Chapter Twelve

ELLIE

I found myself locked in a stare-down with the wolf. His snarl echoed in the silence. Who was he?

He advanced, and I shouted, “Hold up! We need to talk. You’re supposed to be my mate!”

His lip curled, a growl rumbling in his throat.

“Shift so we can talk,” I insisted.

The wolf just glared at me, then took another step.

“If you don't shift now, I’ll make you,” I threatened.

~“You can’t! It’s too dangerous—he’s our mate!”~ Nix cautioned me.

Even if she didn't agree, it wouldn't stop me. I could use the Alpha command myself these days, unlike when I was younger, when I had to ask Nix to do it. She wouldn't like it, but right now there wasn't a great deal of choice.

The wolf wasn't backing off, and I wasn't about to fight my own mate.

It was clear to me now that he was from one of the council packs.

The only wolf I had ever seen from there was Zagan, the day he chased me and Sammy over the border. But his wolf was pitch-black, so I knew this wasn't him. Besides, there was no way that Zagan was my mate.

The wolf snarled again and took another step forward.

“Shift!” I commanded with my Alpha voice.

Nix whimpered in the back of my mind. I knew a forced shift was dangerous, but it was the only way.

My voice echoed loudly and with power. Even the nearby trees seemed to shudder.

The wolf collapsed to the ground and I heard loud cracks as he shifted.

I gasped when the naked man on the ground lifted his head. It had been a long time since I’d seen him—he was grown now, and more muscled—but I recognized his face immediately.

I should have recognized his pack’s scent, but the individual scent of my mate had taken over.

“Elijah!” I gasped.

“You fucking bitch,” he snarled at me.

Nix grappled with me for control. She managed to force one word through my lips before I pushed her back down.

“Mate.”

He scowled, then laughed. There was no humor in it.

“You think I would want a murdering half-breed as a mate?”

He rose to his feet, and I sucked in a breath. He would have been terribly handsome, if not for the glare on his face.

Elijah glanced at the gravestone and narrowed his eyes.

“It’s not enough for you to murder my brother, huh? You’ve come to gloat as well?” he spat.

“N...No. I didn't kill him!” I exclaimed, my voice cracking. “Sammy...he was my friend.”

Elijah sneered at me. “Liar!” he hissed. “He hated you. But lying comes easily to you, doesn't it?”

I shook my head vehemently. “No, Elijah, I never lied. Why are you being like this? We were friends once. And...you’re my mate.”

“I was ~never~ your friend,” he growled. “You bewitched my family, then tore them apart.”

Tears stung my eyes.

“My father should have killed you when he first found you, but no, he was weak. Same as my uncle. But my grandfather saw through you though, and so did I.”

I clenched my jaw at the mention of Joel. “Your grandfather is a liar. He sent Sammy to Zagan just so he could get at me. It was the council who ordered one of their people to kill me, but they killed Sammy instead.”

Elijah curled his lip and took a step toward me. He was much taller than I was—all male wolves were—but I didn't step away. I held my ground.

“I know what you are,” he hissed. “You’re not even a true hybrid. Part human, part witch, part wolf.”

“You’re nothing but a mongrel. A dangerous mongrel that needs to be put down. Once we get rid of you, we’ll wipe out this pathetic pack, and then we’ll wipe out the humans. The werewolf race will be pure once again.”

I swallowed down the bile that was rising in my throat. This wasn't the Elijah I knew.

“Those are your grandfather's words, not yours. Please, if we’re mates, we can put an end to this war before it even starts. We can do this together,” I pleaded.

“Mates,” he spat, “what was the moon goddess thinking? I'll never accept a filthy little mongrel as a mate. You’re ~nothing~ to me.”

Nix whimpered, and I felt her retreating to the back of my mind.

Elijah’s sneer turned into a smirk. “I, Elijah, Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, reject you, Ellie, of the Blood River pack, as my mate and my Luna,” he announced.

At his words, I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around my chest.

I’d never felt so much pain before. Not even when Zagan whipped me. It wasn't just physical pain—it felt like someone was crushing my heart from the inside.

I’d been upset when Seth didn't want anything to do with me, but it hadn't felt like this.

