TO MATE A MONSTER

CHAPTER 5

ELENA’S POV

I tried to push myself up, but my body felt too heavy, like every part of me was filled with stones. My arms trembled, and my breath was so slow. The room was moving in circles around me, and I almost fell back onto the bed.

Then I felt him.

Hands, strong and warm, slid around my shoulders, steadying me with care. Ethan. His touch burned, but not in pain. It was fire that made my wolf come alive. The second his skin brushed against mine, my wolf leaped out with a force that shook me. She didn’t growl this time. She didn’t fight; she was happy.

I pulled myself away, my body tangled with his arms for a moment before I forced distance between us. My body was betraying me. Even though I moved away, the ache to be closer, to lean into his warmth, grew stronger. My hands shook as I gripped the edge of the bed, trying to control myself.

Ethan’s eyes, storm-gray and piercing, never left mine. He didn’t look surprised. He looked like he already knew. Like he had been waiting for this moment.

“You are my mate,” he said, his voice low but filled with power. My fated Luna. I will protect you my entire life.” His hand hovered over mine, but he didn’t force me to touch him again. He let the words settle in. “What is your name?”

I swallowed hard. The name felt strange leaving my lips, like giving it to him was giving away more than I wanted. “Elena,” I whispered.

The way his eyes lit when I said it nearly stole the breath from me. He looked like a man who had found the very thing he had been searching for all his life.

ETHAN’S POV

Elena. Her name rang in my head over and over. My mate. She was alive and was here. I had touched her, spoken to her. I had claimed her with words, even if she hadn’t claimed me back

My wolf was calmer now, more content than it had ever been. For the first time in years, I felt whole.

Julian stood nearby, watching me with her eyes. She had heard. I could tell by the look on her face that she understood what this meant.

“My mate is here,” I said to her, unable to hold it in. “Do you see, Julian? Do you understand? After all this time, after all these years of waiting… she’s here.” My hands curled into fists as if I could hold onto the feeling. “The Moon goddess has finally given her to me.”

Julian’s jaw tightened, but she kept her voice low. “She’s scared, Ethan. You saw it. You felt it. She pulled away from you.”

“She’ll come around,” I said quickly, but the thought of her fear cut deeper than I expected. “She has to. She’s mine. The bond is there, strong. I know she felt it.”

Julian stepped closer, her voice dropping lower. “What if she dies like the first? What if this curse takes her, too? What if fate gave her to you only to rip her away again?”

The words hit me like a blade to the chest. The memory of blood on my hands came back, my first mate dying in my arms, her last breath slipping away before I could save her. The prophecy whispered in the back of my mind: The Alpha’s fated mate will die, and if the curse is not broken, it will happen again and again.

I clenched my fists tighter. “No,” I said, it wasn’t loud. “Not this time. I won’t let it happen again.”

Julian’s eyes softened for a moment, then hardened again. “Ethan, Lucas wouldn’t let her go. You may be the most feared Alpha, but Lucas isn’t weak. He’ll fight for her. He already believes she’s his, and nd from what I saw… he won’t give her up easily.”

I turned toward her. “Then let him try. We’ll see how it goes. But one thing is sure, I won’t let go of my mate. Not now, not ever.”

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ELENA’S POV

The strength was slowly returning to me, enough that I could sit without falling back. My body was healing, thanks to him, but my heart felt darker than ever. Because while my wolf purred with joy at Ethan’s touch, my mind screamed of the past.

Ten years. Ten years of nightmares. Ten years of remembering my sister’s scream, my mother’s blood.

My wolf wanted him. My body burned for him. But I wanted revenge. I wanted blood.

“I will have my flesh,” I whispered to myself, a promise I carved deep into my soul. “Alpha Ethan will pay. For what happened to them… he will pay.”

The door opened slowly, pulling me from my thoughts. Alpha Lucas stepped inside, his wolf close to the surface. His eyes locked on me instantly, fierce, protective. “Elena,” he said firmly, “I came to take you home.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but Ethan’s voice came before mine.

“She’s not returning with you,” Ethan said, stepping forward. "She is my fated mate. My Luna. She stays here.”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed, his wolf bristling. “You might want to check again, Ethan. Elena is my mate. Given to me by the Moon Goddess herself. I’ve felt it. I know what I feel. She belongs with me.”

I could feel the tension charged between the two Alphas standing toe to toe. Neither moved nor blinked. Both wolves inside them are ready to rip apart anything that gets in their way.

I looked at Ethan, at Lucas, at the anger brewing between them. My heart twisted painfully. Lucas had been my protector, my mentor. But for Ethan, I wanted to have my pond of flesh.

Both wanted me. Both claimed me.

When I opened my mouth, the words came out steady, without hesitation.

“I want to stay back.”