Chapter 11

CLEMENTINE

The moment I hear screams and growls in the forest, I jump backward, take Ivan by his arm, and run toward the pack house. On the way, he stops me and pushes my back against a tree.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

He shushes me just as more screams and growls come directly from the pack house.

“We have to go and see what’s going on,” I whisper.

Ivan doesn’t respond because at that moment, three wolves surround us, ready to attack. Chuckling at the sight, he kills two of them with his bare hands. He then looks directly into my eyes.

~Is he sending me a message or…?~

~He keeps looking at me…~

~Oh! I got it.~

Ivan turns toward the third wolf, but he’s already running away. The alpha king lets him go, instead taking my arm and leading me the rest of the way to the pack house.

The sight that greets us there is beyond disturbing. Almost twenty wolves are fighting, and they’re so busy scratching, biting, and shredding each other that I can’t differentiate our pack members from the attackers. Blood oozes out of wounds on nearly every fighter.

Ivan guides me through the packhouse and locks me in his room before shifting and going outside. I scream for him to open the door, scared not only for him but also for Alex, Nikki, and Erika.

When he doesn’t let me out, I make my way to the window. Ivan’s wolf is already taking on four opponents at the same time. ~How does he do that?~

I don’t notice the door opening, nor the footsteps behind me. The next thing I see is bright stars kissing me goodnight.

***

I wake up feeling cold. My head pounds, and my feet hurt.

Fighting off dizziness, I slowly open my eyes and look at my feet. Blood drips from them onto the floor. ~How did that happen?~

I then look at my chained hands and curse. Even if I could break free, I’m too tired to do anything. I don’t know what the fuck happened to me.

~Helia, are you here?~

~“I am here, Clementine. I’m just mad.”~

~What happened?~

~“That bitch locked us up.”~

~Who?~

~“Katina.”~

~Fuck.~

Just then, the doors open, revealing Katina and my sister.

~Joana…~

“What’s happening?” I ask. “Where is everyone?”

“I finally have you in my arms,” Katina answers, and I see that she’s holding a metallic weapon—a sword.

“What do you want with me, Katina?”

“I want you dead.”

“Then why am I still alive?”

“You have the information I want.”

“Where is everyone?” I ask again.

She smirks. “Still fighting those rogues. It seems that there are many. And there are more coming.”

My gasp echoes across the room. “You arranged an attack on the pack?”

Katina slaps my cheek, hard. “Of course not! How dare you.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Now, tell me, traitor, why did you let that bloody witch go free?”

I don’t respond. I glance at my sister to see her snickering.

~Fuck you, Joana.~

~“I wish I could help you, Clementine,”~ Helia says. “The only thing I can do is give you a little bit of strength.”~

~Don’t apologize, Lia.~

“Answer me!” Katina barks, then slaps me again.

“Do you want to know?” I ask, deciding to tease the shit out of her.

“Tell. Me.”

“Fine”—I huff dramatically—”I am working with them to get rid of all the werewolves.”

She slaps me again. “Tell me the truth!”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not my problem that you don’t believe me,” I respond, shrugging.

Another slap.

I know I am playing with fire, but weirdly, I love fire.

“You are so stupid,” Katina spits. She takes me by the neck, her eyes glowing. “I don’t see what my brother sees in you! He deserves better than a traitor!”

~What does she mean by that?~

~“I don’t know.”~

“Now, I will ask you again—why did you let her go?”

I remain silent, not only because I don’t want to answer her but also because her hold on my neck is so tight that I’m now struggling to breathe. I want to use magic, but I don’t know how to. And besides, if I did, everyone would know that I’m a witch, including Ivan.

Katina is bringing her other hand up to slap me again when the door swings open, revealing Ivan and his friend Andrei.

All I can say is that at that moment, they see red.

Andrei advances toward Katina and slaps her hand away from my neck, making me fall to the floor with a ~thud~. Ivan obviously wants to attack Joana, but his attention is caught by my whimpers, and he instead runs to me.

Joana takes that opportunity to slip out of the room.

As he kneels beside me, Ivan asks, “Are you okay?”

I nod, then glance up to see Andrei struggling against Katina. Of course, she must be much older than him.

The last thing I want is for Erika to lose her mate.

“Help y-your friend…,” I struggle to say.

Seeing that his sister is about to rip Andrei’s heart out, Ivan makes his way toward them and grabs Katina by her hair. As he pulls her backward, away from Andrei, she yelps in pain.

“I warned you!” he and his wolf say together.

~“I still want to know his wolf’s name,”~ Helia says. ~“Please ask him.”~

~Fine.~

“I fucking warned you, sister!” Ivan barks. Tears roll down Katina’s face, and I suddenly feel bad for her. “Get out of my face before I do something I’ll regret.”

With that, she runs out.

