2

Andrea’s POV

Clara started howling loudly, joining the many howls from my fellow rogues that erupted at the same time around me, and I started feeling the immense pain of shifting back into my human form against my will.

“Clara! What’s happening?” I screamed to her in my head.

“I don’t know! I can’t maintain my form! I feel weaker by the second!” she whimpered in my head painfully.

I writhed on the ground, on my hands and knees, screaming in pain and agony. This was so not how I pictured this fight to go down.

It was luck alone that made me near the back of the rogues that were leading the fight, because when I finally lifted my head up and looked ahead, limbs and heads were flying in every which direction. Blood was everywhere, in the air, on the ground, and all over the falling dead rogues who were at the front row when the battle started.

I didn’t have time to understand why we weren’t able to keep our wolf forms but all I knew was that it all started when we crossed the border line of the La Crosse territory. Whatever this is, it has something to do with the territory and not us in particular. Because even Alec and his pack couldn’t shift as well.

It must be a warlock’s spell no doubt. They are the only ones capable of doing something this massive.

I admit at that point I seriously contemplated turning back and running the hell away from here. I could barely feel Clara’s presence inside me. There was no sign of her powers at all running through me. I was human. A fragile, weak human who is no match for their weakest fighter. How the hell do I expect myself to kill Alec like this?

Of course he was a human too. But we were not evenly matched at all, not by a long shot. We were both stripped of our supernatural powers but he had his strong, lethal body to back him up. I was a short, super skinny person with very weak muscles despite trying my best to work out my stamina everyday for the past two years.

I started backing away slowly, keeping an eye out for Alec and for a possible attack at the same time.

My body was trembling with fear at the gruesome sights taking place all around me. My stomach was in various tight knots filled to the brim with tension. I was so naïve thinking I had it in me to be in this position. To think I could be capable of fighting like these people. I’m going to die a very painful death in about three, two….one…fuck!

I froze in my place, my heart froze too for a second and the silliest thought crossed through my mind: I’m going to drop dead from fear alone before this giant looking man can take a single step in my direction.

He was drenched in blood from head to toe. It was hard to tell whether it was his own or someone else’s, and his green eyes were focused on me.

We were staring silently at each other. My face was the clear picture of scared to death while his was masked with mild curiosity, surprise, and indecision.

I think I get it…a little. Why he was stunned for a second there without attacking me right away like I expected him to. I looked as harmful as a little kitten could be which amounts to absolute nothing. He had no clue what the hell a girl like me who so obviously never killed a person in her life was doing with rogues. You can definitely tell I’m not a rogue from my trembling, shocked stance alone. Rogues don’t hesitate, they don’t get scared, and they don’t try to run away from a fight. It was the same thought going through my head a few seconds ago.

The moment lasted for a few seconds before he blinked a few times and said “Go” tightly with a flick of his head in the direction leading out of the edge of the territory and away from the fight.

I didn’t have time to register the fact the he just spared my life despite knowing whose side I was supposed to be on, when one of the rogues jumped him roughly from behind and pinned him to the ground.

I acted instinctively and didn’t stop for even a second to think about it. He spared my life and it was going to cost him his because if he wasn’t distracted with me he wouldn’t have been jumped and caught off guard. I owed him and I hate owing anyone anything.

I picked up a sharp, long, wooden stick from the ground and drove it as fiercely as I could all the way into the rogue’s back.

It caused him to scream wildly and push me away from him roughly.

I fell onto my back, hard, taking the stick I was holding tightly in both hands out of his body with me.

He turned to me and snarled in an animalistic tone “You traitorous bitch! You’re so fucking dead little girl”

He started to lunge at me and I braced myself for the worst but it didn’t come.

The man who spared my life saved me again by snapping the rogue’s neck menacingly from behind. The rogue dropped dead on the spot.

The man looked at me with a lot of confusion on his face, unable to believe I actually tried to save his life when I was supposed to kill him instead of killing someone I came here with. I couldn’t blame him really. This was getting out of control massively.

I need to get away from here because this is obviously the biggest mistake I ever made.

I scrambled to my feet quickly, still tightly clutching my only weapon in both hands, and started running away from the fight.

I hastily looked behind me and didn’t see the man running after me, he was lost in the sea of people and wolves ripping at each other’s throats.

For the second time in the span of two minutes, I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted Alec… right in front of me with his back facing me.

He was facing off against three large, bulky rogues all on his own.

My heart skyrocketed to a scary degree I thought it was going to explode any second now. This was my chance, on a plate of pure gold. He was too busy fending off his attackers, giving me the perfect opportunity to plunge this stick into his back all the way through into his heart.

It was probably the only shot I’m ever going to get to kill him.

And I fucking took it.

The moment he killed one of the three rogues, I took my shot and drove my stick into his back with all my might. My human might. And I knew right there that it wasn’t enough to make it happen in a single shot. I barely planted it halfway into his back.

That’s when the gates of hell officially broke loose and time seemed to freeze over and stretch for a long period.

A sharp, blinding pain shot through me to the extent I looked down on my body expecting my heart to be ripped out of my chest considering how much it was hurting me. But I was totally intact much to my complete bewilderment.

I tried to breathe out through the pain, and that’s when the smell hit me like a punch to the gut.

Mint.

Very close and very strong as if the source of it was standing right….in front of me…with a tree branch stuck into his back.

My legs moved on their own accord, I had no control over them as they walked me until I was facing a kneeling, hurt Alec.

The instant our eyes met, Clara whispered agonizingly “Mate”

This single word was enough to crack my heart wide open and make it bleed like it’s been shot with a silver bullet.

And tragedy hits once again. In full force this time.

How could this be?

The one person I loathe the most in this entire world, is my fucking mate.

What the hell kind of screwed up fate is this?

I think I need a stronger word than tragedy because it does not begin to cover this….tragic turn of events? Disastrous, catastrophic, devastating turn of events? No…not even close to describing what I was feeling at this very moment which was slowly killing me from the inside out.