Chapter 24

Chapter 24

I walked blindly toward the group of men, never taking my eyes off my partner's body; my every step was synchronized with my heart's painful, slow beat. With their heads bowed in reverence for the mate bond binding me to their alpha, the warriors made room for me. Because of this, they welcomed me, and even though I felt totally out of my element, I had to make amends because I was the one who had started the problem.

I was waiting for him to smell me, and my heart was racing in my chest, but he was still not feeling my presence. Conversely, though, he had detected his fighters' lack of focus.

With a growl that sent shivers down my spine, I pressed my feet into the ground. Now wasn't the time for my wolf side to jump her bones, though. I knew now that I had hurt him, even if I hadn't realized it at the time when he had left me in the forest. His anger was a mask for his pain, which was palpable to me and made me feel inadequate and guilty.

He might have believed that I had rejected him and that this was the only way he could accept my decision to go and resist the urge to try to lock me away once more. After all, he was the alpha, so the bond was strengthened, and his need to keep it sealed must have been burning inside of him.

I forced my lips to meet his in order to silence the somber sound that was rising in my throat. This was only the beginning of what he would become if I were to reject him. He was less of the man his delta had described and more animalistic and violent.

I was too enamored of him to give in to his alpha tone, so I watched in silence as he bared his teeth at his men, his commanding presence causing them all to bow. I briefly believed that his movements would have passed me by as his gaze swept around his warriors, but I was a fish out of water caught in the net of his attraction.

It was strange to watch as his entire body froze upon seeing me, as if he were a predator refining his sense of sight. His teeth grew longer until they penetrated his lips as his nostrils flared, snatching up my scent.

Right now, the only thing my wolf side was uncomfortable giving him was the one thing it desired from me.

He took a step in my direction, and I stumbled back, afraid of what I thought he would do.

I shouldn't have done it; what I did only served to confirm his perception that I had rejected him. It might have been within his rights to do so, given the state he was in, to force me to tie the knotted strings of fate that bound us. He could have attacked me in this clearing in his violent form by biting me, but instead he bowed his head and howled—a howl that was both angry and excruciating—turning his back on me after he was finished.

The sound nearly brought me to my knees as it trembled through my entire being. My heart felt sliced open by his denial of my presence. It hurt—a searing pain that tore through me, a small taste of what he must have felt like when I made him walk away from me.

Once more, I observed as his eyes swept across his fighters, willfully obliging me as he chose his next victim. However, this fight would not be like the previous ones because, although he had some degree of control prior to seeing me, my presence now appeared to have pushed him over the edge.

Each and every one of them in this clearing had sensed the change in stakes, and somehow, knowing that I was here, I managed to magnify his rage. Though his warriors had previously had an opportunity, this time his control was like a fraying thread about to break.

This was the beast I had only heard about in tales; it was cruel and unforgiving.

This was the king of the werewolves, having earned his titles from his forefathers and deeds.

Before my companion could select from the group, Gabriel moved forward, causing my breath to become trapped in my throat. Although it was a commendable action, what would it cost?

Gabriel had informed me that although he had earned his place on the merits, he would not be able to defeat his Alpha in this manner, not in this shape, not in this state. Derrick appeared to have gained weight; he was now at least a foot taller than I was, and his muscles were noticeably more defined. He wasted no time in landing his first blow, which shocked me so much that I gasped.

It surprised me that Derrick hadn't given up on his wolf form since his wolfish instincts had taken over and he was no longer in control of his wolf. A part of him was holding onto his humanity while his muscles, fangs, and claws changed and twisted to become something else.

He used vicious movements, crushing, clawing, and pouncing. The thick smell of blood filled the room, choking me and raising the possibility that the memories I'd pushed deep inside would come to the surface again. I was watching a disturbing scene, and before I knew what I was doing, I was moving into the fighting area.

It was the most stupid thing I could have done, but I had no other option than to provoke a wolf in its fighting form in order to stop it from becoming violent because of the pain I had caused it.

"Nah! Please stop!" Derrick turned to face me at the sound of my dejected voice, his attention now fixed on the correct target.