I let out a sob, tears streaming down my face. Was this what my dad felt when his mate left him for another?

Nix retreated even more. I could barely feel her now.

“Nix?” I whimpered.

I looked up as a dark chuckle came from Elijah’s lips.

“Even your wolf doesn't want you,” he mocked. “Nobody does.”

I shuddered, curling further into myself. “Wh—What are you going to do now?”

Elijah leaned over me. “I’m going to kill you,” he hissed, his voice barely above a whisper.

Then he straightened, folded his arms across his chest, and smirked. “I’m nothing if not fair, though. I’ll even let you shift first...if you can.”

I closed my eyes and reached out to Nix with my mind. Imagined myself in wolf form...nothing.

I tried to mind-link to my dad. To Clayton. Even Seth.

Still nothing.

“What did you do?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Elijah just smirked. “I didn’t do a thing...except reject you. Your wolf is as weak and pathetic as you are.”

His smirk vanished. “Enough talk,” he said, his voice cold.

There was a loud ~crack~ as he shifted right in front of me. In no time, the large brown wolf was back, snarling at me.

I looked into his eyes, searching for some shred of humanity, but found nothing.

Maybe he was right. Maybe I was weak and pathetic. I’d managed to avoid my fate until now, but maybe I ~was~ meant to die.

I braced myself as he moved closer, expecting him to attack with his teeth, but he didn’t.

I heard a ~swish~ as his paw cut through the air, aiming for my stomach. He was planning to rip me open.

I guess my survival instincts kicked in, because something inside me reacted. I don’t know what it was—it definitely wasn’t Nix. I could barely feel her presence.

I spun away from him, but his claws still hit me, tearing through my clothes and skin like a hot knife through butter.

I’d managed to protect my stomach, though. Training had taught me that the stomach was a kill zone. It was a messy way to die, but the victim would bleed out and eventually die, albeit slowly.

I’d turned just enough so his claw only sliced through my side and hip.

I pressed my hand to my side and felt the sticky wetness. I didn’t need Nix’s enhanced sense of smell to recognize the metallic scent in the air.

With my hand pressed to my side, trying to stop the bleeding, I crawled backward.

Elijah looked pissed. He hadn’t expected me to fight to live. He must have thought the pain of the broken mate bond would have pushed me over the edge.

But it hadn’t. A voice inside my head was telling me to fight. It wasn’t Nix—maybe it was my human subconscious. I ~was~ part human, after all.

A growl rumbled from his throat. He was angry. This time, he was going for the kill.

He lunged at me, his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. If he bit me, I was as good as dead.

Everything seemed to slow down as I watched the huge wolf leap toward me.

That’s when I remembered the dagger and what Jackson had said when he gave it to me.

~“If something happens and you can’t shift…at least you can protect yourself.”~

I reached into my boot. I’d started carrying the knife with me—I didn’t know why. Maybe it made me feel closer to Jackson.

Did he have some sort of premonition?

My fingers closed around the pearl handle and I pulled it out. The silver blade sparkled in the sunlight.

The look in Elijah’s wolf’s eyes changed from triumphant anger to shock and a hint of fear. He knew this was the end, and so did I.

There was no way he could stop now—he was fully committed to the attack. His teeth were aiming for my throat.

I didn’t want things to end this way, but nothing in my life ever seemed to go the way I wanted.

I thrust the knife forward as Elijah’s body hit mine. He yelped as the silver blade sliced through skin and muscle.

I heard a soft ~pop~ as the blade pierced his heart.

He fell on top of me, his body lifeless.

The silver blade had done its job. Elijah’s heart, his life, was gone.

Blood oozed from the wound in his chest, mixing with my own.

“Why, Elijah? Why?” I sobbed.

My fingers let go of the knife and my arm fell to my side.

Elijah’s dead wolf was heavy on my chest, crushing me. I turned my head to the side and sobbed.

The pain from before came rushing back as I realized that Nix probably wouldn’t return. After what I’d done...how could she ever forgive me?

I closed my eyes as tears streamed down my face.

Without Nix, I would likely die here, too.

As darkness started to close in, I realized I deserved no less.

I had just killed my mate.