The next second, Ivan beside me once more. “Are you okay?” he asks again as he breaks me out of the chains.

“Have been better,” I say, making him smile.

It’s only then that I see both Ivan and Andrei are covered in cuts and bruises.

“What happened out there?” I ask no one in particular.

Ivan caresses my cheeks. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

He tries to help me get up, but I have no energy to even move my hand, so he carries me bridal style. Snuggled against his warm chest, I suddenly feel a little better.

~Why is this so comfy?~

~“I was thinking the same thing,”~ Helia responds.

A minute later, Ivan opens the door to my new room and places me on the bed. He covers my now shivering body with the duvet and begins to turn away, but I whisper, “Please, stay.”

Ivan looks hesitant, but he nods and sits next to the bed. I notice he avoids looking in my eyes, though.

“Thank you,” I say, and he only nods. I take it he’s not good with emotional situations.

Ivan doesn’t utter another word, so I just stare at his sculpted, beautiful face. Is it wrong? Maybe—but who cares?

A few minutes pass before he growls.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Stop staring at me,” he grumbles, making me feel embarrassed. I’m also sad that he doesn’t like me looking at him.

~“You weren’t just looking; you were eye-fucking him,”~ Helia comments, making me laugh out loud.

Ivan glances at me, brows knitted. “Did I sound funny?” he asks angrily.

“No, of course not!” I quickly say.

“Then what is it?”

“Just…Helia said something funny,” I mumble.

“And what did she say?” he asks, his voice now laced with amusement.

~“Tell him!”~

~No.~

~“Come on!”~

~No.~

I chuckle awkwardly. “Nothing,” I finally manage.

“Tell me what she said, or my wolf will come out,” Ivan threatens. “He’s been pestering me.”

“Why is he pestering you?” I ask.

“Just answer the damn question, Clementine,” he grumbles.

~“You two bicker a lot, and it’s so cute.”~

~What will he gain from knowing what she said anyway? It’s not important.~

“She just said that I was eye-fucking you,” I quickly say, deliberately ignoring his intense stare.

After a moment, Ivan asks, “Really?”

~Why does he sound relieved?~

I nod.

“Tell her that my wolf cannot wait to see her.”

That one sentence sends Helia and me to heaven. ~Did he really just say that?~

“What’s the name of your wolf?” I ask before I forget.

“Leonid, but I call him Leo.”

“Leo…,” I say, testing the name.

Growling, Ivan leans closer and starts sniffing my neck. I sit, frozen, as questions swarm my brain. Mainly, ~What the hell is he doing?~

Ivan starts to trail soft kisses down my neck, making me feel hot and bothered, and I lean my head to my left to give him more access. Weirdly, I love what’s he doing. I don’t want him to stop.

When Ivan eventually leans back, his eyes are glowing yellow. Hunger and lust fill them, and my heart races.

Then his eyes return to normal, and he abruptly stands up and leaves the room—without uttering a word, without caring that I wanted him to stay.

IVAN

As I walk angrily to my room, I wonder how I could be so reckless. If I didn’t stop Leo, he would’ve marked her, and then everything would be even more complicated. I know he can’t take it anymore, that he wants her close to him, but I just can’t.

When I push my door open, I find Katina waiting for me.

“What are you doing here?” I growl.

She rolls her eyes and says, “Look, I’m sorry I hurt your mate, but I had every right to. I promise you, I won’t do anything else to her before we find out if she’s working with the other side. But if she is, I ~will~ kill her.”

Leo fights to take control, but I keep him in check.

“You will not do anything to her,” I say. “If anything does happen to her, it will be by me.”

Katina nods and turns to leave, but I stop her.

“What?”

“Bring me that slut who was in the room where you kept Clementine captive.”

“Why?”

“If I can’t kill you, then I will kill her.”

She doesn’t even hesitate. “Fine.”

I stay in my room, waiting impatiently for Katina to bring that bitch. I so badly want to kill my sister, but her mate, Dimitri, is my friend and she is family. Killing her is out of the question.

However, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t kill that bitch. Not only is she a major problem to Luna Helen, but also she has never treated Clem like a sister, from what I’ve heard.

My thoughts are cut off by the sound of the door opening. I look up to see Katina with that girl, who I believe is called Joana.

I should have killed her in the infirmary that day.

“Here she is,” Katina says, pushing Joana my way.

“Please, I’m sorry!” she pleads.

“Do you even know what you’ve done?” I ask.

“I’m sorry,” she repeats.

“You hurt what’s mine,” I growl, shocking the shit out of her.

“Oh, my God…she’s y-your mate?” she asks, fear evident in her eyes.

“You are so dead.”

With that, I detach her head from her body, and it flies across the room. Blood splashes on my shirt.

“Well, that was fun,” Katina comments before leaving the room.

Do I regret doing this, given that Joana only helped my sister kidnap Clementine?

No.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely.