Chapter3: Mate?
1298 Words
Elena’s pov;
A low growl rumbled from above me, and I glanced up.
I hadn’t noticed the woman with them until she spoke. Her face twisted in disdain as her eyes met mine. I turned away quickly, instinctively curling in on myself.
“No,” she snapped. “Absolutely not!”
“She’s from Moonfall,” one of the men snarled. “Reeking of Darien’s stink.”
“She crossed the boundary alone,” another replied, his voice cooler, more composed. “And she’s bleeding out.”
“She crossed the southern ridge. No scent of a patrol.”
Another growl. “Then how the hell did she get this far without being torn apart? We don’t allow strays in Blackmoon.”
A pause, then a softer voice. “She’s bleeding. Look at her ribs. She was running from something.”
I shut my eyes tight, wrapping my arms around my body.
“Hey,” the gentler voice murmured. “Don’t move. You’re hurt.”
I opened my eyes slowly. A shadow crouched beside me, a man. I tried to move, but pain shot through my side and a whimper escaped my lips.
He had dark hair and a scarred, rough jaw. His scent was strange, not sharp like Darien’s, but earthy, like rain-soaked wood and something wild.
“Who are you?” another voice barked. The same woman. Her tone even harsher now.
I tried to answer, but nothing came. I clutched my throat and shook my head.
“She’s mute,” the first man said. “Look at her. She’s Omega. Half-dead.”
“Could be bait,” the woman muttered. “Darien’s smart.”
The scarred man ignored her. “Get me a cloak. We can’t leave her out here. If she came from Moonfall, we need answers.”
He turned back to me. His eyes were a pale gray, colder than frost, but not cruel.
“You’re lucky I found you first,” he murmured. “The others wouldn’t have been so kind.”
And just before darkness pulled me under again, I caught sight of the mark on his wrist, a crescent moon, burned black.
Blackmoon.
I had escaped one hell, only to fall into another.
But maybe, just maybe, this one would burn cleaner.
^^^^^^^^
Bright morning light pierced my eyelids the moment I opened them, causing a moment of temporary blindness and making me flinch. I shut them tightly again, then slowly blinked the haze away.
The room was unfamiliar. Clean white walls. Bigger than any I’d known. The bed was soft. Too soft.
I forced myself up, gasping at the sharp pain that radiated from my side. I limped toward the window, heart pounding.
Outside, children played. Wolves laughed. Life unfolded.
I gasped, remembering how I had gotten to this place.
Kael.
They said his name. Was he the Alpha here? The infamous Rogue Alpha?
Did he want me dead? Did he also need my blood?
A lone tear slipped down my cheek. Was I cursed to live like this forever? Used, hunted, discarded?
Voices snapped me from my spiraling thoughts. I turned, hobbling painfully back to the bed. The voices were clearer now, just outside the door.
“She crossed the boundary line. That alone is reason enough to send her back,” the woman growled.
“She was bleeding out,” came the cooler voice—the man with a scarred jaw. “She doesn’t seem like a spy. She’s just... broken.”
“So? That changes nothing. We don’t keep strays.”
“She’s mute! What can she do?”
“A lot! This is why Darien sent her! That bastard’s clever.”
A pause.
And then a third voice. Deeper than the rest. Quieter, yet it silenced them both with a single word. “Enough.” That one word alone held power. His tone hinted at finality. “She stays,” the voice said. “For now.”
A heavy pause. Then the woman again, with barely concealed irritation.
“If that’s what you want, Alpha.”
My blood turned cold. That voice… That was Kael, the rogue Alpha!
I heard footsteps retreat and then the door clicked open.
I opened my eyes slowly. A man sat on the edge of a nearby table,his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching me. Not with kindness. Not with pity, more like he was studying me..
“You’re awake,” he said. No emotion. Just a fact.
I nodded once.
He had long dark hair that was pulled into a loose tie, the ends brushing his jaw. His jaw was strong, his brow shadowed, and his eyes! goddess! They were an unnatural shade of gray, like smoke before a storm. He was beautiful in a terrible, brutal way.
Our eyes met and I turned away, not liking the way he looked at me. “You’re awake,” he said. No inflection. Just a statement of fact.
I nodded once, barely and turned to him again.
I tried to sit up, but pain sliced through my side and I collapsed back with a soundless gasp.
I tried to sit up, but pain anced through my side, and I winced, falling back with a gasp I couldn’t voice.
Kael moved slowly, like a predator stalking prey. He didn’t speak again until he stood beside my bed.
“You crossed into Blackmoon territory.” He continued. “You were found bleeding near the southern ridge. Do you remember that?”
I nodded again.
“Can you speak?”
I shook my head.
His eyes narrowed, as if trying to decipher whether I was lying.
“Mute?”
Another nod.
He crouched beside me. “You’re from Moonfall. I can smell their mark on you.”
I flinched.
“They branded you,” he murmured, more to himself than to me. His jaw tightened. “What the hell were you doing out there?”
I lifted my hand. Pointed to myself. Then pressed it over my chest.
“Running,” he translated.
I nodded.
He stood and paced around the room, his voice measured.
“You came alone. No protection. During the Blood Moon. That’s either suicidal or very, very brave.”.”
He paused. “Which are you?”
I looked him in the eye and then, though it took all the strength I had. And then, slowly, deliberately, I reached for a scrap of paper on the table near me and a piece of charcoal. He watched in silence as I scribbled two words:
"No choice."
His expression didn’t change, but something in his shoulders shifted as he read the next words I wrote.
Tried to mark me,” he sounded puzzled and his brows pulled together. I nodded.
His brows furrowed. “Darien?” He glanced at me.
I nodded.
He inhaled sharply. His expression darkened. He looked away again
“I should send you back,” he said, jaw tight. “Let the Council decide.”
I began writing again.
“He’ll kill me.”
He read that, too, his eyes lingering on the trembling of my hands. “What’s your name?”
I hesitated. Then: "Elena."
He repeated it quietly. "Elena." And then he froze.
His nostrils flared. He stiffened.
His eyes locked with mine. Recognition. Horror.
“You…” he whispered, stepping back. “You’re my mate.”
The air thickened. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
His voice broke. “Not again.”
Confusion twisted in my gut.
Not again?
His expression wasn’t one of joy. It was grief. As if fate had shattered something inside him.
A storm passed through his eyes, and he whispered like a man haunted by his past:
“You’re her… The one I saw in the fire.”
- Writer
