Chapter 14
1152 Words
Ellies POV:
“So are you going to ask me?” I demand at his back. He doesn’t even have the decency to turn and face me. I can see how tense he is by the rigid set of his shoulders. I’m tense too — just being near him does that to me — but right now I’m more furious than anything else.
“Is that what you think of me? That you don’t even respect me enough to ask how I feel about this? About how the hell I’d feel to sacrifice you!”
His head drops. “No… I do respect you, it’s just—”
“Just what?” I yell, because he still won’t look at me. “I know having a mate doesn’t mean s**t to you — especially a mate like me.” My voice breaks, but I force it steady again. “But it means something to me, Luke!”
“Is that what you think this is?” he rasps. Finally, finally he turns around. His blue eyes look exhausted, but the moment they lock with mine they spark to life.
He closes the distance between us in slow, deliberate strides. Nema stands frozen, wide-eyed, while Luke moves. Every step is like gravity pulling me closer. His aura is so overwhelming, I don’t know whether to fall at his feet or run from him.
His breath, hot and minty, fans across my lips. “If I could… f**k, Ellie. I’d worship the ground you walk on.” His voice comes out rough, eyes burning with a truth so raw it nearly knocks me over. He’s letting me in, letting me feel him. “I wouldn’t pick this life for us. I’d pick you. Every damn time. If I could.”
The weight of his confession presses on me, crushing and sweet all at once. But then — it’s gone. His walls slam back up. I can’t feel him anymore.
“Then pick me,” I whisper. Tears slip free. It’s selfish, I know. It makes everything harder. But I can’t help it. It’s what I want more than anything in the world.
“Ellie, I need you to do this for me. Please.” The desperation in his voice sounds so foreign. This is a man who never needs anyone.
“You’re asking me to give you up before I’ve even had the chance to know you.”
“I’m asking you to save so many others. Just give up one — me. Save my son. The pups. The innocents of Blue Blood, like Gloria. Like Lilah.” His voice fractures. “I’m asking you to be strong, like I know you are. I hate that it has to be you. It’s not fair. I know that.”
His hands grip my arms. Sparks burst across my skin at his touch, racing through me.
“Aren’t you afraid?” I breathe.
“I don’t think I’d ever bow at anyone’s feet willingly — and die — but yours. So in a way… I’m glad it’s you.”
Glad it’s me? That he’d be glad I’d be there, at the end? My head spins. I can’t think, not this close.
“Ellie, please. Come inside. Luke is leaving.” Nema’s hand slips around mine. I didn’t even see her move. I pull away from Luke and instantly go cold all over.
“Where are you going?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
“I… I’m due back at the packhouse. Kim’s waiting. If I’m gone too long, they’ll come looking.”
“Why is she always with you? Why is Kim constantly by your side?”
His eyebrows shoot up. “What? I… she was the only one I trusted to bring me here.”
“You trust her?”
“My sister does. That’s enough for me.”
I search his face for something, anything. But there’s only exhaustion. I turn desperately to Nema. There has to be another way.
Nema sighs. “There isn’t. Lilah knew that. Even after thinning out the Blue Blood ranks, the Elders are too powerful. Especially now, with the Alpha. The boy’s hunter blood makes them unstoppable, even if they don’t realize it yet. This is the only way. And I won’t let you get mixed up in werewolf business.”
“Nema!” I protest. I give her the look I always did when I was little, determined and stubborn. I can’t accept that this is the end. I’ll find another way. I have to.
Luke glances at the setting sun, then back at me. “I’ll come back when I can. But I have to go now.”
I nod, even though every part of me wants to grab him and make him stay.
His eyes trace over me like he’s trying to memorize every line, every freckle. “Okay.” He turns toward the barrier.
“Luke!” I call. He spins instantly.
“Yeah?”
“I’ll help you. But I have a condition.”
“Condition?” His lips tug into a small, almost knowing smile.
“Yes. I want something in return.”
His smile warms me. I can’t help it — my face lights up, even now. But then nerves rush in, and my smile falters. “Spend time with me. If I’m going to do this, I want to know you. I want time.”
“Ellie, no!” Nema snaps. “You’re already fated. You don’t need more time together.”
“El, she’s right. It’ll only make it harder,” Luke says, his voice gentle but pained. The way he says El gives me butterflies, even now.
“You owe me at least this.” My voice is firm, leaving no room for argument.
It’ll make it harder. But it’s already hard. The least he can do is give me this. Time to be with him. Time to figure out another way.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I blink, surprised by how easily he agrees.
“Yes, Ellie. Okay. I can do that.” He glances toward Kim, waiting by the barrier, then back at me. “I’ll try.”
“Good. Good.” Relief mixes with dread in my chest. This might give me enough time.
“But I have a condition too.”
He steps close again. His scruff brushes my cheek. Nema mutters under her breath, “You’ve got to be f*****g kidding.”
His thumb strokes my jaw. His eyes are so tired, but so soft.
“Please, don’t get your hopes up. When the time comes… you can’t back out. Promise me.”
“I…” I don’t want to promise that. But I vow to find another way, before it ever comes to that. I open my eyes and look right into his. “I promise.”
- Writer
