Chapter Thirty-Three

Ellie

Seth’s strong arms wrapped around me, his voice a gentle whisper in my ear.

“Ellie, you can’t step in. I know you wanted to be the one to finish him, but a vengeance challenge takes precedence.”

I let out a heavy sigh.

“I know,” I murmured.

Closing my eyes, I realized it had been a long time since I’d mind-linked with anyone. Even before the whole Elijah incident. Even before losing Nix, I rarely used mind-link.

Maybe it was a leftover habit from my childhood, or maybe it was because I often didn’t have Nix with me.

Most werewolves found mind-linking easy, but I always struggled with it unless I was in wolf form.

But now, I had to do it. Before the fight started.

“~Grandfather. Be careful. He won’t play fair.~”

My grandfather glanced at me briefly. A faint smile touched his lips, followed by a barely noticeable nod. He’d heard me, but he didn’t want Joel to know.

As far as Joel knew, I was still without a wolf. If the worst happened and my grandfather lost, I was ready to challenge Joel.

My relationship with my grandfather had always been strained. He seemed to only care about training me to be the next queen.

Even when I turned 18, he was obsessed with finding me the perfect mate. But it was more about preserving the royal line than my happiness.

But he was my grandfather. My direct family. Besides my brother, he was my last link. Clayton was my cousin, or second cousin, but it wasn’t the same.

Despite our differences, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

I’d never really seen him fight. During training, he never sparred with me. He’d just stand on the sidelines, barking orders while other warriors fought me.

I’d never seen Joel shift either. I had no idea if he was a strong fighter, but he was an Alpha.

I was sure that if things didn’t go his way, he’d resort to dirty tricks to beat my grandfather.

My gaze shifted to my dad as he stepped back. Disappointment was etched on his face. He was the one who wanted to kill Joel, his own father.

Joel had crossed too many lines for my dad to feel any sympathy for him.

He looked at me, then at Seth, his eyes lingering on our marks.

“You did it then?” he asked quietly.

Seth tightened his hold on me and nodded.

“We did.”

I wasn’t sure if his disappointment was because he couldn’t kill his father or because we hadn’t waited. But then again, he hadn’t waited either. If it weren’t for Seth’s foresight, he would be here alone.

I looked back at my grandfather. I didn’t understand how he knew Joel would be here. How he got here so quickly, unless he never went back to the mountain.

That thought vanished as I watched the two men in front of me.

They hadn’t shifted yet. They hadn’t even started to undress for the shift. They were just circling each other. Sizing each other up.

Waiting for the other to make the first move.

I gasped as my grandfather lunged at Joel. I wasn’t sure what he was doing when he suddenly shifted.

There was no sound of bones cracking, no tearing of clothes. The air seemed to crackle with energy. One moment he was human, the next, he was a wolf.

I’d trained hard to shift like that. I still found it difficult.

Even when Seth shifted like that, you could hear the bones crack and see the man morph into the wolf as bones and muscles rearranged.

Back in the mountains, I always thought my grandfather’s wolf was huge. I thought it was because I was younger and everything seemed larger.

Now I realized that wasn’t the case. My grandfather’s wolf was truly massive!

As he lunged at Joel, I felt a sense of déjà vu. I saw the metallic glint in Joel’s hand. A knife. Just like the one I had carried.

If this went the way it was heading, my grandfather would end up like Elijah. Dead.

Joel didn’t even try to shift. He smirked as my grandfather’s wolf lunged at him.

“Grandfather...watch out, he has a knife!” I screamed.

Joel’s gaze flicked to me, a glare in his eyes.

It gave my grandfather just enough time to twist slightly before his claw hit Joel, and Joel’s knife hit him.

I wasn’t sure if it was my warning shout, or if he saw the knife himself, but the slight twist meant that instead of stabbing my grandfather’s heart, the knife sliced into his shoulder.

Joel, however, wasn’t so lucky.

During training, I was constantly reminded about the vulnerable points in a fight.

“Always protect your throat, heart, and stomach.”

It seemed Joel had either forgotten those lessons or thought he was invincible.

Either way, it didn’t matter now.

It was clear from the way my grandfather lunged that he was aiming for Joel’s throat. His plans changed at the last minute when he saw Joel’s knife.

