Chapter 194: The Mark of a Mate
Moana
Edrick was bleeding out below me. I needed to mark him if I wanted him to survive, but he didn’t want me to. He said that it would be bad for the baby; he even admitted that the drops he was putting in my coffee were to specifically prevent this. But he didn’t know that I hadn’t been drinking my coffee, and I could mark him then and there.
“I won’t let you die,” I said firmly as I held Edrick’s hand in mine.
Behind us, Ethan and several Rogues were fighting with the police. It was a flurry of chaos in that abandoned warehouse, and I wasn’t sure what would happen if Edrick died. Ethan and the Rogues, who were likely hired by him, were certain to kill us. I couldn’t stop thinking about little Ella, who was still asleep in the cop car. Even Kelly was lying hopelessly in the corner, still unconscious. The cops were struggling with Ethan and the Rogues, and I knew that they needed Edrick’s help. If I marked him and healed him, then he would have the strength to fight better than anyone else there because his mate was at his side.
But Edrick’s eyes widened and he shook his head, despite the fact that blood was pooling up around him.
“No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous for you to mark me. Not with the baby inside of you. Just run, and one of the police will get you somewhere safe.”
I shook my head. “I already said that I won’t let you die,” I whispered. “I love you, Edrick.”
The Alpha billionaire’s eyes widened even further. Before he could respond, I suddenly bent down and pressed my lips against his, kissing him deeply.
Inside of me, I could feel my wolf’s power surge. She was searching for Edrick’s wolf so that they could mark each other. Due to Edrick’s injuries, however, his wolf was weak and Mina struggled to find him.
All around me, I could hear the sounds of fighting. Gunshots, raised voices, and animalistic snarling echoed throughout the empty warehouse in a deafening cacophony of noise. I heard the sound of one of the police screaming.
“My leg!” the female officer screamed. “The Rogue got my leg!”
I pressed my lips harder against Edrick’s. I could taste the metallic flavor of his blood on my tongue, but I didn’t care. I just kept kissing him, praying that Mina could find his wolf and mark him.
A few moments later, I felt Mina’s reaction to Edrick’s wolf. “He’s weak,” she said, “but I found him.”
What happened next was a strange sensation that I couldn’t even begin to fathom. I suddenly felt as though my soul found a missing piece that I had been without for my entire life. For years, up until this very moment, I hadn’t realized it — but I had only been half of a soul. Edrick was the other half, and I knew that now. All of the times that I didn’t trust him, all of the times that I thought that he was going to hurt me… When I thought that the serum he was putting in my coffee was meant to harm me, but in actuality he was only trying to protect me, to keep me from shifting too early so that the baby wouldn’t be in danger… All of that felt so small now. I felt as though our souls clicked together like two pieces of a puzzle.
Everything else around me faded, leaving just Edrick and I in a dark space together. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. Below me, I could feel Edrick’s body relax. I quickly pulled away, my eyes searching his face with worry. He was limp.
The peace that I felt before dissipated, and I felt my heart catch in my throat as the fighting around me continued. Edrick wasn’t moving.
“Edrick?” I said, shaking him gently as my eyes filled with tears. “Edrick, are you alive? Please don’t be dead…”
Behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. I jerked my head up to see none other than Ethan standing there, grinning maniacally.
“I told you he would die,” he said. “Did you get to say your goodbyes?”
Ethan stormed up to me and suddenly grabbed me by my arm. He hauled me to my feet, wrenching me away from Edrick’s limp body. I screamed and kicked, bit and clawed, but it was no use; no matter how hard I struggled against Ethan, he was too strong. He was an Alpha, and my wolf hadn’t fully emerged yet.
“Now it’s your turn,” Ethan said, wrapping his fingers around my neck. His grip tightened around me. I began to gasp for air and choke, flailing my arms. Ethan just stared into my face with a calculated coldness that made me sick to my stomach.
“Fuck… You…” I croaked as I tried to claw at his face. My words only caused Ethan to laugh, and he just choked me even harder. I felt my vision begin to fade, but all I felt inside of me was my wolf’s pain, her wild keening over our mate’s fate.
But then, something strange happened. Mina’s wailing stopped.
“Look!” she said. “He’s healing!”
I couldn’t turn my head, though. Ethan was holding me too tightly. My vision was fading so much that his image was becoming a dark blob despite the fact that he was just mere inches from my face. I begged Mina to help me, to give me strength.
And she did.
I suddenly felt an immense amount of strength surge through me. I didn’t know what happened exactly; all I knew was that one moment Ethan was strangling me to death, and the next moment he was on the ground, groaning and holding his head, while I had fallen to my knees. I coughed and sputtered as I regained my vision.
All of a sudden, I felt a warm pair of arms wrap around me.
“Don’t worry,” a familiar voice said softly in my ear. “Your Alpha is here.”
I looked up then to see Edrick crouching beside me, holding me tightly in his arms. My wolf was right; he had healed after all. I had thought that he was dead, but he was just healing the whole time, and now he exuded a strength that I had never seen anyone possess before. As I looked at him, my hand clapped over my mouth and a sob caught in my throat. He cupped my face in his hands and pulled me toward him. For a moment that felt like an eternity, we kissed each other and I felt whole again.
But the fight wasn’t over; Ethan was getting up. I heard his maniacal laugh again.
“Well, well,” he teased, finally climbing to his feet. “Looks like we’re gonna have a round two, huh?”
Edrick gave me one last look. His eyes glowed silver, and from this close I could see that they were sparkling with so much love that it was dazzlingly bright. He gently kissed my forehead, then stood and rolled up his sleeves.
With a low, thunderous growl, Edrick stepped in front of me and faced Ethan. From where I kneeled on the floor, he looked like a god standing there in the bright light from the spotlight.
“Yeah,” he said, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. “I guess we are gonna have a round two.”
