I looked at Ophelia with complete contempt, letting every ounce mate? The woman I’d spent over a decade protecting?
ance of my disgust show on my face. The
show on my face. This pathetic human thought she could threaten my
“You think I give a shit about any of that?” I said, my voice cutting through her desperate rambling. “Do you have any idea what I went through to make Kaela mine? 1 spent months tracking down the Moon Priestess, convinced my grandfather to perform her surgery, planned our bonding ceremony for an entire year.”
Ophelia stared at me like I’d just told her the moon was made of cheese. The shock on her face would have been amusing if I wasn’t so fucking angry!
“You… you’ve always been obsessed with her?” Her voice cracked with hysteria. “But that’s impossible! What does that nobody have that makes everyone, lose their minds over her? She can’t even shift properly! She’s just some damaged wolf who doesn’t belong in civilized pack society!”
The casual dismissal of my mate–my everything–snapped what little restraint I had left. My hand moved before I could think, the crack of palm against cheek echoing through the empty factory
“I’ve loved her since she was a scared little wolf cub lost in those mountains,” I snarled, letting my hybrid nature bleed through my voice. The air around us dropped ten degrees as my vampire side responded to my rage. “Since before you ever had the chance to poison her life with your human bullshit.”
Without hesitation 1 grabbed her phone and hurled it into the churning waters below the factory dock Watching her last weapon disappear beneath the waves filled me with savage satisfaction.
Ophelia let out an inhuman wail clawing at her own hair as she watched her final card sink into oblivion. All her schemes, all her manipulation–gone
The pack enforcers emerged from their hiding spots, moving with military precision to arrest her. But as they dragged her toward the transport vehicle, she caught sight of Kaela stepping out from behind the shipping containers.]
“This isn’t over!” Ophelia screamed struggling against the restraints,” Alpha and Luna Duskrend will come for me! Soren will save me! They all love me, not you! You should have died in those mountains!”
I felt Raela’s tension spike through our bond, but she walked toward Ophelia with ice–cold composure that made my chest swell with pride.
You think they’ll have time to worry about you?” Kaela’s voice was deadly quiet. “You might want to reconsider that assumption.
The contusion and dawning terror in Ophelia’s eyes was almost worth the years of planning this moment had taken.]]
After they hauled the human away, Kaela and I drove back to Grimweald territory. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable–it never was with her–but T could feed her curiouty laulding through our bond []
Finally, she turned to me with that direct gaze that had captured my heart when we were children.]]
What you said back there, about loving in since the mou
mountains…” she began
My cheat tightened. F’il been dreading and anticipating this conversation for months. The truth was going to change everything between us, and i wasn’t sure if it would be for better or worse![]
Taking a deep breath. I pulled the car user and turned to face her fully
“Tim Halfling.” I said simply, using the cruel nickname the village wolves had given me.:[]
watched her process th
(, saw the exact moment recognating dawned in her beautiful eyes. The way her breath caught, her pupils dilated–she
God, she remembered.”
The memorses Blooded back, as vivid as if they’d happened yesterday. She was only five when those rogue wolves sold her to that mountain village, to a family of farmers who treated her like ungal labor. I was maybe seven, already living wild in the forests after my parents died []
The pack elders had called me cursed–a hybrid abomination born from a forbidden union between wolf and vampire bloodlines. When my parents died protecting the territory, instead of honoring their sacrifice, the pack drove me out. Tou dangerous, they said Too unpredictable. The vampires didn’t want me either–I was too wolf for their taste 0
So I lived alone in those mountains, surviving on instinct and the hybrid strength that made me an outcast.[]
I’d been alone for two years when I first saw her.
This tiny wolf girl, thin as a reed from malnutrition, struggling up the mountain paths with a bundle of grass twice her size. She was humming to herself–some lullaby she probably remembered from before the trafficking and I was completely entranced
Even malnourished and mistreated, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen||
I started watching her from the shadows. Following at a distance, making sure the village males didn’t hurt her when she was alone on the mountainside. There were several close calls–times when their intentions became clear and I had to intervene with tooth and claw
The first time I saved her from them, she wasn’t afraid of me. Everyone else took one look at my hybrid features–the fangs, the unnatural speed, the way my eyes reflected light–and ran screaming. But she just looked up at me with those big eyes and whispered “thank you”
She started seeking me out after that. Teaching me proper words, sharing the scraps of cooked meat she could smuggle from her chores. I’d bring her fresh game when I could, and she’d make a fire and cook it properly, always making sure I got the bigger portion]
For three years, she was my entire world. My only friend. The only person who saw me as something other than a monster.
You called me Halfling because I was half of everything but whole of nothing,” I said now, my voice rough with emotion. “But you never made me feel Like I was broken“]
Then one day, she just vanished. No goodbye, no explanation. I searched for weeks, following her scent until it disappeared at the village edge. It wasn’t until I overheard some gossip that I learned the truth–the “cursed wolf girl had been reclaimed by her rich city pack.
“I looked everywhere for you.” I told her, watching tears stream down her face. “When I couldn’t find you, I knew I had to get stronger. Rich enough and powerful enough to protect you if I ever found you again.”
thing, hunting and killing anything that moved. It wasn’t until I saved Marcus
The pain of losing her had nearly killed me. For months, I’d been a feral thing, h Grinaveald during a vampire attack that my life changed.
He was childless, desperate for an heir. He didn’t care about my mixed blood–if anything, my hybrid nature made me more valuable to his plans for expanding pack territory. So he adopted me, gave me his name, his resources, his protection
“I spent three years building my position in the pack, gathering intelligence on your situation.” I continued, reaching out to touch her face. “When I learned about the wolf bone bracelet, about what they were doing to you…“[
n me insane[]
My voice hardened with remembered rage. The urge to hunt down everyone who’d hurt her had nearly driven
The Moon Priestess broke the curse the day you met her,” I admitted, watching her eyes widen with shock. “Everything after that–the bonding ceremony, the dramatic rescue–it was all theater. A way to get you away from the legally, so no one could ever hurt you again.”
“Tam sorry I lied about the bracelet,” I said softly. “But I couldn’t risk them finding out and shopping me before I could get you to safety.”
Karla stared at me for a long moment, her scent shifting through a dozen different emotions. Then she threw herself into my arms, sobbing against my chest
“All this time,” she whispered. “All this time, someone actually gave a damn about me.“]
I held her tight, breathing in her scent, hardly believing she was real and safe and mine after all these years of planning and waiting
“You were never just my friend, Kaela.” Iured into her hair. “You were always meant to be my mate. I just had to wait until I was s to claim you properly”
And now, finally, she was home where she belonged
was
