My Unfated Mate

Chapter Two

Elen turned away from Stanley, determined to put as much distance between herself and the ridiculous situation as possible.

She had barely taken three steps when three figures moved in front of her.

The same three young men who had been standing behind Stanley now blocked her path. Their amusement was gone.

The tallest of them folded his arms across his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Elen looked at him. “Away.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think you can reject Stanley and simply walk away?”

“I thought that was generally how rejection worked.”

One of the others scoffed. “Do you even understand who you just rejected?”

“His name is Stanley. I’ve already been informed.”

The three exchanged irritated looks.

“You should be on your knees begging him to take you back,” the shortest one said. “Do you know how many girls in this pack would give anything to be his mate?”

Elen shrugged. “Then perhaps one of them should have been standing here.”

The tallest man’s expression hardened.

“You are a wolfless. You should be grateful he even considered keeping you.”

Elen’s jaw tightened. “He didn’t consider keeping me. He rejected me.”

“And you rejected him back.”

“Yes.”

“Apologize.”

“No.”

His hand shot toward her arm.

Elen moved before she had time to think. She twisted away from his grip, caught his wrist, and used his momentum to send him stumbling forward. He managed to regain his balance after several steps and turned around, staring at her in disbelief.

Elen was surprised too.

She had not used any supernatural strength. That had been pure training. Greg had spent years teaching her how to defend herself because he had always known that one day she might find herself in a world where she could not rely on anyone else.

Apparently, those lessons had been worth every bruise.

The second wolf charged before she could prepare herself. Elen ducked beneath his swinging fist and drove her elbow into his ribs. He grunted and staggered sideways, but the third man was already coming at her.

She barely managed to block his strike.

The impact sent her backward.

Her shoes scraped against the ground as she fought to keep her balance. Before she could recover, the man swung again. Elen ducked, caught his leg, and pulled hard enough to send him crashing onto his face.

She stepped away, breathing heavily.

The three wolves stared at her.

Elen stared back.

“What?” she asked.

The tallest man slowly rose to his feet.

“You’re not as weak as you look.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

His lips curled into a snarl.

Then he charged.

This time, the other two moved with him.

Elen’s confidence disappeared almost immediately.

One against one, her training gave her an advantage. Against three, it was becoming a different story entirely.

She ducked beneath the first punch, but the second caught her shoulder and spun her sideways. She recovered just in time to avoid another strike, only for the tallest wolf to come from behind.

Elen twisted away, but his fist grazed her cheek.

Pain flashed across her face.

She retaliated with a punch of her own, but the man barely seemed affected.

Of course he didn’t.

He was a werewolf.

She was not.

And three werewolves were beginning to take advantage of that.

Another blow struck her side.

Elen stumbled.

The third wolf seized that opportunity and grabbed her arm. She twisted desperately, drove her heel into his knee, and managed to break free, but another fist came toward her face.

She raised her arms just in time.

The impact sent her backward.

Her breathing became ragged.

She could hear people around the clearing reacting to the fight. Some were cheering. Others were whispering. A few seemed shocked that the supposedly wolfless girl had managed to last this long.

But Elen barely heard them.

She was concentrating on staying upright.

Several yards away, beyond the edge of the clearing, someone watched from the darkness.

Drew stood beneath the trees with his arms loosely folded across his chest, his attention fixed entirely on the girl struggling against the three wolves.

She was clearly outmatched.

Yet she refused to surrender.

She was stubborn.

Proud.

And completely unwilling to let someone else’s opinion define her.

Drew found himself wondering how well she would fit among his people.

Then the tallest wolf struck her again.

Elen stumbled several steps, caught herself, and immediately raised her fists.

Drew’s expression changed slightly.

She was exhausted.

She was hurt.

She knew she was losing.

Yet she was still standing.

Interesting.

Back in the clearing, Stanley watched with growing irritation.

He had expected his supposedly weak mate to collapse after the rejection. Instead, she had embarrassed him by rejecting him back and then managed to hold her own against three of his friends.

His pride could not tolerate it.

“Enough!”

His voice cut through the clearing.

The three wolves stopped.

Elen remained where she was, breathing heavily, one hand pressed against her side.

Stanley walked toward her.

“Leave her.”

His friends reluctantly stepped back.

Stanley stopped several feet from Elen. His eyes moved over her bruised face and disheveled clothes before settling on her eyes.

