62

I shake off the thoughts and focus again on the link between my true mate and I. He may have tried to sever it, but it still pulses and pulls me closer as though it has a mind of its own. I probably would have given up on him long ago but for the dreams and visions of us together that began before I even met him. Even the very marrow in my bones knows we are meant to be together. He is my destiny, and I will not stray from this path now.

"No, please! Don't hurt me... Please, stop!"

I halt in the path and listen to the heart-wrenched cries that come from just up ahead of me. They are accompanied by muffled curses and harsh whispers.

"Let me go! Please, no, don't do this!"

The broken sobs of a woman echo through the trees and I hurry forward to investigate. Something about the timbre of her voice is familiar, tugging on something within me like a suppressed memory. With a wildly beating heart, I try to still my breathing as I peer from around a tree and inhale the dirty smell of rogues. I see two or three of them carousing about a huddled form amongst the brackened forest floor.

"You ain't good for nothing, no more. Jes' a worthless whore. When we done with you, the rogue dungeons is where you'll belong," one of the rogues says in a deep and gravelly voice, sending shivers down my spine and making the woman sob even harder.

"Please—"

Her cry is cut off by an awful scream, and I can't stand by silently any longer. "Let her go!" I shout and step out from behind the tree. Gabby tries pulling me back but I ignore her.

Everything within me urges me to defend this woman. Strange yet familiar, I watch as she is pushed down to the ground, a heavy boot pressed to her neck as she struggles under the weight of the rogue. Her dull black hair is splayed around, covering her face from me. But in the dim light of the veiled moon, I see bronzed skin etched in agony. A silent scream aching to be heard. A frantic and thundering heart singing to my own.

The rogues all look towards my sudden appearance, and I take a step closer. "I said, let her go!" I try to look as ferocious and dominant as I can, but it is hard when the Alpha's rejection is still weighing heavily on my shoulders like a condemnation.

"And what's the pretty little lady going to do? Throw her shoe at us?" one of them leers, and the others drop their heads back and laugh. At this distraction, the woman manages to scramble to her knees, but just as I catch a glimpse of her face, one of the men lurches forward and extends his claws.

"No!" I scream, just as her eyes widen and her lips form my name.

"Ariell—"

My feet feel like they are bound in steel bands of silver, anchoring me in the horrible position of watching as the rogue's claws slice into her neck and release the blood that is her life. Her strangled scream echoes in my mind, her face that draws on my earliest childhood memories twisting into a mask of death.

"Mom! Nooo!" I watch as the woman who gave birth to me crumples to the dirt once more, blood pouring down her shirt and pooling in the mossy leaves. My heart feels like it has been ripped out again as I relive my most traumatic memory of seeing my own mother slaughtered before me.

But I am stronger now. No longer the defenceless little girl I was, I rush forward as soon as my feet receive the screaming message and lunge at the nearest rogue. He bats me away as if I were merely a flea, and I slam into the ground.

Another rogue comes up to me and pushes me back when I try to rise. His face leans close, and I see darkness swirling in his eyes, glints of red circling the black voids of his pupils. Dread snakes its way through my entire body.

These aren't normal rogues.

He shoves me further into the dirt, my head slamming down hard.

My face lands inches from my mother's, but when I turn my head sideways, I no longer see her.

In her place is a grinning demon with pale skin and shiny hair, a beautiful figure draped in jet black wings. They hang like a mangy cape from her shoulders when she stands to her feet, her skin no longer torn open by rogue claws.

"Their minds are so weak. They fall so easily for any slight bending of perception. I almost pity the mere mortals," she speaks with a fluid voice, soft as honey yet seductively poisonous like a vial of illicit drugs. When she bends over me and runs a finger along my cheek, I shudder at the cold touch. I am sure ice forms on my skin as her fingers scrape over it.

"So weak and worthless."

"This one's not so worthless. Feel how innocent she is? I'm sure our master can think of a use for her," one of the male demons chuckles wickedly and brushes his knuckles down my arm. I squirm under his disgusting touch and earn myself a slap across the cheek.

