Page 84 of Fated to Her

“No, no, no!” I cry, rushing to her. I try to pull it out in my panic, and she gurgles, the tire iron remaining embedded in her body as she slumps forward onto me.

“Taylor, please, no! No!” I cry.

My heart is torn to shreds as I push her back, trying to stop the bleeding. I clutch her shaking hands, holding the tire iron that is sticking out of her stomach, but she just stares at me, blood running down her chin and onto her chest. I cover my mouth, not knowing how to help her.

This is my fault; she’s going to die because of me. Tears stream down my face. I killed her. If only I had done what he had asked. Hearing a growl makes me look behind her to see Sam back on his feet and walking toward me with a furious expression. Taylor falls to her side, her eyes staring blankly in front of her, and I force myself to tear my eyes away from her dead body and run. My agonized screams at losing my sister are deafening as I take off running from him.

“You will never escape me, Ada. I’ll kill you before I let them keep you!” Sam screams after me as I break through the trees.

I know he isn’t even running now; he is just stalking me because he would have caught me by now. There are howls in the distance and I know Eli and Cyrus are looking for me, and I pray they’ll find me before Sam does.

“Addie?” Sam’s voice comes in the darkness.

I duck behind a tree, trying to be quiet as I sink to the ground pressing myself against the tree.

“I’ll find you, so why don’t you step out and come here before you make me any angrier?” he says.

My vision blurs with my tears, and I cup my mouth, muffling my cries that strangle me.

He grows closer just as pain tears through me, making me double over. I clutch my knees, trying to breathe through it, but it has no end. Blood pours from me and runs down my legs, wetting my feet.

I stumble onto my hands and knees as a violent urge to push overcomes me. An agonized scream tears out of me as I duck down. Sam instantly finds me and tries to rip me to my feet.

“There you are,” he says, jerking me toward him, the contraction easing off as he yanks me toward him.

I grip his shirt, and the urge comes back again. No, not now, please. Not now.

“Ada?” Sam says as he grips my hair, yanking my head back, a scream leaving my lips as my hair is pulled painfully from my scalp.

“Baby is coming!” I scream at him, pushing, my legs giving out as the urge overwhelms me, my hair ripping from his fingers, but each time I push, my attempts grow weaker.

“We haven’t got time for this,” he snaps at me, grabbing my arm, dragging me after him.

My knees scrape the ground as he drags me before jerking me up to my feet with a sharp tug. My shoulder painfully slips out of its socket. I scream at the sickening popping sensation. Sam doesn’t even care and starts walking, not letting my wrist go. Any tighter, he is going to snap it as I run, trying to keep up with him, only to be ripped upright every time I fall.

“Please, stop,” I cry out, the urge to push returning, and I groan when I suddenly hear a growl behind us.

Sam stops, looking around while I clutch my stomach, a pained cry escaping me as another contraction washes over me with the intense urge to push. Suddenly, Sam is tackled, but he still holds my wrist. My body is thrown against a tree from the force, then I’m tumbling toward the earth, knocking the air from my lungs. Pain radiates everywhere, and I’m drenched in blood. I can’t seem to catch my breath before pain tears through my stomach.

I can’t move, my back throbbing where it hits against the tree. I scream until I can’t anymore, and I feel like I’m being held down by weights, my body going limp. I don’t even scream when I feel my son tear himself from me, and I’m too weak to move. I can hear fighting around us somewhere before hearing the cries of my son ring loudly through the night, making a sob leave my lips that he is okay.

But I can’t reach him, my limbs heavier before I lose feeling completely, my body going numb, the noises drowning out around me as I feel my life fading away. My heart thumps erratically before growing slower and slower. I’m dying; I know I’m dying. I can feel the life fading out of me, the blood rushing out of me, just as sparks rush over my skin.

“Stay with me, love,” I vaguely hear and know it is one of my mates before hearing the tearing of flesh and the horrendous sounds of wolves tearing Sam apart. Sam screams a bloodcurdling scream. My heart palpitates in my chest, and I gasp before it gives one hard thump. I feel nothing, hear nothing, and see only darkness as I’m sucked under into my death.

Chapter 22

• Eli •

Cyrus, getting there first, tackles Sam. They struggle, and I’m about to jump into the fray when my father’s voice reaches me.

“Get Addie!” he screams at me, going to help Cyrus kill Sam as they trade blow for blow, trying to tear each other apart.

I look around for her, her scent strong, before hearing my son’s cries. I realize she’s down in a small gully beneath the tree. She is drenched in blood, her heartbeat faint. I grip her shoulders, shaking her.

“Stay with me, love,” I tell her, grabbing my son before biting through the umbilical cord still attached to him.

Sam screams, and I hear pack members helping tear him to pieces as they break through the trees to our location behind me up the little hill. I hear his limbs being ripped off and tossed around the forest while he screams. Staring down at Addie, her stomach is torn open, and I roll her on her back, placing our son on her chest before pushing her insides back into her body.