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You are his. Just like Julia was once. But that only proves my point, Elizabeth. She made her choice. She didn’t accept her bond
Do you know what spurred the last war between my wolves and the vampires?
Yeah. Aleks’s love for Julia.
No. It was his despair at losing his beloved to her Alpha. That’s what happened. When Julia forsook her bond with Aleksander, she went to her Alpha for protection. She was one of my chosen. A rare female alpha. He saw her as a threat to his power, and was angered that she might take a vampire as a mate instead of his successor. He killed her. He killed her, and blamed her bond wiht the vampire as the reason why she had to die. Aleksander was only avenging her death when he challenged the Alpha and won.
That sounds like Aleks, too.
I’m not sure what shocks me more: that Walker wasn’t the first Alpha that Aleks challenged and defeated, or that the grand love story I built up in my head about Julia and Aleks is… not what I thought it was.
Why didn’t he tell me?I don’t know why I’m asking the Luna. I should be asking Aleks. I just… I don’t understand.She never really was his beloved, was she?
Not like you are. She might’ve been, had she chosen differently. The promise of a bond was there. That’s what makes a true mate, Elizabeth. The choice. And that’s why I had to step back and allow you to make yours. And you have.
I did, didn’t I? When I offered my throat to Aleks and took back his fang, I didn’t even hesitate. It had nothing to do with his past with Julia or Gem, or even my instinct to run away if only because I thought I was somehow saving him. I took it because I love him, and even if our story won’t have a happy ending, either, I’m done fooling myself that I don’t.
So what happens now?
That depends on you, Elizabeth. Your mate has already bonded you to him in the ways of his people. I’m nearly at my power. If you want to make him yours, the only one stopping you is yourself.
She’s not wrong, is she?
Of course not. I’m your goddess. I might not get it right everytime, but I’m never wrong.
I grin. With my eyes closed, sitting alone in the empty shack, I grin like a fool.
Too bad the contentment doesn’t last…
Now that I know the truth about Aleks bonding me to him through my blood, I realize just how sensitive I’ve become to his aura. When I first met him, back when I was in denial that he could ever be my fated mate, his scent was more powerful than his vampire power. Over time, I thought I was just growing used to the pungent, meaty notes that marked Aleks as a vampire… but I wasn’t, was I? I was feeling my mate through a supe bond I didn’t know anything about.
How else can I explain the sudden sense of foreboding mingling with a territorial need to protect what’s mine that floods through me? Because those emotions don’t belong to me. I’m just sensing them through the bond I have with Alex.
And that means—
“Aleks!”
My eyes shoot open. It doesn’t make any logical sense to me, but I don’t care. Aleks is in trouble, and though the emotions reverberating down our bond tell me that he’s only concerned with keeping me safe, those actually could be mine since all I want to do is protect my vampire.
I throw open the door. From where I stand, there’s no one there. Aleks said he was going for a patrol, so I’m not surprised he isn’t in my line of vision, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong.
Focus,whispers the Luna.Feel him.Findhim.
Right. Aleks admitted that he can always find me through our bond because he’s drunk my blood. Well, I’ve probably had a good cup of his since we became mates. It should work for me.
Taking a deep breath, trying to steady my racing nerves, I search inside of myself for my side of our bond. My wolf is sitting up, ears flat against her skull as she whines, but I delve deeper, deeper, deeper…there.
How did I never notice it before? Now that I’m searching for it, it’s a scarlet ribbon stretching between us, different from a shifter bond and not quite what a vampire ties looks like, but that makes sense, doesn’t it? We’re two different supes, so our bonds are as unique as our mating.
Giving my head a clearing shake, I decide I can marvel over that later. For now, I’m convinced Aleks needs me. No point in wasting time when I have to get to my mate.
Turns out, I don’t need the bond to find him. Not when a shot rings out in the air, drawing my attention to it unerringly.
No.No!
Whether I’m jumping to conclusions or not, the crack of a gunshot means one thing to me and my reconstructed heart: Christian Morrissey has finally returned for his revenge.
It has to be. I don’t know why I don’t scent him out here—I’m definitely not covering his scent for him, though I’ve heard enough wolfsbane might disguise an innate scent to a degree—but, unless there are hunters shooting into the darkness, there’s only one supe male I know who brings a gun to a challenge.