"So she's a fighter. The Prince will love her," the other one wiggles his brows.

Oh, they haven't even seen me fight yet, I think to myself. If I could only get my arm free and reach for the dagger in my dress, I'm sure I could take them on.

"Don't even think about it, little wolf," the female coos and looks at me tenderly, a condescending smirk playing on her beautiful face as if she is superior to me in every single way and I am merely a pet.

I refuse to be belittled by such vile creatures. Spitting blood from my mouth, I bare my teeth and growl viciously. With their eyes on my face, I extend my claws and slash at the arms that pin me down. When I am free, I reach for the knife and pull it out, brandishing it like a powerful sword.

I feel energy tingle up my fingers and wrists, down my arms and through my body as I lunge once again at the male demon who has his tainted hands on me. He jumps back with unnatural speed, but I don't miss the shock in his eyes.

Though I recognise they have superior strength and speed to the average mortal, I see the blade of the dagger slice into his chest and carve a black arc through his shirt. Liquid seeps out, staining his clothes in a deadly colour, and his eyes widen at the same time as mine.

But he hesitates a second longer than me, and I take that advantage to jump towards him again, sinking the dagger into his chest where I assume his heart is. Do demons even have hearts?

I'm not sure, but I feel a surge of satisfaction as his face contorts in agony and his body recoils in pain.

Then his skin erupts in flecks of red dust, brightening to orange sparks before dimming to blackened ash. His form disintegrates and is blown away on the brisk edge of the wind.

The other demons stand stunned, but my veins are still surging with adrenaline and something else. Something dominant and powerful. Something surreal and almost divine, I think to myself as I launch myself at them and attack when they are distracted. My body is tight and fluid, full of lethal grace and poise, moving in carefully sequenced steps that slice and stab. I feel a connection with the land beneath my feet, a raw instinct to protect this territory and its peaceful inhabitants.

I duck from a hideous talon of a demon, then roll before coming up again and twisting around to shove the dagger right between his eyes. It is gruesome, and I have never killed besides the one rogue, but I don't feel any remorse or regret as the demons scream and fade to oblivion from my deadly blows.

The female is the last to fall under my blade, her once beautiful face morphing into something too hideous to describe before she bursts into a million crimson sparks.

I stand panting for a moment, catching my breath before slipping the dagger back under my dress. I then press on towards Malachi.

Instead of scaring me, this encounter with demons, shadows of the Interealm, I am even more purposeful in reaching my mate and saving him from the dangerous creatures that have crawled from Hell.

"Girl, that was crazy awesome! You were like a ninja!"

I startle at Luci's exclamation, and clutch my hand to my chest. "Oh, so you saw me fighting for my life? I don't suppose you would have lent a hand if they were actually about to kill me," I say sarcastically, my heart still thudding with the aftereffects of the adrenaline surge. My senses are still hyperaware, my fingers still clenched as if gripping a deadly blade.

"It was your fight, Ari. We couldn't intervene," Gabby says softly, catching me off guard.

Intervene?

Before I can ask what she means, a number of dark shadows surround us, and I instinctually run ahead, my friends right behind me. We are followed, their footsteps barely making a sound as the dark creatures remain on our trail as we crash through the forest together.

A cold prickle of fear again crawls over my skin, but I refuse to give into panic now. I've come this far, and nothing is going to stop me from reaching my mate—

A hand clamps around my shoulder harshly, just when I can see the lights of Malachi's mansion, and pulls me to an abrupt stop. My body lurches back and I stumble to my rear before I am pulled up to my feet. Rough hands grab at my arms and pin them behind me. I can't reach the dagger, so I try twisting and yanking to free my arms, but it's to no avail. I see Luci and Gabby are in a similar predicament.

"Stop moving and walk!" A steely voice demands as their fingers sink like sharp talons into my shoulder, making me cry out in pain. I drop to my knees and try heaving them over my shoulder, trying all the defensive moves Hamilton and Harlow taught me. But the demon at my back is stronger than anything I possess in me, and I feel the sharp edge of despair finally hit me when they clasp my wrists together with a cool metal. I can't break it or even twist my arms slightly against them.

