Chapter 9: 9: Hope Reignited
It wasn’t true. Or at least, that was what I tried to convince myself.
Yet, I knew it was a stretch. They only wanted me alive to punish me. They didn’t want me to die early just because, in their eyes, it was an easy way out. But of course, if I did somehow die due to other reasons, they would only resent the fact that they hadn’t done it themselves.
They wouldn’t care that I—their fated mate—was dead.
Maybe they would even be thankful. After all, once I was gone, the Moon Goddess could possibly grant them a second-chance mate. It may even be Violet, and everything would fit in like the final piece of a puzzle.
Just one look and I knew that Violet wanted nothing more than to finish the job. Before she could stand again, a snarl caught our attention. We were given just half a second’s warning before a claw came striking down right in between us, forcing both of us to dodge back or risk getting split right open by those claws.
A rogue had spotted us, and it had its sights set on our throats.
Violet and I exchanged a look, and for once, I saw fear rush through her eyes. She had dropped the knife in her panic, and it was now a distance away―much too far to reach for before the rogue wolf could strike us down.
I wanted to run to the knife. It was made of silver, highly effective against any werewolf. I may not be fast or strong enough to take it down, but it could still buy us some time. Surely one of the Alphas would notice, if not Cedar, and help would come.
I felt my stomach knot.
Even if not for me, they would look out for Violet. They would come for her.
They must.
I tried to stamp down the rush of jealousy I felt. I needed to get used to the feeling of knowing I would never be the first priority in my own fated mates’ eyes.
Sure enough, a growl echoed through the skies. Soon after, I felt the air getting knocked out of my lungs before I could even turn around to look in the direction of the sound. A massive black wolf bouldered through the crowd, knocking me off my balance in the process. He stood protectively in front of Violet, shielding her body with his.
"Rowan!" Violet cried out, tears in her eyes. Her voice was shaking, and she looked as though she was about to faint.
He had no care for anyone else, including me. His gaze didn’t even land on me for even a second. Instead, he simply barraged his way through, sending me flying across the grass and towards the rogue wolf.
When Rowan realized that the rogue was distracted, he quickly nodded to his back, and Violet hastily climbed on. Once she was secured, he turned and sprinted off without even looking back.
My heart fell, watching my mate run off with another woman to safety, while I was left here. Pain tore through my chest, the fated bond between us tugging at my heartstrings.
I hadn’t expected much. In fact, I was ready to face death at the hands of my fated mate. However, experiencing it all over again felt like rubbing acid into a raw, open wound.
My body toppled over, and all the strength that I had mustered just now quickly disappeared. I could barely breathe, much less run for my life.
A drop of saliva dripped on my shoulder, and my body froze. Slowly, I turned to look back, coming face to face with the rogue wolf. It bared its fangs, snarling before it opened its jaw.
’Move,’ I practically screamed it in my head, trying to will my body to listen to my command, but to no avail. ’Move. MOVE!’
The rogue wolf’s powerful jaws came snapping down, and I screamed, tucking and rolling my body. I couldn’t stand, but I had just enough energy left to throw myself in a random direction.
However, that was pretty much all the energy I had left.
I groaned in pain when my back hit against something hard. Reaching back, I tried to rub at the sore spot, but instead, my hands brushed against something soft.
My heart raced, stopping. There was a wolf behind me.
I sucked in a deep breath of air through my teeth, but it was because of this that I felt my panic slowly die down. The familiar scent enveloped me, and despite everything that had happened—the betrayal, the hurt, the abuse—I instantly felt much safer.
True enough, when I turned and looked, a massive black wolf stood behind me. It didn’t look down at me even for once. Its eyes were narrowly trained on the rogue, who had started to realize that it bit down on nothing but thin air.
Disbelief covered me from head to toe. Was this... Soren? But why would he be here? Why would he spare even a minute to defend me?
Yet, no matter how ridiculous this all sounded in my head, I knew that this black wolf was none other than one of my mates. I could see Cassian a distance away, taking on three other rogue wolves at one time. Rowan had just left me behind to bring Violet to safety.
There could only be one answer―this had to be Soren.
I felt the dying ember in my heart start to glow again. For some reason, tears began to well in my eyes, and my nose soured.
Soren growled, snarling at the rogue wolf. He stood protectively over me, using his large body to shield me from harm.
Strangely, my body started to feel lighter and lighter. My head was beginning to spin, and I felt faint. Maybe it was because my body knew that I was finally in safe hands, as messed up as this situation could be.
I exhaled heavily as my body swayed. The last thing I felt was the black wolf jumping off of me, followed by the sound of the wet snap of bone and the sickening crunch of teeth sinking into flesh.