There was surprise in his expression now, but his pride would not allow him to admit it.

“Don’t misunderstand what just happened,” he said. “I rejected you first, so your rejection doesn’t bother me.”

Elen looked at his clenched hands.

She almost smiled.

“Of course it doesn’t.”

Stanley’s expression darkened.

Before he could respond, movement came from the darkness beyond the clearing.

A calm voice followed.

“If you reject her, I don’t mind claiming her for myself.”

Every head turned.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The three wolves stiffened.

Stanley’s eyes narrowed.

A figure stepped out from between the trees.

Elen’s breath caught.

He was tall and dressed entirely in black. Dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, while his sharp features carried an effortless elegance that made him stand apart from everyone else around him.

But it was his eyes that captured Elen’s attention.

Dark.

Intense.

Unmistakably dangerous.

They settled on her.

For one strange moment, everything else disappeared.

Elen’s heart began beating faster.

She felt the same overwhelming attraction she had experienced when she first looked at Stanley, but this was stronger.

The stranger looked at her in exactly the same way.

His gaze travelled briefly over her bruised face and torn clothing before returning to her eyes.

Something almost amused flickered across his expression.

Someone behind Stanley whispered, “Vampire.”

Another voice followed.

“It’s Drew. The rogue.”

Elen barely registered the words.

Stanley did.

His entire expression hardened.

“She’s still my mate.”

Drew finally looked away from Elen.

His eyes settled on Stanley.

“Is she?”

Stanley’s jaw tightened.

“Until the bond is completely broken, she belongs to me.”

Elen frowned.

“You rejected me.”

Stanley looked at her.

“I rejected you. That doesn’t mean you can immediately throw yourself at another man.”

Elen stared at him in disbelief.

“I wasn’t aware I needed your permission.”

Several people around the clearing exchanged uncomfortable looks.

Stanley’s face darkened.

“Take her.”

The three wolves immediately moved.

This time, there was no hesitation.

Their bodies changed as they activated partial transformation, their arms and legs becoming stronger as claws emerged from their fingers. They knew exactly what Drew was, and they knew better than to underestimate him.

Drew watched them approach.

Then his eyes returned briefly to Elen.

For some reason, the thought of those claws touching her irritated him.

The first wolf lunged.

Drew moved.

He crossed the distance between them with such speed that Elen barely saw him. One moment the wolf was coming toward her, and the next Drew had intercepted him and sent him crashing backward.

Another attacked from the side.

Drew turned, caught the strike, and drove the wolf backward with a force that made several people gasp.

The third came from behind.

Drew moved again.

The clearing erupted into chaos.

Elen backed away, trying to stay out of their path.

She knew she could not help.

Not against creatures like these.

Then one of the wolves broke away from Drew and came straight for her.

Elen dodged his first attempt to grab her.

She moved again.

Another wolf appeared from her side.

Drew saw him.

He moved to intercept the attack, but his claws swung a little too wild.

Four sharp lines tore across Elen’s shoulders.

She screamed.

Pain exploded through her body.

It was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Her knees gave way, and she crashed onto the ground, clutching her shoulders as agony spread through every part of her.

Then something happened inside her.

A trickle of vampire power entered her body through the wound from Drew’s claws.

At first, it felt like fire.

Then it became something deeper.

Something foreign.

Something powerful.

Then the severance shattered.

Something ancient surged through her veins.

Her wolf, which had stirred for the first time earlier that night, finally awakened fully.

Her magic erupted.

And the vampire power became part of her.

The Moon Goddess’s mate spell that has bound every werewolf in history and had been able to bind Elen through the werewolf power sealed within her shattered at that moment as that power was no longer the most dominant supernatural force within her. The vampire power had entered her blood, changing the balance of what she was.

And Stanley had already rejected her.

She had rejected him in return.

There was nothing left for the mate spell to hold on to.

The bond snapped.

Stanley screamed.

He dropped to his knees and clutched his chest as though something had been violently torn from inside him.

The fight stopped.

His friends rushed toward him.

“Stanley!”

“What happened?”

“Are you hurt?”

Nobody understood.

Nobody noticed that Elen was still writhing on the ground.

Nobody except Drew.

He crossed the distance between them and crouched beside her.

He slipped one arm beneath her back and another beneath her knees.

Then he lifted her from the ground.

The last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was his face.

Then Drew carried her away from the clearing and disappeared into the night.