"Yeah, I figured that would restrain you. Such a feisty little shewolf. Our master is going to be so wrathful when he hears you killed his favourite warrior," the demon breathes down my neck. He pushes me forward and I stumble along, mumbling prayers in my head.

My mind is racing, my heart is thundering like a freighter without an engineer to guide it, and my senses are assaulting me with the sulphurous stench of those holding me captive.

Soon I see more figures up ahead, pacing amongst the trees like predatory tigers. One steps forward, and his eyes glow almost violet in the crimson light from the moon.

"If that's your master, tell him I'm going to rip his eyes out after I slash his throat in two," I hiss, infuriated with the overpowering sense of helplessness that descends on me like a heavy cloak. The metal binding my wrists seems to sap my energy, draining me of all strength and adrenaline.

"Oh, no, that's not him. But I sure would love to see you play with our master. Such a good sport, you'd be," they mock me with cruel laughs and jests, making my blood boil.

"Austin, we have her. You won't be pleased to hear that she killed Exina," the demon holding me addresses the one with violet eyes, and I gasp as he steps closer and into view.

His body is built like a wolf warrior, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, thick biceps and massive thighs, rugged features and large hands that could crush rogue scalps between them.

"That's too bad. I always knew she'd be a vicious little fighter. But are you really so afraid of her to be using elizenthium cuffs? Don't tell me she's stronger than you?" He laughs, and my eyes widen.

Elizenthium is a rumoured mineral that is thought to exist only in the past, and then only rarely. Its properties of attracting electrons, breaking molecular bonds and thus drawing all energy from whatever it touches were exploited, used in cruel torture devices for the most heinous criminal rogues.

The fact that demons have obtained this element shouldn't surprise me, but I am more than frightened that I am in contact with it. I feel faint, sick, and on the edge of unconsciousness.

I think I would already be at the complete whim of the demons that hold me captive if it weren't for one thing keeping me wary and alert.

The demon leader standing before me, looking down and scrutinising me, is extremely familiar to me.

His thick russet coloured hair, the brown hues beneath the unnatural violet in his eyes, his name —Austin—and even his scent beneath layers of roguish grime, all scream impossible in my mind.

He can't be real. This is just another trick of my mind and I shrink back when he kneels down and touches my face tenderly.

"Ariella..." he whispers softly, his rough voice catching in a manner I recall vividly. "My daughter, you have no idea how long I've waited for this day. To see you again—"

Then he gathers me lovingly in his strong arms, and I can't help but believe that this man really is my father, back from the dead.

"Dad?"

"My baby girl. I'm so sorry. For everything. I tried to find a way back to you.."

I pull away from where my face is held close against his shoulder, and look him in the eyes.

This wolf, who is my father, is looking at me tenderly, tears in the eyes that I have dreamt about a thousand times since I last saw them. So warm and brown, swirling with honey and delight, mirth and amusement, comfort and love. Not all those emotions are in them now, and I can well imagine why.

"But I watched you die," I begin shaking my head, refusing to believe it's really him. "The rogues tore you apart." I pull back further, trying to stay standing on my feet which is a struggle due to my wrists still being bound and my legs weak with fatigue.

"Cyril, get those cuffs off her!" he growls at the demon at my back, and I flinch when cold fingers pry the elizenthium bonds loose. I rub my wrists, pushing feeling back into them, and am shocked when warm hands encase them in his own.

My father then speaks in a broken voice. Rich and deep, like I knew so well, but cracked like a hundred years of grief have etched it with hopelessness. "I know that's what it seemed like, darling, on that horrible day Alpha Chesca's pack was attacked. I fought with everything in me to protect you and your mother, my sweet Aliyah..." He pauses and takes a shuddery breath before continuing, "But the rogues stunned me. They came without warning and before I could get myself together, they had bound me and were wrestling me away."

