Love Thy Enemy

Chapter 9

Brone was in his office doing some paperwork when Lucy barged in. "Luce, what's going on? has something happened?" he asked worriedly. Lucy shook her head and slammed her hand down on the desk, making it tremble. "How do you feel about Evolet?" she demanded. Brone was taken aback. "What do you mean? How do I feel about her?" he asked instead of answering. Lucy growled at his evasiveness. "Do you accept her as your mate or not?" she snarled at him. Brone started to get angry. "How dare you come in here and yell at your alpha!" he growled back, but it didn't cow Lucy like it used to. "I am also a part of Evolet's clan, Brone. I am half vampire, remember? your alpha command doesn't work on me anymore." She stated, surprising him. "Now tell me if you are going to accept her." She demanded again. He shook his head with a sigh. "Why do you want to know Lucy?" he asked. "I don't know. I am just getting used to vampires being good, guys." He admitted, lifting his hands in defeat. Lucy shook her head, sorrow filling her eyes. "Brone, you need to either accept her as your mate or accept her rejection." she said, and he was even more worried now.

"Tell me why," he insisted, not phrasing it as a question. Lucy rubbed her face for a minute and then sighed. "Because Brone, it isn’t fair for you to keep putting her through all this pain. That and she is going to hunt Missy and the rogue down. After she kills them to avenge us, she is going to find an isolated place and end herself." she told him. Brone couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean, end herself?" he choked out, afraid he already knew the answer. Trey growled and howled in his mind, wanting to be let out. "She is going to rip her own heart out, Brone. Ancients like her, take mating very seriously. They cherish their mates. She rejected you because you didn't want her, you wanted another female, so she set you free, but you won't do the same for her. She's going to end her own life before she goes feral and needs to be hunted." Lucy cried. Then, as if a switch flipped, Lucy's eyes went cold. "If she kills herself because you couldn't let go of your stupid prejudices, then I will leave the pack, and I will never acknowledge you again, Brone. She saved our pack even though she had every reason to hate us." Lucy hissed and left his office.

Evolet cried silently as she stared at the clothes in her bag. Her family knew what she was going to do, and they knew that in the event of her death, Nikolai was to take over the leadership of the clan. Kali, Jasper, Marcus, and now Jake were to protect him. They’d all tried to talk her out of her plans, but Evolet wouldn't budge. She needed a release, and slumber wasn't good enough. She still felt while she was in slumber, she would still dream of him, her mate, Brone, who chose another. Evolet was avoiding everyone, especially Lucy. Every time Lucy saw her, she broke down sobbing, making Evolet feel worse. The only ones Evolet spoke to were Rick and Case. She gave Rick a large amount of her blood for extreme injuries. "Please tell your baby about me one day? of how much I loved them. After all, they are Bloodborn now. At least I know my bloodline will live on." Evolet said to him, and Case had agreed. They hugged, and then Evolet hadn't spoken to him again. Evolet hadn't seen Brone at all. He seemed to have disappeared, and she was okay with that. Seeing him would be too hard. Pain filled Evolet, and she collapsed to the floor sobbing loudly. She pulled her knees into her chest and hugged herself as she sobbed. Suddenly, she felt large warm arms wrap around her, and she was being rocked as she sobbed. "Shh. It's okay, Evolet." was whispered into her hair as she was rocked.

Brone needed to get away after his talk with Lucy, so he went to the territory his parents used to own. The current Alpha, a friend of his, welcomed him with open arms. Leo took one look at Brone and hugged him tightly. News of what happened to Brone's pack reached Leo. Brone told him everything. About how humans had been experimenting on Supes. How Lucy found her mate, who turned out to be a dragon shifter. Leo had whistled at that. "Do you know how rare a shifter they are?" Leo asked him, shaking his head. Brone chuckled and tipped back the whiskey he'd been drinking. "Not nearly as rare as my mate Leo. She is a rare species of pure blood vampire called a Bloodborn." Brone said, causing Leo to spit his drink out. Brone patted his back as Leo coughed. A woman instantly appeared in the room with them with an astonished look on her face. "Did you say that your mate is a Bloodborn?” she asked with tears in her eyes. Brone frowned and looked between her and Leo. Leo sighed. "Brone, I would like you to meet my mate, Misha. She is a werecat-Bloodborn hybrid." He said, and it was Brone's turn to choke on his drink. Brone found out that Misha was a descendant of Evolet's youngest sister and was just under a century.

Brone learned a lot while he was with Leo's pack. The more he learned, the worse he felt about how he treated Evolet. He learned that packs from all species had looked to her family for protection from other packs and hordes of demons. The more he heard about her and her kind, the more he came to accept Evolet. "I told you our mate was amazing." Trey scolded him. That night, Brone was on edge because of Trey. Something was wrong. He could feel it. "Trey, what's going on?" Brone asked his Lycan, who wouldn't stop howling. "She's leaving Brone. She is going to leave to hunt Missy and the rogue. Then end herself. I can feel her pain, Brone. We must go and stop her now!" he ordered. Brone agreed. He told Leo and Misha what was going on, and they told him they were coming with him. Brone reached his pack around midnight. The night was clear. Brone tracked Evolet's scent to her room and opened the door. The sight of Evolet curled into the fetal position sobbing painfully, gutted him, and he went to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Shh, It's okay, Evolet." He whispered into her hair.

