Ellie

The wind rustles the leaves around us as the day turns dark with grey clouds pregnant with rain blocking the warm rays of the sun. I stagger on my feet as I stare at the one who was supposed to protect my heart but instead broke it into millions of pieces for his selfish reasons. Most nights since that unfaithful day, I keep seeing the image of him, sinking his canines inside the whore's neck as she gasps in delight. I wanted to burn that image out of my head, but it kept popping up, disrupting my frame of mind.

At one point, I think I went crazy when I thought about ending it all. To just be in a state of tranquility and be done with it. I had stood in front of a lake, ready to dive in, when I had burst into uncontrollable tears, thinking how weak I had become.?Only weak and selfish people did that.?I had scolded myself.

My parents would probably kill themselves with grief and guilt. They wouldn't know what had made me take such a drastic decision and would keep on wondering where they'd gone wrong. I needed to live not just for them but for myself also. I couldn't let Stacy and Brad win in breaking me like that. So with a newfound determination, I had walked back to my aunt's house and started to heal my broken heart piece by piece. It was then that I decided to go back to Los Angeles no more like the old Ellie, but a whole new different person.

I promised myself I would never show weakness, especially not to someone like Brad. He thought I was some plain, weak, naive little girl who was head over heels for him, and that he could toss me aside just because he was an Alpha. But I proved him wrong when I came back home and flaunted around with my high self-esteem and gave little to no f**k about him. And maybe at some point, that had hurt his ego.

Maybe that's why he began the chase for me like a lion drawn to meat.

I've learned to loathe him, to make hate run through my veins for him. But the damn mate bond was making it hard. My heart still fluttered a little whenever I saw him stride confidently with his perfect hair always in style. And whenever his eyes connected with mine, it was hard to look away.

I can feel something has changed now, though. I'm staring at him, opposite me, now, but my heart doesn't flutter in excitement but burns in hatred at his sadistic grin. And I don't want to look into his soulless eyes that have only malicious deeds in them. I only want to run far away from him and look for the one whose name beats in my heart. The one I foolishly ran away from.

"Well, well. You look gorgeous as always, my love." Brad's creepy voice makes me sick to the stomach as his hungry eyes devour my body. I wish I wasn't wearing the denim shorts I currently had on now. They made my legs bare for his eyes to see.

"I'm not your?love. Stacy has that title. You know her, the pathetic whore you chose over me." I smirk as his eyes darken, and he takes a step closer to me before pausing to clench his fists and jaw.

"I would watch that mouth of yours, Ellie. Or else I will put it to better use." That sadistic grin is back on, and my stomach churns in disgust.

I ignore his words as I don't even want to think about what he meant. "How did you even know I was here?"

He tilts his head up like he's deep in thoughts as he replies, "When I heard that Ellie Archer had run away, I thought where exactly would she have gone to hide from a?Prince." He spat the title in disgust, showing his distaste. "Then, my mind pops up with an answer almost instantly. It would be the same place she ran away to after I broke her tiny little heart."

I furrow my eyebrows in suspicion as his eye landed back on me. "How did you know I came here after...that." I couldn't even say it.

He strides closer to me, and I mirror his steps by moving backwards. "Oh, come on, Ellie. What did you think? That I would just let you go just because I marked some other dumb bitch?" He darkly chuckles a sound that would seem sexy to some other horny she-wolf out there or even human, but not me. He just sounded sick to me. He might look good in his black leather jacket and washed jeans, but he still disgusts me.

"I was never letting you go. I always had my eyes on you everywhere you go. I followed your every move from the shadows like a panther after its prey. You see, dear Ellie, you were never free from me. Do you wanna know why?" He whispers the question with that grin still on his lips. He's very close to me now, and I have nowhere else to go as my back has hit a tree. I eye his movements warily, my body tense with adrenaline rushing pumping through my blood. He seems ready to pounce on me with his hungry eyes fixated on me.

"Because you were always mine. Not that damn Prince's who prides himself like he owns the f*****g universe. Well, he doesn't own you, I do. I own you!" He roars into the forest as the wind picks up. A loud rumble of thunder is heard in the sky as he pins me closer to the tree. I eye our surroundings, looking for a way to escape past him without being caught.

He seems delusional in the state he is right now. And he could do something drastic. My uncle had probably left to the pack immediately after I shooed him away. I don't blame him. How would he have known my supposed mate, the one whose duty is to protect me, was actually the one I should be wary of. He doesn't know about Brad as I had begged my aunt to keep it a secret from him while I lived there. He knew something was wrong with me during that time, but I never once told him the truth.

Brad's canines slowly pull out as his eyes begin to glow red, "And it's time to teach you just who you belong to." As he pushes closer to me, I swung my fist out and caught him square in the jaw. I'm surprised it actually worked as his neck snaps to the side, and he cups his jaw, letting out a groan of pain.

Grabbing the opportunity of his moment of distraction, I lung past him but didn't get far as his hand clamps on my arm. He slams me back into the tree with so much force, my head bangs against it, and a sharp pain shoots through the back of my head. An ear-piercing scream elicits from me as he holds me in place.

My head spins, and I begin to see black dots in my line of vision. My wolf hasn't been exactly active these days, and she doesn't even make an attempt to help me. It's like she has locked herself away from me to hide in the darkest corners of my mind. I had even tried shifting yesterday in my uncle's backyard, but she hadn't come out.

Brad wraps his hand around my neck to hold me in position, and I begin to trash in his hold, clawing at his arms. His eyes are completely red, having this dark, sinister look in them like that of the devil's. His hold on my neck tightens as he growls at me threateningly to stop moving. But I have other plans in mind. My fight or flight mood has been activated, but now, I have to fight before I flight.