"But you were dead!" I wail, tears filling my eyes once more and beginning to stream down my face. With the appearance of my father, I am being forced to relive my most terrible nightmare. The day my world shattered around me. The day I saw my parents ripped to shreds by disgusting rogues, their bodies littered amongst others who'd died protecting our pack from invasion by the cruel Alpha of the neighbouring pack. I can still remember the tangy metallic scent of their blood and the glassy surfaces of their lifeless eyes. The silence of their unmoving chests as I clung to them for comfort, before realising I would never again feel their warmth and love.

My dad shakes his head sadly. "I almost wish I had died. The rogues injured me severely, and it took months for my wounds to heal. They held me captive, only allowing me to heal so I could do their bidding. I've had to work with them for years, but I was always trying to find a way back to you. I'm so sorry—" he reaches for me again, but I pull back.

"No! You can't be alive. It's not real. My father would never give up and be captured. He'd never work for rogues..." I trail off, my sobs overtaking my words.

"Darling, I'm so sorry," he pulls me close against his chest again, but I fight him, beating him with my tiny fists upon his firm chest. He doesn't stop me, just holds me tight until I've depleted my store of anger and sorrow at the injustice of our situation. For years, we have been kept apart. For years, I have grieved everything I've lost. For years, he's been trying to come back to me.

Now he has, and I give up fighting this impossible reality. I sag into his arms and let him stroke my hair and whisper soothing words against my ear. His masculine and rugged scent envelopes me and seems to reconnect all the severed bonds between us. I snuggle into the warmth of my father—my father!—and for a moment everything is right in the world. I am okay. I am not in pain, I am not lost, I am not deserted and rejected. I am a daughter in her father's arms and nothing is going to take him away from me again.

"Now, listen to me carefully, Ari," he takes my shoulders and speaks seriously, and I feel the familiar feeling of dread seep back into my heart. "Tonight is very important. You need to come with us, but promise to do as I say. Can you do that for me, baby girl?"

I nod numbly, "Anything. As long as I can stay with you."

He smiles at me broadly, his white teeth gleaming despite the red glow around us, then pulls me to my feet and takes my hand in a comforting way. It makes me feel like I'm seven years old again, my own small hand trembling yet secure and cherished in his firm grip.

We push through the forest again, yet this time I am not running blindly towards Malachi's estate, but following my dad's lead with a few shady demons behind us. They make me nervous, but I feel safe beside my dad. And besides, I still have the dagger tucked in my dress should I need to slay any more demons.

I feel the scent change in the air, the weight of it growing stronger and heavier. It isn't only rogues, but something darker. Something I recognise from Seneca and even Malachi, and especially the black beings following me.

There are more than a few demons ahead of us, and I shiver in pure fear as we step into a clearing that is surrounded by tall trees. It is a place on Malachi's territory that I've never been to before, so the landscape is unfamiliar to me. I edge closer to my dad, staying hidden in his broad shadow as the light of a raging bonfire blazes towards us from the centre of the clearing.

A number of silhouettes stand between us and the flames, and even more figures hover around the edges, their bright glowing eyes reflecting the light like burnished coins. I shudder and wish I could shrink under their harsh and scrutinising gazes.

"Seneca, look at the stray dog we found wandering lost in the woods," the demon called Cyril shoves me in the back, making me stumble forward. I gasp, and look up in time to see Luna Seneca twirl around to face me. On her face is a superior smirk, not of surprise, as if she knew I would show up all along.

"So, you finally made it, dear girl. Just in time, too," her obsidian gaze flickers upward, and I follow it to see the moon nearly completely eclipsed in the sickly red shadow.

I'm trying to figure out what she means when my ears are arrayed by another sound.

"Ariella?"

I hear the strangled voice, recognising the deep timbre twisted with anguish, and everything within me freezes in horror.

"Malachi?" My eyes search for my mate, and my frantic movements come to a halt as I see Malachi to my left a dozen yards away, strapped to a wrought iron post by bindings that shine a dull jade. Or corn blue, depending on the light.