Instead, I watched as his claws swiped across Joel’s abdomen. Cutting through cloth, flesh, and muscle like a hot knife through butter.

Joel must not have expected it, judging by the scream that tore from his mouth.

I watched as blood soaked through his torn shirt, turning it from white to red.

Joel collapsed to the ground, groaning.

I should have been smiling, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was my grandfather.

Just seconds after my grandfather had sliced through Joel’s stomach, he shifted back to his human form. The groan that escaped his lips told me it wasn’t voluntary.

Seth let go of me, and I rushed to my grandfather’s side. He was lying on the ground, a gruesome wound in his shoulder. Dark veins were spreading from the wound, creeping across his skin.

I recognized it before I even reached him. Wolfsbane. The scent was unmistakable.

I shot a panicked look at Seth and my dad.

“Get Vanessa, now!” I yelled, dropping to my knees beside my grandfather.

He looked at me, a weak smile on his face, and shook his head.

“It’s my time, Ellie. It’s too late for me,” he rasped.

I clutched his hand, a tear slipping down my cheek.

“No...don’t say that. You won, you killed him. You did it for all of us, for…”

I stopped short of saying Dad, knowing he didn’t like me calling Gabriel that. But none of our disagreements seemed important now.

“It’s okay...you can say it. You can call him Dad...Father...whatever. He’s a good man.”

He coughed, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

I shook my head, desperate.

“It’s just a flesh wound. You can fight this...you have to fight this,” I pleaded.

He sighed heavily, shaking his head.

“Wolfsbane and molten silver,” he choked out.

He lifted his hand to my face, cupping my cheek gently.

I leaned into his touch. We’d had our differences, but in this moment, I realized how much I loved him.

“I’m sorry I was angry with you,” I sobbed.

He hushed me.

“You were right, Ellie. I was wrong. You have to make your own way.”

He looked past me.

“You have a good mate. A mate you deserve. Whether you take the crown is up to you, but if you do, I know you’ll be a good queen, a good leader.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder. The tingling sensation told me it was Seth.

My grandfather coughed again.

“The old ways don’t work anymore. You’ll find your way. Both of you will. Everything that was mine is now yours.”

I felt something pass from my grandfather to me. A tingle, but different from the one I felt with Seth.

I looked into my grandfather’s eyes.

He smiled.

“The last of your grandmother's gift. Use it wisely.”

I frowned. A gift? What kind of gift?

He smiled again, as if he could hear my unspoken question. I hadn’t linked him, nor had I spoken out loud.

“We aren’t meant to shift without breaking bones,” he murmured.

I gasped. He had used magic.

“Take it back! Save yourself,” I begged.

His hand fell from my face, as if it was too much effort to keep it there.

“Too...too late,” he gasped, his hand dropping to the ground.

He was still looking at me, but the light in his eyes was gone. He was gone. He had gotten his revenge, and now he could join his mate, my grandmother. He could finally be at peace.

I gently closed his eyes with my hand, a sob escaping my lips.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.

I felt Seth squeeze my shoulder. I looked up at him.

“We need to take my grandfather back to the pack-house,” I said quietly.

Seth nodded. I looked over at my dad as he slowly approached us.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I didn’t want this to happen, I had no idea…”

I shook my head.

“Neither did I, but Joel is gone and my grandfather deserves a warrior’s burial.”

Dad nodded, then furrowed his brow.

“The pack is yours now, Ellie. You heard him. Everything that was his is now yours.”

I frowned as it hit me. My grandfather had defeated Joel, the self-proclaimed Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack. By defeating Joel, my grandfather would have become the next Alpha.

With his death, that title would now fall to me.

I shook my head.

“I don’t want it,” I said firmly, “not if it means losing my grandfather.”

“Then I’ll take it…”

I stood up quickly, recognizing the voice immediately.

“Zagan…” I growled.

He was standing on the other side of the river, a smirk on his face.

Seth growled lowly when he saw Dante standing next to him.

“It’s time for me to do what I should have done eight years ago,” Zagan began.

“I, Alpha Zagan of the Blood Fang pack, challenge you, Alpha Ellie of the Crescent Moon pack,” he smirked, “to the death.”

I glared at him and nodded.

“To the death.”