Page 30 of Bond & Protect

‘But your loneliness has always been a problem for you, hasn’t it, Mila?’ The monster moves closer to me as it charges these words directly into my brain. Probably a bit like the way the wolves talk to one another when they’re shifted in their human form. ‘You have never really had anyone close to you, have you? You always felt like your mom was keeping secrets from you. Family secrets, which were never going to be shared with you.’

“I don’t want to talk about my family with you anymore. Leave them out of it.”

It’s getting increasingly hard to remain strong. I can see how the monster attacks.

‘And you never had any friends you could trust either, did you? No one was ever good to you. They always betrayed you, just like you knew they would… the same with men as well.’

“Not the wolves,” I shoot back because I’m determined to keep focusing on the positive here.

‘Didn’t they leave you? Didn’t they run off without telling you? Keeping you in the cabin alone? That doesn’t sound like they trust you or want to be around you at all.’

“They wanted to protect me from you. But they don’t need to protect me from you.”

‘Are you trying to tell me that you think you’ll survive? You think you’re going to destroy me? You’re going to do what no one else has ever done? I don’t think so.’

“This town and everyone in it is stronger than you,” I snap back, although there’s a little weakness to my tone now. I can’t ignore that; I’m sure the monster also hears it. “You haven’t managed to hurt anyone yet, and you won’t. There won’t be any blood on your hands.”

‘What about the wolf I killed the last time we were together?’

“That wolf isn’t going to die. The elders are looking after him already. You haven’t done anything. We’re stronger here. You might as well go back through The Rift. I don’t know what’s waiting for you on the other side, but it has to be better than this here.”

I don’t know if I’m getting through to this beast, but I can’t stop. I won’t stop.

“Elias!” I call out again, every muscle in my body aching. “Come on, wake up.”

‘He’s dead, and you know it.’ I shake my head, refusing to accept that. ‘I wouldn’t let him live. I’m not going to let any of these wolves live. They are giving me way too much to feed off. But then you are as well. I love all these emotions that you’re giving me. They’re delicious.’

“Fuck you,” I just about manage to spit out. “I’m not giving you anything.”

I am, though, and I just know it. I can feel it surging through my veins. He’s taking a lot from me, all my emotions. I might be becoming a husk, which is just what he wants.

“Sydney, are you stirring?” I call out when it looks like Sydney might be coming around. “Oh my God, Sydney, please! I don’t like doing this on my own.”

I keep trying to edge closer to the wolves because I think if I can touch them, I might be able to shake them awake. But the monster isn’t about to let me. He needs me over here, where he can control me. The more I try to move, the less I can.

‘Sydney is dead as well, but he’s only second best anyway. You never really cared about him. He was just there. He was just a virgin like you who made it easier for you. It made the whole experience less embarrassing. Don’t think I don’t see right through you.’

I suck in a sharp breath. None of this is true. The monster is very wrong. Because this isn’t true. I shake my head as much as I can. But it’s like I’m stuck in the mud, and I can’t shake it as much as I want to.

“Amos,” I cry out, but my voice is becoming weaker with every single moment. My knees are weakening and my whole body seems to be sinking. I’m trying my hardest to fight that sensation off because I don’t want to lose myself. I don’t want to let anything go because the wolves will lose their lives. Everything is all on me right now. “Amos, stop this, please.”

‘That pup won’t ever get back to his feet. He’s too weak. He would never be able to protect you, which he proved tonight, didn’t he? When he left you alone. He left you all alone, putting you right back in the pit of sadness and loneliness, didn’t he? I know it. I can see it.’

“Liam, I need you,” I whimper. “I really need you. Help me.”

‘Pfft, Liam put up the least fight of them all. He’s pathetic. He’s pitiful. He’s a shameful wolf who is more of a waste of air than anything else. You know that as well as I do.’

“No, Liam is a surgeon. He’s worth a million of you. Don’t talk about him.”

But my words are coming out as more of a breath than anything else. It’s nothing. I’m nothing.

My knees hit the floor. My chest gets tight and I can hardly get enough air in. My muscles hurt and I almost feel like I would rather die than deal with any of this any longer. It’s agony. It’s way too much. I just can’t take it any longer.

Maybe I’m supposed to die here. My family ran away from here, but I was always going to have to come back to end up dead here. The monster was always going to come for me and my family, no matter what. This is my destiny and I need to just lie down…

But then I spot something out of the corner of my eye. It’s Elias, moving. He’s actually moving! That just about gives me the strength to lift my head upright to see him. It’s Elias, but it doesn’t look like him. His eyes are glazed over, and he can’t seem to see me at all.

Sydney comes second. His movements are just as sluggish, he’s glazed over as well, but he is finally moving. I try to call out to him, but I can’t get any words out. Fuck, the monster has choked my voice box tight. I can’t do anything.

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