"I forgot something,"
she said, her voice more of a growl than anything, putting my wolf on edge. My entire body is still pins and needles from her climbing over me like a monkey and I have to adjust myself, but Megan will most definitely see that. So I sit here in pain with my dick throbbing against my leg.
We sat there in silence for about seven minutes. It felt like an hour since I had seen Bella. My wolf is pacing up and down in my mind, driving me crazy. Then, all of a sudden, Megan growls,
"Oh no, she didn't,"
before she bolts out of the car and runs into the house. I follow her and immediately smell Bella's scent at the back door,
"This way,"
I say through clenched teeth.
How dare she run away from me? I'm her mate. It doesn't matter if she feels it or not. The bond is there and I will never let her leave me. She is too important to me.
"Wait. I know where she is going. The car will be faster, Alpha."
We all pile into the car and Megan spins the wheels as she pulls away. Leo curses under his breath as he grips the seat and I have to hide my smile behind my hand.
We reach a speed bump and my smile is wiped off my face. Megan doesn't slow down. She picks up speed. I hit my head against the roof as we flew and landed again. I curse and rub my head and then she turns, and Leo slams into me because we are only on two tyres instead of four.
She stops the car and we slide over the road. My heart rate increases even more when I see the woods in front of us. The woods have an eerie feeling and will send anyone running in the other direction.
As soon as I climb out, I can smell her scent underneath the overwhelming odour of burning rubber and fuel. I bent down and saw there was, indeed, fuel leaking out of the car's tank.
Megan starts running to the woods when her Alpha stops her,
"You know you aren't allowed in there,"
She raises one eyebrow at him and then looks at me very smugly and grins,
"Can I go into the haunted woods, Alpha?"
Jip that is, most definitely, my mate's beta. I nod and Leo growls, but he doesn't follow us in.
"The woods are filled with monsters, so we should stay close together. And don't answer if someone calls your name."
She tells the three of us,
"And my mate went in here… alone!"
The fear and anger drip from every word that leaves my mouth. She smiles as she looks at me over her shoulder,
"She is one of the top 3 most dangerous things in this woods"
And then she says softly,
"...running straight to the most dangerous thing with rage fueling her,"
I shake my head. This is no place for my little mate. I have seen her fight, but she stands no chance against the things in magical woods. I have read what is in woods like these, and I shudder at the thought of her here, all alone.
I pick up her scent again and push forward, taking the lead and running faster to get to her. I run as fast as my two legs can take me and it takes me a moment to realize, but I can hear her now.
Oh, thank you, moon goddess, she is still alive! Even though she is cursing someone.
We run in the direction I hear her cursing and then I see her. I'm so relieved when I see her, that I'm almost next to her, when I realize she is hitting the air, screaming at no one and nothing.
She visibly stiffens when she feels us behind her,
"Oh great, this day just keeps getting shittier and shittier."
She started banging the air again and shouting,
"You said seven days. It's seven days!"
Then I hear a woman's voice,
"But you did not remember the money and it looks like your ride is here,"
She bangs the air again and I step closer to her.
"Don't cross the line,"
Megan says and only then do I notice the black line of dust on the grass. I nod at Megan before I continue walking to Bella.
"So you run away from me into the scary woods to talk to an invisible woman and bang the air?"
She glared up at me and goddess. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.
She stands, puts both her hands in front of her, and starts to push. I watch her feet making grooves in the sand and her eyes turn blue when a growl rips through her. My entire body shook with the power in her growl and all the birds in the area took flight. Flapping their wings as fast as they can to get away from us. No, from her.
"Bella, just give up. She is not going to do it."
Megan shouts, but Bella doesn't give a damn. She just keeps pushing the invisible wall that can not be moved.
Tears well up in her eyes and my heart fucking breaks for her,
"Bella,"
I say gently and I take her hands away from the wall and pull her to me,
"She promised, in seven days… she promised me,"
My little mate's voice breaks as she pushes the words out and I pull her to my chest and hold her tight.
"I never promised, my dear Elizabeth. I just had to get you to that ball to meet him,"
My claws are around the woman's throat the moment she appears and she smiles at me,
"Give her what she wants. It doesn't matter what it costs. I will pay it,"
"Now those are words from a true alpha's mate… but before you kill me for breaking her little heart, did she tell you what she wants me to do?"
The witch's lips don't move as she speaks into my mind and I drop her.
She rubs her neck and looks at Bella,
"Tell him, my little Elizabeth. Tell him why you came here. Tell him why you're actually crying,"
I look down at my little mate in my arms and lift her chin so she can look me in my eyes.
With all the venom in the world, she spits the words that shatter me into a million pieces,
"So she can bind my wolf!"
My entire body feels like it's on fire and it feels like I have glass in my lungs when I try to inhale. I'm on my hands and knees as I feel I'm about to throw up.
She would rather bind her wolf than be my mate? She would rather kill the other half of her soul to get away from me?
