Page 6 of His Tainted Mate

“Don’t give up Elle. We have no way of knowing how fast it will escalate. Each patient is different. You may have more time than you think. Surely you will wait to see if your sister can bring us a serum that will eradicate the disease.”

“Sometimes I forget you and I barely know each other. I have no intention of sitting around in Hobart waiting for the DFTD to ravage my body and brain. No, I’ve always said that if and when the disease took hold, I would take the time I had left and spend it where I wanted. I’ll die on my own terms.”

“I can’t allow that…”

“You can’t stop me. If for no other reason than you have no right. We both know you just handed me a death sentence. Neither of us knows how long I have left. I’m not wasting what time I have left here in Hobart. I’m going back to the wilderness. I want to breathe my last as my ancestors did—wild and free.”

“Elle…”

“It’s okay Doc. You did everything you could, and maybe Trudi will show up in the nick of time to save us all. When she asks, tell her what I told you. She’ll understand.”

“And if she doesn’t?” challenged Dr. Hart.

Elle shrugged. “I’ll be dead. I don’t think I’ll care much one way or another.” The doctor frowned and made a growling noise. “Too soon? Sorry. My gallows humor often gets me into trouble with people. But really, Doc, I’ll be fine, and I’ll be happier going out my way than yours.”

She’d gone home, packed and been gone before sunset that afternoon. She was fairly sure Dr. Hart, while well-meaning, would interfere in her plans. Elle wasn’t about to let that happen. She thought about leaving a note, but in the end decided against it. It seemed maudlin and overly dramatic. Driving all night, she reached her destination before sunrise.

No, she would leave this world the same way she’d entered it—quietly and on her own terms.

Elle crouched by the edge of the stream, her eyes darting around the dense Tasmanian forest. The cool water flowed over her hands, but it did little to calm her racing heart. She had been on the run for more than a week, constantly looking over her shoulder, fearing that Dr. Hart and her people or worse, her sister’s mate or one of his clan might be close behind. The disease seemed to be progressing in the oddest way. She hadn’t heard any of the other victims complaining of nausea, dizziness, or disorientation. It was as if there was some kind of relentless pull back toward Hobart and some kind of bond she couldn’t escape.

The life she had known was gone, replaced by the harsh reality of survival, but it served to focus and quiet her mind. The forest had become her refuge, the thick canopy of trees providing cover and the occasional sense of safety. She moved frequently, never staying in one place for too long, always mindful of the tracks she might leave behind. She knew if they sent someone to track her, he or she might be able to find whatever trail she left behind. She couldn’t afford to be careless.

Elle’s hands trembled as she splashed her face with cold water, hoping to alleviate some of the fatigue and fever that plagued her. The dizziness, the nausea, the constant sense of disorientation—the disease felt like it was slowly consuming her. She had convinced herself that the extra symptoms were just part of the illness, and that her body was failing her. The doctors had found nothing to help anyone diagnosed with DFTD. The symptoms were real and an undeniable part of her daily struggle.

Each step she took was a battle against her own body. The world would spin without warning, and she would have to stop, clutching at the nearest tree for support, waiting for the sensation to pass. Sometimes, it felt like her heart was racing out of control, her breath coming in shallow gasps. She had tried to ignore it, to push through, but the symptoms were relentless.

Elle straightened up, her resolve hardening. She was tired of running, tired of feeling like a prisoner in her own body. She had made a decision: if she was going to die, she would do it on her own terms, in the place where she felt most connected to her past. She would return to the place their father had said they had once lived. The family had vacationed here many times over the years, and Elle had managed to find the cave where they had spent most of their time. Her happiest memories still lingered there, and she felt that it was there she could face whatever came next.

She heard a plane circling overhead and watched as one and then two parachutes flew free of the flying metal tube. She watched as the one chute made its way down, followed by the other. The closer the second parachute got to the ground, the more disoriented she felt—as if she was out of sync with time and place. She held on to a vine for support and tried to get her symptoms under control. She had no way to know for sure, but she was certain whoever was falling to earth with only a parachute to save him was coming for her.