He writhes against them, his wrists, stomach, and biceps burning red where the ancient and rare element holds him captive. His face is strained, glistening with sweat, his bare chest heaving as he takes ragged breaths. His feet slide in the mossy bracken underfoot as they try to gain purchase, but fail dismally. He is thoroughly at the mercy of whatever morbid scenario is about to play out.

And I am too shocked to say a single thing.

"Ariella..." he weakly says my name again, the sound breaking whatever is left of my heart. All else around us fades to unobserved oblivion as my attention focuses solely on him. He throws his head back and grimaces in helplessness as obvious pain wracks his body. I clutch my own chest as the weak bond between us leaks some of his misery to me. When he calms enough, he whispers to me through clenched teeth, "You were never meant to be here for this."

My eyes are on his, the navy hue sparkling somewhere beneath the tossed strands of his inky black fringe that hangs fallen over his face.

Then his irises change to crimson, and the throaty growl that is ripped from his throat sends everything within me screaming in response.

~A few hours earlier~

Malachi stared at the door that just slammed. The door to his office through which is mate had just left.

Left wouldn't be the right word to describe it.

She'd been dragged—shocked, angry, and relentlessly asking why he'd rejected her.

That was a very good question, one he hated admitting to himself. He knew exactly why, but what cut him up the most was the fact he had to do it. It was beyond his control. Out of his hands.

For her sake... he repeated the words that had kept him grounded the last few weeks. Everything was for her sake...

"Are you an idiot?" Hendrik asked, his accusing tone slicing through the silence that reigned in the office since Ariella's departure. Her plaintive sobs still echoed in his mind, but otherwise all was silent except for the ragged breaking of his heart.

"You just rejected your mate, the woman who was made for you. Why? Can't you see how much she cares for you?" Hendrik pushed, his words sounding like grating knives clashing together in Malachi's tumultuous brain.

"Ariella has to stay away from me!" He turned and suddenly shouted, a loud growl reverberating from him just as Hamilton returned.

He made eye contact with his Alpha, and Malachi realised he'd left Knight to deal with Ariella. He could only hope that what Ariella said about Knight wasn't true, that he wasn't the traitorous dog who had betrayed them and abducted Ariella and Alpha Chesca before the rogue attack a few weeks back.

He trusted Knight, and didn't want to believe he was working against them. He had so many other things to worry about, and trusting Ariella's outlandish words was sadly at the bottom of those priorities. She may have seen things and drawn pictures of their future, but it wasn't a future he could afford to believe in.

His consisted of darkness and pain, and keeping her away from that was the best way he knew how to protect her.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I first thought," Hendrik continued, objection in his tone that bordered on disrespect for his Alpha. "I wish I myself had escorted her away from here, far away from such an ungrateful mongrel as you," he said harshly, causing Malachi to growl and Hamilton to clasp his shoulder firmly.

"Gamma, remember your place!"

"No, it's alright Hamilton. Let him continue. I want to know exactly what he thinks," Malachi said with threads of steel in his voice. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, fighting the urge to go after Ariella and prevent another man from laying a hand on her.

"You are a coward. Ariella is the kindest, most sweet and compassionate shewolf I've ever met. All she's ever done is care for you and love you with all her heart. I've seen it in her eyes since the day she moved here. She is stronger than any of us think, and would have made a brilliant Luna. Yet what have you done? You threw everything she did back in her face and kicked her out for no damn reason!"

The words were like poisoned arrows piercing Malachi's already scalded skin. He couldn't deny the truth of them. Yet, what his command didn't know, was that saying those harsh words of rejection to Ariella had been like shoving his claws into his own chest and ripping out his heart. He could see the pain in Ariella's face, could hear the despair and disbelief in her voice, and then the rage that bubbled out of her usually temperate nature.

And he'd been the cause of it.

But she'd be far worse off if he'd let her continue loving him. He had to let her go, and make everyone believe he truly didn't care for her. He had to make her hate him.

Hendrik, oblivious to the conflicting turmoil in his Alpha's head, kept prodding, poking as with a cowpoke. "You know who you remind me of? Your father."