Page 44 of Betrayed Wolf Mate

A spear of darkness darted toward me, aimed directly at my heart. I shifted, turning into a wolf a split-second before the javelin would have stabbed me. I raced toward him. Akron hurled more tendrils of darkness at me, threatening to trip me up with daggers being hurled directly at me. I kept dodging them, noticing they were more sluggish than during our first encounter. But they were still deadly, and we still had to be careful.

Just as I thought this, a streak of darkness hurled toward us, slashing across our side. Agonizing pain lanced across our flank and we stumbled for the briefest of moments. But that was enough time for another coil of darkness to snake around our throats and begin constricting, closing off our airways.

“Did you think I was so weak that you would be able to beat me that easily?” Akron snarled, stalking forward as we began to falter and stagger to the ground. “Just because you learned my Name doesn’t mean you know how to wield it properly. You may have been able to slow me down, but that’s not the same as defeating me. And you don’t have a bunch of wolf friends running this way with iron to help you now. You’re going to die slowly and painfully while she watches.”

My wolf and I glanced up, looking past Akron to the cage of darkness behind him, where Stella was watching. We weren’t going to let Akron kill us in front of her.

My wolf snarled and thrashed, our claws scrabbling against the darkness. As we did, I held the demon’s Name in my mind, pushing every bit of will and power I had into shattering his magic. It was our only chance.

At first, nothing happened, and the tendril around our neck continued tightening. The edges of our vision went black as it became impossible to breathe.

I threw that tiny last effort of will into his Name, and the coil of darkness shattered.

Akron’s eyes flashed with alarm, and he took a step back. We didn’t give ourselves time to regain our breath; we jumped, claws outstretched and maw wide open as we hurled through the air toward the demon.

A coil of darkness pushed toward us, plunging into our front leg. But instead of the agonizing pain that had slashed through our side, this one felt more like a pinprick, and it did nothing to stop our trajectory.

Our paws slammed into the demon’s shoulders, knocking him to the ground. His eyes widened with alarm as he tried to shove us away, his hand grabbing my neck while the other shoved at my chest. But it wasn’t going to be enough anymore. I bit down hard on his wrist, bone breaking beneath my jaws. He released me, and I lunged for his throat.

My jaws clamped around his neck and bit down. The demon struggled beneath us as he writhed and tried to scream. But his struggles slowly died away to nothing, and eventually stopped entirely. I waited, jaws still locked around his throat, for another long moment. Finally, when I was satisfied he wasn’t going to move again, I released him.

Turning, I saw Stella hurrying toward me. The cage of darkness that had been holding her had vanished, the last proofI needed to reassure myself and my wolf that Akron was dead. I shifted and stood in front of Stella, who wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight. I pulled her in closer, wanting to touch her, to smell her scent, to reassure myself that she was safe and sound.

“Is it over?” she asked.

“Unless Farrow is somewhere around here and has a few words for me,” I said.

“I don’t know where he is,” she said. “Last time I saw him was when he left me with Akron. But I don’t think he’s going to stick around. He’ll probably just go back to the pack.”

She shivered and leaned against me, and we stood like that for a long moment, taking solace in each other. She was alive. We were both okay. The danger was over.

“Stella.” I took a deep breath, putting my forehead against hers and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry about all those years ago—”

“You’ve already apologized,” she murmured. “You don’t need to say it again.”

“I should have fought for you more then,” I said. “And I shouldn’t have let you get away this time. I should have—”

“I was the one who ran,” she pointed out. “Which was a really stupid thing for me to do, to be fair.”

I snorted. “I’m glad we can at least agree on that, but that’s not the point. The point is that I love you. I want you to stay with me in Brixton. I don’t want to lose you again. Please?”

Her smile grew with every word I said, and when I had finished babbling, she pulled my head down to meet hers, pressing our lips together.

“I love you, too,” she murmured. “And I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have run.”

“It’s okay,” I said as her words washed over me. She loved me. There was a rush of endorphins I’d never experienced before as it slowly sunk in. She loved me. I could hardly believe it, but I could see by the expression in her gaze that she meant it. My wolf howled in triumph, and all I wanted to do was keep her in my arms and never let her go.

“I was just worried that being with you meant I couldn’t be myself or independent. That agreeing to be with you would tie me down the same way my loyalty to my old pack did. I was just scared.”

I took her hand in mine and kissed her gently. “It’s okay. I get it.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do. And I would never want to take away your independence—hope you know that. But I also really hope that you want me to be with you now. Because I don’t want to let you go again.”

She hesitated, biting her lip. “Even if that means leaving Brixton?”

I pulled her close, then whispered in her ear, “I would follow you to the ends of the earth if you asked me to.” I meant it, too. I loved the Silver Wolves, had dedicated my entire life to them. But they were nothing compared to being with Stella.

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