Page 8 of Their Mate
I hit the first feral with a force that shocked even me, jaws sinking deep into its throat, puncturing flesh and bone. The taste of blood filled my mouth, igniting my frenzy even further. I tossed the body aside like a broken toy, muscles rippling, breath burning in my lungs.
Another feral lunged at me, claws raking through my fur. I barely felt it. Turning, I slammed into it, teeth closing around its leg, jerking hard until I heard the satisfying snap of bone. It collapsed, shrieking and howling, and I silenced it swiftly, my jaws ending its life in a single savage bite.
I tore through the pack with ruthless efficiency, barely aware of what I was doing. Every feral that attacked was reduced to nothing but a mass of blood and fur, their forms crushed beneath my relentless drive for retribution. Blood sprayed across my muzzle, soaked my fur, pooled beneath my paws.
Aidan shouted something behind me, distant and muffled, but I couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. They had taken everything. Lila. Kait. My future. My family.
They would pay.
My wolf surged again, raw animal instinct taking over as I lunged into another feral. My claws ripped through it, jaws tearing mercilessly. My world blurred to red, each brutal movement driven by rage and grief, until nothing else existed but the primal thrill of the kill.
The screams of the ferals rose around me, desperate and panicked, but I didn’t slow down. My fury was relentless, unending, unstoppable. They were nothing against me, mere playthings that crumpled beneath my rage.
I lunged again, fangs sinking deep into another feral, and the taste of blood filled me with wild satisfaction. They would all pay for what they had done. Every last one of them.
I lost myself in that dark, savage place, consumed by grief and vengeance. Then, slowly, the world around me began to fade away, my vision narrowing again. My limbs grew heavy, my breaths ragged and uneven.
Still, I fought.
I fought until I could no longer tell where I ended and the wolf began. Then, as the last feral fell beneath my fangs, darkness claimed me, pulling me under into its merciful embrace.
The last thing I heard was Aidan’s voice, but it was more a distant, anguished echo than anything else.
“Declan, stop! Please! It’s done!”
Blessed darkness took me down.
CHAPTER 4
Two months ago…
Aidan McConnell
“I miss them,” Declan said quietly, breaking our long silence.
I turned my gaze to him, finding lines of grief etched deeply into his expression. He stared forward, eyes fixed on the cold sand of the beach ahead, jaw clenched tight.
“I do too,” I admitted, voice barely audible over the crashing waves. “Every day.”
He exhaled roughly, fingers clenching briefly into fists before releasing. “It doesn’t seem right. You know? We survived. But it feels like… I don’t know…”
“Like we left something behind,” I finished.
He nodded, shoulders sagging beneath the weight of his grief. “I keep waking up thinking I’ll see Kait’s smile, hear Lila laughing…that they’re just there, waiting for us. But then I open my eyes, and it hits me again.”
His voice broke, and my chest tightened with emotion. I swallowed past the lump in my throat, trying to stop my voice from shaking.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I know.”
He turned toward me slightly, pain stark in his eyes. “Do you think it’ll ever get easier?”
I hesitated, searching for the right words. I wanted to say yes—to offer comfort, hope—but the truth sat heavily between us.
“I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “Maybe we just learn to live around it. Maybe it becomes a part of us, rather than something we ever get over.”
He didn’t reply, just nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the rough Irish sea. The silence between us returned, though softer now, an unspoken understanding lingering in the quiet.
We walked further along the coastline, boots leaving soft indentations behind in the sand, when a faint sound drifted toward us. I listened closely, catching raised voices cutting through the harsh whistling of the wind. I paused, exchanging a cautious glance with Declan.
