Page 11 of Dark Sold Mate

The wolves hesitated. But one of them, the biggest, took a step forward.

Silas growled. He didn't have the time or patience for this. Elle was in the truck, weak and frightened, and these rogues were in his path.

The largest wolf lunged.

Silas shifted partially and caught the wolf with his enhanced strength and speed, slamming it into the ground. The other two hesitated, then fled into the forest.

The wolf pinned below him whimpered and yielded. Silas reluctantly set him free and watched him limp after the other two.

He shifted fully back into human and went back to the truck.

Elle looked at him with wide eyes. “If you weren't here, they would have attacked me, right?”

“Yes.”

Silas saw the moment she understood how helpless she was in this world, how numerous the threats were, and how she could do nothing about them or flee.

He hated using her fear against her or manipulating her. But his wolf was more than

content, because it viewed what happened as necessary. It made Elle realize she wasn't safe. That she needed him.

“We must continue to move.” Silas put the gear in motion, making their way to the pack with neither of them saying a word.

As they reached the border, the air changed slightly, and Elle stiffened. “I can't believe you're really doing this.”

“I'm sorry.”

“No, you're not. You're not sorry at all.”

She was right. Silas felt guilty about the burden he was placing on her. But he wasn't sorry. Not when it was a question of her safety. Not when it involved bonding her to him so she couldn't escape.

He steered through the dark streets of the packland, going into the town, towards the building where mates got bonded. Where Elle would belong to him in all the ways that counted.

The stone structure was now visible. It was ancient and immovable.

Silas switched off the engine and parked the car.

“Don't do this, please,” Elle pleaded, her voice breaking. “Please, Silas. Don't take this choice from me.”

The agony in her sliced through him like a knife. But Silas had made up his mind. His wolf basically decided on his behalf as soon as he had seen her on that stage.

“I am sorry. But I have to.”

He got out of the truck and went around to her side, knowing that this was the beginning of something that would change everything between them forever.

Chapter 4 - Elle

Elle could barely believe what was happening to her.

The bonding hall was right in front of the truck, and the moonlight shone on its ancient stone walls.

There was a time she believed she was a part of this pack. She had watched other couples get bonded and married in the same building, and she had fantasized that she would do the same someday.

But not like this. Never like this.

Silas opened her door, and Elle leaned even more against the passenger window.

“Don't,” she whispered. “Please don't do this.”