbreakable. “What could I possibly want from my soulmate?”
Her breath hitched. “Soulmate?”
The word hung between us, heavy with fate.
“You’re coming with me, little mate,” I growled, pressing my arms around her waist tightly. “One way or
another.”