"Get away from me." I raise my knee up before kneeing him hard in the crotch, eliciting a grunt from him as his hold on my neck relaxes.

"Bitch!" He spits out.

I'm about to flee, but his damn Alpha genes quickly heal him up, and he punches me in the mouth for me to taste the metallic taste blood. I don't even have time to recover when he grabs my hair painfully and slams my head against the tree...hard.

My vision goes dark for a few seconds, with me searching once more for my wolf, but no luck. I come back up only to realize a set of canines pressing on my neck with a low rumble of growls emitting from Brad's chest. His hand is on my neck, holding me in place, and I'm too dizzy to even do anything about it. I know what he's about to do. He's going to mark me forcefully.

"If you do this...he...he'll kill you." I manage to gasp out as his tongue laps at my sweet spot, getting it tender for him to pierce. I feel him smile against my neck at my words.

"I'll like to see him try. He knows he can't hurt an Alpha without consequences. And I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just claiming my mate." His canines are fully on show now as he slowly pierces through my soft skin. The forest trees around me are spinning as I'm still dazed from his earlier assaults. I feel tears breaming in my eyes at my situation.

This was all my fault. If I hadn't left Los Angeles, left Reagan, Brad wouldn't have been able to harm or try mark me. Reagan wouldn't have allowed it, and my wolf would still be awake and help defend me. I would have been able to take him because she was getting stronger just by being close to Reagan. But now, I have a busted lip, and I'm about to pass out as I'm being forcefully marked against my will. Maybe, just maybe, if I had let Reagan mark me, then all of this could have been prohibited.

I'm looking lost at the sky as Brad continues to slowly penetrate his canines past my skin when his weight is suddenly lifted up from me in a flash. I fall to the forest ground with all my strength gone when I suddenly hear a growl beside me and the sickening sound of flesh against flesh. I turn to see a beast with golden fur, hovering over Brad as he pounds his fists repeatedly into his face with brutal force. Brad tries to defend himself, but he's no match again the beast's strength.

I soon recognize the golden hair growing all over the beast, and my eyes widen in realization as I stare at the scene in horror. I hear the sounds of footsteps and look up to see Danny and Lexi waltzing into the clearing. They also stare at the scene of Reagan repeatedly slamming his fists into Brad's face, making him sputter out blood. He's going to kill him!

I'm too weak to move, and I stare up at Lexi and Danny for them to do something, but they only stand aside, watching the show blankly.

"Why aren't you doing anything? He's going to kill him!" I yell at them, but Danny shrugs in return. I couldn't just watch this all happen. I hated Brad with every fiber of my being right now, but he doesn't deserve to die just like that. And Reagan could get into serious trouble if he kills him.

I drag my exhausted body over to the scene, whimpering Reagan's name, but it's as if he doesn't even hear me. He keeps on deforming a now unconscious Brad's face. The clouds burst out then, and light raindrops begin to pour down the earth.

"Reagan, please stop!" I yell over the rain as I place my palm on his muscular arm that was covered in golden fur. He goes rigid underneath my palm then, with the next fist supposed to land on Brad's face, now hanging up in the air. His head snaps to me, and that's when I finally got a good look at his face, and I gasp in fright.

From his chin to his jaw are shiny wet golden hairs, covering everywhere except his cheeks, nose, lips, and eyes. His eyes aren't the bright gold or warm brown I'm used to, but a black gold like Texas tea. His sharp white canines are longer and thicker than an average werewolve.

If I thought I should be wary of Brad before, Reagan was much worse. He looked feral like he was some deranged animal with no sense of reality. And when his eyes focused on me, I knew I was in big trouble then.

I move back and trip to fall on my ass as his predatory eyes follow my every move. I swallow in fear of how inhuman he looks when his eyes snap to my still bloody neck. Brad hadn't gone in too far, but a little more could have started the mating process.

But then, Reagan stares away back at his victim, who was slowly gaining consciousness. I couldn't even recognize Brad's face anymore. The rain was slowly washing off the dirt and blood from his face.

Reagan then did something I would never have expected. With a loud growl, he dips his fingers past Brad's lips and takes hold of both his canines. He pauses before ripping them off in one go.

Blood gushes out from Brad's mouth as he howls in pain. My eyes water at the image, and I tasted bile at the back of my throat.?Oh, God! He did not just...

Brad was an Alpha, and him losing his canines would totally deprive him of that position. Hell! He wouldn't even be considered a werewolf anymore.

Reagan's eyes then snap to my wide ones as Brad slowly crawls away from him, holding his bloody mouth in the process. I see the predatory look in Reagan's eyes, making me gulp in fear.?You're next. His?eyes tell me.

I crawl backward on my butt as he takes slow, predatory steps towards me. His eyes fixated on me in determination as his fur slowly retracts back into his skin. His shirt is ripped along with his pants as his form reduces to that of a human. Raindrops are falling down his blond hair to his smooth skin. I stare up at him with my eyes still wide open, and when I see him gaining on me, I weakly turn to crawl and run.

But his hand grips my ankle and tugs me back to him, making me crash to the wet forest floor. He drags me towards him before spinning me around, holding both my hands down above me.

"Mine!" He growls out the word before burying his face into my neck. His sharp, long canines protrude out, and he clamps them on my neck. Just like Brad's, a few minutes ago, he starts to pierce through my neck.

I hear the sound of Lexi screaming at him to stop, but I'm too weak to even move. The raindrops falling from the sky to the earth and on my face are the last things I see before blacking out.