I dug my claws into the dirt before me. Gritting my teeth, I kept my eyes locked with Roman's, trying to think of a way to reason with him. The rain was brutal, almost obscuring my vision. But I was able to keep my gaze locked with his.
Knowing there was no other way, I quickly ducked into the trees behind me and Shifted, throwing my sopping wet clothes on. I don't care if I got sick. This had to end. Roman had a Mate of his own out there, waiting for him to come to her. I stepped out and was partially relieved to see he was still there. I wasn't happy to see that his expression had darkened. I followed his gaze till I could see why he was so mad. My shirt had partially fallen off of my shoulder, showing Lawrence's Claim mark.
I looked back at him quickly. His face was contorted with rage. I held my ground and my wolf helped me maintain eye contact. I was tired of his games.
"When?" He demanded on a growl.
"Roman," I said softly. "That's not your business—"
"You promised!" He roared.
I took a step back, shocked. I barely recognized him now. His hair was matted to his face and his eyes bored into mine angrily. Rage, hurt, agony portrayed on his features. They flashed in his face numerous times before I was able to gather my thoughts.
"Don't interrupt me," I said loudly. I felt a surge of power and surprised myself. It was the Command of the Luna. Although the Alpha's Command was powerful, the Luna shared that equal power with her Alpha Mate. "Roman. These games need to stop. I have my Mate. That promise was just some...some silly thing that happened years ago."
"'Some silly thing'?" He mocked, fury behind each word. "It may have been some silly thing to you. But I love you, MistyAnne."
I shook head the second the words even formed on his lips. "No, Roman. You don't."
"I rejected my Mate for you," he said desperately. I felt my heart fall. The poor girl... "I did everything I did so Lawrence would hate you."
I gave him a funny look at his choice of words. "Hate me?"
"The pictures. The notes. All of that. Your childhood was screwed because of him. Of his father. Because of my father." He sounded pained. "Your sister was dead the moment my father snapped the first picture. After he saw you, trying to save her, you became the target. Your wolf should be dead. Shouldn't even exist. And its...it's something I want for me. I want my kids to have that lineage of the white wolf."
"You're not making any sense."
"Your wolf is known now to be the most powerful. More powerful than that of any Alpha! Imagine it. Your children would be more powerful than any werewolf in existence for the past century!" He was getting excited, and my wolf was watching, waiting for him to slip. "I want that for my children. I want that for my bloodline. My father wanted that as well."
I think I put it together. "But when your father told the old Alpha of the Blue Winds pack that he thought he found the Mate of his son..."
"Jerome Knight wanted you the minute he laid eyes on you that damnable night," Roman said bitterly. "He wanted your wolf. To probe and prod. And the two got into it."
I clenched my jaw. "I was in danger the night I Shifted."
He nodded. "That's right, amor, but it gets better. My father followed you all these years. Snapping those pictures of you. But my 'obsession' with you was overwhelming. He finally gave up, realizing you weren't my Mate," he spat sourly. "I pushed. And pushed. Lawrence had taken over the pack then, and was looking for his Mate. The last picture he snapped was of you two the day he found you." His voice barely registered over the pouring rain, it was so low. "And you had forgotten all about me."
I felt a pang of guilt, but quickly brushed it away. I had no need to feel guilty. He and his father had been negotiating with an enemy pack. At the time, it was an enemy pack. Now, I'm not sure what it was. People looked at me differently. And children often looked at me with wonder in their eyes.
Keeping my focus, I took in a deep breath. "Roman. I'm not going to apologize for doing what I knew was right for me. You will soon regret what you have said and done. I promise you."
His face quickly changed. It went from pleading to enraged. "Was killing your friend for nothing?"
My blood ran cold and my heart stopped. Addelynn's smiling face flashed through my mind. I felt my fists clench and my wolf howled in grief at the memory of losing a pack member and a dear friend. I looked at him through the cold drops of rain and bared my teeth at him. For a moment, he looked taken aback. Then he smiled. But it was cold, ruthless.
A roar broke through the atmosphere and I turned to look behind me. In a split second, Roman was behind me and took my arms, trapping them behind me back. Something burned against my throat and I could smell sizzling flesh. My sizzling flesh. Gasping from the pain, I struggled. But the knife or whatever it was only dug deeper, earning a whimper of pain.
Lawrence's midnight black wolf bounded into the clearing and stopped. His eyes, silver as the moon, darkened. I was panting, sweating. Trying to contact my wolf was impossible. Due to silver, it clouded the link between us. I knew she was there, but I couldn't see or contact her. I pleaded with Lawrence to be careful. All mental links were off. I couldn't even talk to my Mate.
"Leave," Roman demanded, his voice wavering.
For a moment, I thought he was and my heart dropped. He disappeared for a moment before I heard bones crunching and rustling cloth. He came back out and I almost cried with relief.
"Let her go, Roman," Lawrence said warningingly. "Let her go and leave."
"No!" He cried. "I will not leave her! I will take what is rightfully mine!"
Lawrence growled. Before anyone could move, the object left my throat and Roman was by my neck, sinking his teeth into the same spot Lawrence had.
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A/N: augh. I decided to post anyway. I couldn't help it. :c
Almost 10K views. I'm actually quite happy with that. Share this with friends and family. Or whoever. Lol. Thanks for all the support.
I only see a couple more chapters to this and it kind of saddens me. Lol. But I've decided on something else. And I'm sure those of you who like this will love it. (;
Until next time. -formal curtsey-
XOXO,
D.