Page 121 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

His ambition is much like that of his father’s, but as I look at the writhing man in front of me, his eyes hazy with pain, his fingers digging into the sides of the bed as he makes garbled sounds , I feel nothing but pity.

This was the man who bullied me as a child and then tried to manipulate and trick me into mating him. Noah and Robert have caused me so much pain that letting Noah live seems like a mistake, but I also cannot let Tina die. After all, she is Elsa’s only child.

It won’t take that much time to remove the tendrils of dark magic from Noah’s wound, but as I’m about to begin, Elsa stops me.

“Wait!”

I’m taken aback. “What is it?”

“What are you doing?” Tina asks, panicked.

Elsa shakes her head. “Not like this, Tina. I do love you, and I know that Sophia is doing this for me, but I can’t let you do thiswhen both you and Noah are only going to go after her again once he’s recovered.”

“We won’t!” Tina insists. “We’ll go somewhere far away.”

Elsa shakes her head. "You say that. But will Noah go with you? What if he decides to go after Sophia again?"

Tina's silence is all the answer I need. I pull away my hand, but Noah grabs it. His eyes meet mine, a vicious agony in them. He’s trying to say something. His lips are moving, but his tongue is too swollen to form the words properly.

However, he doesn’t give up, his hold on my hand tight to the point of being painful. "I-I -I wun-won't!”

I look at him and then back at Tina. “Are you willing to swear a blood debt to me? You will never enter the South Alliance. You will never interfere in the affairs of any of the three alliances. Can you promise me that in the form of a blood debt?”

Tina nods her head, fiercely. “Yes. I'll take Noah, and we'll go somewhere far away. You will never see us again.”

Noah also manages to nod.

I looked toward Elsa. I don’t know much about blood debts aside from what Alex and Logan told me. “Is that enough? If they simply say so?”

Else understands what I’m trying to ask. "Yes. They just have to say it verbally. The blood debt will now be in effect the minute you remove the dark magic from him and save his life.”

The power of words can be incredible.

Deciding to take Elsa's word for it, I begin the process of removing the dark magic. But as I do, I sense something else within Noah. His wolf. It's not reacting like it should.

I don’t know what it means, so I keep going. However, at some point, I find myself stopping and looking at Tina. “How long ago did Karina do this?”

“She reached out to Noah a week after the banquet. Why?”

My brows furrow together. “I…There’s something wrong with his wolf. It’s weaker than it should be. I have a hard time trying to sense it."

It's almost as if Noah's wolf is dying.

My unspoken words reach Tina, and her eyes widen, “That's not…it can't be. If Noah's wolf dies, he won't survive. That can't happen. You're wrong! You're trying to kill his wolf, aren't you?”

Her explosion startles me and she shoves me back, standing protectively over Noah. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. You just want to get back at him for what he did to you. I won’t let you…”

Elsa grabs her daughter by the arm and pushes her aside before putting her own hands on Noah’s chest. She closes her eyes and after a couple of minutes, she looks up with a heavy sigh. “Sophia hasn’t done anything. Karina did. Noah’s wolf is indeed dying. The only reason it’s still alive is because of your mate bond. And if you don’t trust me, you can ask Marlene. I can bring her in here. She doesn’t even know you. She has no reason to lie to you.”

Tina looks at the two of us, finally realizing we aren’t lying to her. Her hands tremble. “Why?”

“The dark magic that Karina used was probably always intended to kill Noah’s wolf,” Elsa tries to explain to her daughter, her voice weary. “It is a painful process. She might not have realized that your mate bond would keep his wolf alive.”

I study Tina. “Why weren’t you able to figure this out? I thought you could do both dark and light magic.”

Elsa startles. “What? You’ve been practicing dark magic?”

I look at Elsa. “You didn’t know she could practice dark magic?”

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