Evolet relaxed into the embrace until her sobs subsided. She didn't know what had come over her. She just couldn't hold all the pain in anymore. She sighed, her body shuddering, and large warm fingers wiped her eyes. She didn't need to turn her head to see who was holding her, but she did anyways. "What are you doing, Brone?" she whispered. Evolet was tired of feeling pain. Surprise flickered inside of her when Brone kissed her temple. "I came back for you, Evolet." He admitted. Evolet pulled away from him and stood up. She was shaking her head in disbelief. "No, I don't believe you, I can't." she replied, shaking her head. Brone sighed and got up as well. "I’m telling you the truth, Evolet. I came back for you. I know I hurt you very badly, and I will hate myself for the rest of my life for what I did. Please forgive me?" he asked Evolet, who could only stare at him. Shaking her head, Evolet walked out of the room but stopped short at the stairs, eyes wide. "Alora?" Evolet asked in shock. She could have sworn she was looking at the grown-up version of her baby sister.

The woman's eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. "Alora was my mother. My name is Misha." She spoke. Evolet's heart nearly stopped as she looked at the young woman, her niece. Within seconds, Evolet was at the bottom of the stairs and pulling Misha into her arms. Misha had the silver eyes of all Bloodborn but long black hair instead of the red Evolet and her sisters shared. It filled Evolet with unimaginable joy to know she wasn't the only one of her original family to survive. "He’s telling the truth, you know. He did come back here for you." She told her aunt. Evolet finally noticed the man standing beside Misha, and she frowned at him. "Oh, Aunt Evolet, this is my mate, Leo." Misha said, and Leo bowed his head respectfully. Evolet sized him up and then returned the gesture. Brone joined them at the bottom of the stairs. "I know what you intend to do Evolet, and I won't allow it. You will not be ending yourself." he ordered. Brone's next words took Evolet's breath away. "I, Brone Jacobs, Alpha Lycan of the Shadow Blood pack, accept you Evolet, ancient of the Bloodborn clan as my mate and Luna." He spoke. Evolet gasped as the bond solidified between them. Suddenly, Lucy burst through the door. "Brone you’re home?" she sounded surprised. When she saw the look on Evolet's face, Lucy knew what had happened, and she smiled. "I'm glad you came to your senses, big brother." She stated before leaving again.

Brone watched as his mate stepped out into the night. Now that he'd accepted her, he could feel her emotions more clearly. What he felt didn't make him any happier. She didn't trust him, and how could he blame her. He'd done abhorrent things to her. He was so ashamed of himself, and he didn't know how to go about fixing things between himself and Evolet. Brone suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Leo there. Leo had a look of sympathy on his face. "Don't worry, Brone. I’ve been where you are. I made some pretty bad mistakes because of how I felt about vampires when I met Misha. It will work out. Just give it time." he assured and left Brone alone with his thoughts. Brone sighed and looked down at his mate again. Now that their mate bond was more secure, Brone could see more clearly inside Evolet. Her soul was so pure and bright. There was no speck of darkness inside of her other than what he had caused himself. He felt the protective instincts she did, not only towards her clan or his pack but towards all beings who couldn’t protect themselves. "I'm not worthy of her." He grumbled aloud to himself. Trey frowned inside him and shook his head. "You are or the goddess wouldn't have paired us together. What you need to do is earn her forgiveness, and in time, I'm sure you will." He chided. Brone shook his head at Trey’s words. His Lycan was right. Evolet hugged her niece and waved as Leo and Misha drove away.

Evolet sat outside in the darkness, tears in her eyes. She was so confused about how she should feel. Brone accepted her, and she could sense their bond growing stronger every minute. She could feel what he did. She knew he felt immense guilt over what he'd done. He wanted to make things right. He was just as confused about how he felt as she was. Evolet just didn't know if she could get past him sleeping with Missy after forging a bond with her. Evolet remembered trying to rip her own heart out to get away from the pain and shivered. She glanced over at Lucy as she joined Evolet outside. Sadness filled Lucy's as she saw everything Evolet was going through. It hurt her to see Evolet hurting so much. "Are you alright, Ev?" Lucy asked, putting her arm around her new sister-in-law. All Evolet could do was shake her head. She wasn't alright. Lucy held Evolet as she finally let go of all the pain she was going through and sobbed into Lucy's shoulder. Everything that had been building up since Lucy had shown up on her territory nearly dead finally came pouring out of her. "Shh, it's okay, Evolet. Everything is going to be alright. You and Brone will work things out. Me and the baby are okay. We'll survive because of you, and we will hunt down that b***h Missy and anyone else who was involved and make them wish they were dead." Lucy crooned while rubbing Evolet's back soothingly. Evolet chuckled and lifted her head. Everything Inside her settled now and she felt a lot better. "Thank you, Lucy, I don't know if I would have been able to survive this world without you." Evolet said honestly. She got up then and walked towards the inky darkness of the woods. She was hungry and needed to hunt. Her silver eyes glowed in the darkness as she moved, one with the night.