She had never experienced anything like the symptoms that seemed to be plaguing her. Like so many, she had lost people close to her to the disease—seen them die, but never with symptoms like the ones she was starting to experience. Nothing had prepared her for any of this. The symptoms she was feeling on top of the fatigue and fever, the emotional turmoil of being hunted were almost too much to bear.

How dare they—whoever they were—come after her and tell her how to die? No one got to make that decision but her. A small part of her brain that had yet to accept the inevitability of death’s approach wondered if she’d done the right thing and urged her to find the person who’d skydived into the wilderness and return to Hobart and people who could care for her.

She didn’t want to submit to fate, to be claimed by it or anyone else. She’d had offers—plenty of them—from men of different species offering to trade her life for one of submission to them as mate. No, thank you. She wanted to live her life on her own terms, even if it meant facing death alone.

Elle gathered her few belongings together and pushed thoughts of salvation and some mysterious man from her mind. Might he be the man who invaded her dreams every night, taking her to dizzying heights of pleasure as he pushed himself into her, thrusting in and out, over and over again? Surely not. She couldn’t afford to think about him, not now. Her focus had to be on the journey ahead, on the decision she had made.

The sun was setting as she started her trek back to her cave—the one that held so many memories of her family. She often thought in her fevered dreams that she could hear her parents laughing, singing and playing with her and Trudi, but they had been dead for years. The forest was bathed in a golden light, the shadows growing longer with each passing minute. Elle moved quickly, her steps sure and purposeful. The path was familiar, and despite her weakened state, she felt a sense of determination. She would see this through, no matter what.

She had wandered today much further than she should, and she realized she’d never make it back to the cave before night fell and plunged the forest into darkness. As night fell, Elle found a sheltered spot to rest. She huddled under a large tree, pulling her jacket tight around her. The forest was alive with the sounds of nocturnal creatures, but she found comfort in the familiarity of it all. She closed her eyes, hoping for sleep, but her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and memories.

She remembered the first time she’d dreamed of the man she now thought might be her fated mate. Many shifters had a strong belief in finding that one right person whose soul completed your own, but she had long ago given up on believing she even had one, much less would find him. She closed her eyes and saw him as clearly as if he were standing before her—his green eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled—the same eyes that seemed to look right through her, seeing her for who she truly was.

Elle could feel his touch, the way it sent shivers down her spine. She felt him as he held her hips in his hands and pressed into her, making her climax from the dominant way he possessed her. She remembered the moments of closeness, the shared laughter, the quiet conversations. Of course they hadn’t really happened, but she could feel them all the same. She felt the fear of those memories or visions of the future—she wasn’t sure which—the feeling that she was losing herself to something or someone she couldn’t control.

The bond they shared, or at least had shared, was a force of nature, something that transcended reason and logic. Even without knowing who he was or where he came from, it felt like gravity pulling them together despite the distance, despite the fear. Elle was convinced that the man who had dropped from the sky was here for her, searching for her, and feeling the same pull. She could almost sense him, a presence on the edge of her consciousness, a constant reminder of what she could have had if she hadn’t been preparing to die.

There was a feeling that she wasn’t running from anymore. She was moving towards something; towards an ending she had chosen. The thought brought her a strange sense of peace. For the first time since Dr. Hart had told her the DFTD was progressing, Elle felt like she had a purpose, a goal. She had come back to the place where the best times of her life had been spent, and she would face whatever came next with courage and resolve.

Elle drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with images of her past and the future she would never have with the man with the smiling green eyes.

Morning came with the first light of dawn, the forest slowly waking up around her. Elle stretched, feeling the familiar aches and pains in her body. She took a deep breath, the cool morning air filling her lungs. It was a new day. She gathered her things and set off once more to return to the cave that harbored so many of her memories and would now provide the resting place for her soul.

CHAPTER 5

ELLE

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