A few steps away from me, on the ground, lay a broken body that caught my hesitant attention. Another careless action that accentuated my partner's possessiveness

As Derrick started to move around me, every nerve in my body pricked up. My heart was hammering away in my chest like a magnet drawn to the charge in his body. I tilted my head to face him, feeling the mate bond ripple between us.

I was curious about what he planned to do and what was going through his mind, but I was unable to look past the injured delta on the floor, which had been subjected to my mate's rage when I should have been the one feeling its brunt. I couldn't take the guilt anymore; Gabriel was sputtering blood and attempting to flex his bones back into position.

I gave him an order, "Gabriel, you have to get out of here," as his alpha wolf circled me and eventually heard my name along with another man's.

The space between us vanished as his clawed hand enveloped my throat, reaching out for me. Feeling his body against mine, his muscles twitching with eagerness, and his body glistening with sweat, made my breath catch. His intense gaze pierced me with a burning intention, but what exactly was it? I couldn't tell which he wanted more between the two, but with a little more force, he could snap my neck and perhaps stake his claim if he pulled me in.

I was staring at him with my feet barely off the ground, and I could feel the audience around us getting tense.

"This is between the two of us; if you want to fight, then you will fight with me." I lifted my head and spoke loudly, breaking his hold on me. I knew that he wouldn't hurt me physically, but there were a lot more ways for him to hurt me now that he was in this state.

My hands extended to embrace him, and a surge of electricity ignited our connection. He let out a slow growl from his chest, but he still didn't move to give me what he wanted.

There was aggression in his eyes, bleeding into despair, but he didn't want to fight me. I could see the pain he was in and the expression in his eyes.

"Derrick." His hand tightened around my windpipe as I said his name, a breath on my lips, and I did the only thing that came to mind to prevent him from killing himself.

I gave him a kiss.

My lips pressed against the hardness of his fangs, my mouth soft against his, cautious and obedient.

This kiss was only meant to distract him from his anger, but as soon as I tasted his blood from the earlier lip piercing, it blended easily with my saliva, and I started to lose it. His blood gave me power that shot through my body, tearing and rebuilding my nerve endings as it slammed against them.

I tried to get closer to him, but a barely contained moan pressed harshly against my throat. At the sound, Derrick's grip on my throat relaxed, and he moved his other hand to my back, crushing my spine until there was no space left between us. My hesitant kiss developed into a needy one.

Although he initially remained motionless when I kissed him while I attempted to encircle his waist with my legs as tightly as possible, I was too small and he was too large.

Gradually, my touch started to become less gentle. As our bodies connected, I felt a power surge through me. Derrick gave in to me, controlling my mouth and touch as I started to unravel; it was dangerous and dark. Every breath he took was mine, and every breath I took was his as he consumed me. He was kissing me more harshly and needily, and I was finding it difficult to concentrate on how he was melding against me.

The sensation was exactly the same as it had been a few mornings earlier, with something threatening emerging from within me and crackles of energy sparking against my skin.

Derrick was eating me alive, and my magic was pushing its way to the surface. Like a golden thread with teeth, I could feel the energy encircling the two of us.

This was not going to happen this way right now.

I was writhing against him, panic exploding in my chest. He wasn't having any of it, even though I was doing everything in my power to distance myself from him and the impending danger. His hands remained firmly on my skin, pressing his bruising grip into my flesh.

He did not want to let go of me or give me another opportunity to go. I wasn't sure I could control the damaging energy that was spiraling out of control due to the combination of his kiss and the magic that was building inside of me.

I felt like a kind of catalyst, balancing myself on a thin line that was breaking apart, and Derrick's little grunts of desire were rolling through me. Derrick then withdrew from my lips as we both gasped for breath. His focus aligned with the edge of my throat, and his teeth started to elongate again, half transformed. The line snapped and vanished as he dipped his head into the crook of my neck, his wolfish teeth grazing the skin that would bear his mark. That was how he had undone me.

As my magic started to spiral out of control, I felt the energy pulse through me, erupting outward and clinging to my mate's form with one final flailing strength burst. With a force I shouldn't have been able to muster in my human form, I pushed myself upward, twisting my body as I turned him in my grip, flipping his body and pushing him to the ground.