My soul feels like it's going to rip right out of me as I fall to the ground. I don't know where it hurts the most, my head or my heart, because both feel like it is being cut out of me with a silver blade.
"Seven days ago, she came to me, Max, and seven days ago, the moon goddess showed me… you, signing that contract,"
I can barely keep my scream in as I twist and turn on the ground. My wolf howled in pain in my head. His pain was just as much as mine.
"Listen, Max. This is not because of you. She didn't even know you seven days ago. She is not rejecting you, please,"
the witch's words sink in. I feel like I can breathe again and roll onto my hands and knees.
"You are a fucking rat bastard. I wish you will wrinkle up and burn in an eternal flame,"
My little mate shouted, still banging the wall that was keeping her away from the witch.
"Elizabeth, I can not go against the wishes of the moon goddess. I have to obey her rules. She has shown me the war that is upon us and you will be the only thing that can save us."
My mate shakes her head,
"I'm done with war, I'm done with you and I'm fucking done with mates. I have had enough. I have suffered enough. Have I not suffered enough for three lifetimes?"
She points her finger at me as she says 'mates' and a warmth returns to me that I did not know I lost all those years ago when I lost my eye.
"I just want to be free. I just want to breathe without worrying that I will slaughter an entire city or my best friend. When will I have a day of peace in my life?"
Tears stream down her cheeks and the witch reaches out to rub it away, but pulls her hand back right before she crosses the barrier.
"Please, Elizabeth. Accept Max as your mate and all the pain will stop. The moment you do the ceremony, everything will change."
The witch tells Bella.
I stand on shaky legs and walk over to my little Bella. She looks so defeated and weak when I pick her up,
"Get those drugs out of her sooner than later Max. You will need the beast inside of her,"
The witch says before she disappears again.
What drugs is she talking about? There was no mention of Bella using drugs in any of the files. I carry my mate back to the car as she silently sobs into my shoulder.
'You will need the beast inside of her… who will come and kill me after I slaughtered his pack… I will come and get her after she has killed you all…'
The words play over and over in my mind as I walk through the woods. Leo's eyes widened when he saw her,
"what did you do to her?"
He says before he storms forward and the twins and Megan step in front of me,
"I'll be taking my mate now, Leo,"
"You will not take her. She will stay with me. I have changed my mind. I would rather go to war than lose her,"
My wolf surfaces, and I feel my teeth elongate,
"Try taking her from me," I growl out.
"The elders will hear about this. This is not part of the contract. She is clearly not even awake."
I could care less about the elders and their fucking contract right now. I need to get her to a safe place where I can get to the bottom of this and the only place she will be safe now, is with me and my pack.
We get into the SUV that just pulled up and Megan's dad gets out of it,
"Heard she broke the other one,"
He says, smiling before kissing his daughter,
"Thank you, Daddy,"
Her dad walked over to me and swept Bella's hair out of her face. With a sad smile, he looked up at me,
"Take care of my two girls. Especially this one. Hell looks like heaven to her."
I nod and take the last few steps to the SUV. Megan holds her hands out for me to hand Bella over.
She tilted her head to the side,
"I will fight you for her, Alpha. I can promise you that,"
The corner of my lips tilted up,
"Come, I'll show you how to soothe her when she is like this. Then you can do it in the future."
I hesitate for a moment before handing Bella over to Megan. She shocked me as she scooted over to the other side,
"This way, you can see her the entire time, and you don't need to run around the car to see her again,"
all whilst she tapped the seat next to her.
The twins place all our bags in the new SUV and we pull away, with Leo still glaring at me. I noticed his son has joined him and I am so happy he rejected Bella. Now, she was all mine. However, I might have to fight Megan for her. Which sounds easy enough, but I feel like that girl might have a few tricks up her sleeves.
"You are safe. I am safe. Your family is safe. Your pack is safe."
Megan rubs Bella's back as she speaks in a calm voice,
"You will not hurt us. You will never hurt us. We feel safe with you,"
My little mate shakes as a sob rips through her and all I want to do is hold her.
Megan holds a hand out for me and I place my hand in hers. The palm of my hand touches my mate's back and I start to make soothing circles on her back as Megan speaks,
"Everyone you love is safe and we know you will keep us safe at any cost. If the beast comes out, we know to hide until she is back inside of you,"
I feel Bella relax into my touch and then she is purring.
The smile on my face is so wide it actually hurts, but there is no stopping it. I will gladly look like a smiling fool for my mate,
"You are safe…"
Megan starts again. After a while, I hear a faint whisper,
"I'm sorry. I just did not see any other way to keep everyone safe,"
Bella's words sound more like herself again and it warms my heart as those blue eyes meet mine.
"We will figure this out together,"
She nods and reaches her hand out to me. I grip her hand in mine and hold onto it like it is my only life support. Like it's the only air I can breathe in and the only food I can consume. I was a male in the middle of the desert and she was the only water I needed.