Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 59

Kaius

Even now, racing through the barren landscape outside the Silent Forest, my heart still pounded from the battle. Those enhanced wolves had been unlike anything I'd ever encountered—relentless, regenerating, utterly without fear or pain. For the first time in decades, I'd genuinely questioned whether I might actually lose a fight.

During the heat of combat, when I'd been surrounded and struggling to decide between a desperate last stand or retreat, I'd felt a powerful surge of magic sweep through the area. My natural sensitivity to magical energies had immediately pinpointed the source—somewhere beyond the forest, emanating the same dark signature I'd sensed on those enhanced wolves.

The moment I'd broken away from the fight to pursue that magical trail, the white shapes had simply stopped attacking.

*Why aren't they following me? Why let me go straight to their master?*

The lack of pursuit was unsettling, but I couldn't let that deter me. This magical signature belonged to the mastermind behind all the attacks on Elowen's territory. Trap or not, this was my chance to end the threat.

Now I was closing in on that source, my enhanced senses locked onto the trail. The barren hills stretched endlessly under the full moon, but I could feel my quarry's presence growing stronger with each stride.

Now I was closing in on that magical signature, my enhanced senses locked onto the trail like a bloodhound. The barren hills stretched endlessly under the full moon, but I could feel my quarry's presence growing stronger with each stride.

*There. Just ahead.*

I burst over a rocky outcropping and found exactly what I'd expected—a figure in flowing black robes manipulating some kind of magical construct. Golden hair spilled from beneath a ornate mask, and slender hands gestured over what looked like a white wolf puppet made of ethereal energy.

When she sensed my approach and turned to face me, there was no fear in her posture. Only cold amusement.

"You finally made it," she said, her voice carrying an unsettling mix of sophistication and madness. "Though I'm afraid you're rather too late."

*Fuck! That obvious magical energy earlier—it was bait. She deliberately led me here.*

Dread coiled in my stomach, but I forced myself to focus on the immediate threat. This witch had been orchestrating attacks on Elowen's territory, experimenting on innocent wolves, turning them into magical weapons. She needed to be stopped.

I lunged forward with lethal intent, claws extended to tear through her throat, but she was already moving. Behind her, reality shimmered and tore open like fabric, revealing a swirling portal of dark energy.

"Too slow, Alpha King!" she laughed as she began backing toward the dimensional rift. "While you've been playing my little game out here, your precious mate is walking into my real trap! Tick tock, Alpha King!"

Rage exploded through my consciousness, but I didn't stop my attack. My claws raked through the space where she'd been standing, catching only the edge of her black robes as she tumbled backward through the portal.

Even as the dimensional gateway began closing, her mocking voice echoed from the void: "All wolves are nothing but pets in my eyes! What gives any of you the right to call yourselves alphas? Even your precious white wolf doesn't deserve that power! You'll witness her fate soon enough, Alpha King."

The portal snapped shut, leaving me alone with her torn fabric and the echo of maniacal laughter.

*Elowen.*

Terror unlike anything I'd ever experienced crashed over me. Without hesitation, I shifted to my fastest wolf form and began racing back toward the Silent Forest. Every instinct screamed that I was already too late, that my investigation had been exactly what the witch wanted—a distraction to draw me away from Elowen at the crucial moment.

*Please don't have left your pack. Please have listened to Evelyn's warning.*

But even as I ran, Elowen's scent was growing stronger instead of fainter. She was out here somewhere, outside the protective barrier of her territory.

*Fuck. She came after me.*

Ten minutes of desperate running brought me back to the clearing where I'd fought the enhanced wolves. The scene that greeted me nearly brought me to my knees.

Ash and scorch marks covered the ground where the magical constructs had been destroyed—Elowen had clearly won her battle. But she lay motionless in human form at the center of the devastation, her clothes torn and blood-soaked, a massive wound visible in her chest.

She wasn't breathing.

I shifted back to human form and dropped beside her, my hands shaking as I gathered her into my arms. Her skin was cold, her face pale as death. The wound in her chest was deep enough that I could see bone beneath the torn flesh.

"No, no, no," I whispered, pressing my fingers to her throat, searching desperately for any sign of life. "You can't be dead. You can't leave me like this."

The irony was devastating. I'd spent months hunting for her, trying to force her back into my life, and now that I'd finally found her, she was dying because she'd tried to save me.

"Elowen!" Scarlett's voice cut through my despair as she and Evelyn burst into the clearing. Both women took one look at the scene and their faces crumpled with horror.

"You lying bastard!" Scarlett snarled, falling to her knees beside us. "You said you were just retrieving something! Let go of her!"

I couldn't make myself release Elowen, even as guilt crashed over me in overwhelming waves. "This is my fault," I said hoarsely. "She wouldn't be here if I hadn't—"

"Self-recrimination later!" Evelyn interrupted sharply, her hands already glowing with diagnostic magic as she examined Elowen's wounds. "Kaius, we need to act now. She might still have a chance, but barely."

Hope flared in my chest. "What do you need me to do?"

"Your blood," Evelyn said urgently. "The same healing properties that helped her before. But we'll need a lot of it, and quickly."

Without hesitation, I bit deep into my own wrist, tearing through skin and muscle until blood poured freely. I held the wound over Elowen's lips, watching crimson droplets disappear into her mouth.

"More," Evelyn commanded. "It's not enough. Her injuries are too severe."

I didn't even pause to consider the consequences. Using my fangs, I tore open both of my wrists, creating wounds deep enough to access major arteries. Blood flowed like rivers, turning Elowen's lips and chin red as I forced the healing liquid down her throat.

The blood loss was making me dizzy, but I could see tiny signs of improvement—a slight flush returning to her cheeks, the faintest rise and fall of her chest.

Scarlett had fallen to her knees, her hands clasped in desperate prayer to the Moon Goddess. "Please," she whispered. "Don't take our alpha. We need her."

Evelyn hesitated, clearly reluctant to voice what she was thinking. "I hate even suggesting this, but... the marking ritual. During the full moon, a mate's mark can draw forth a white wolf's deepest reserves of life energy. It could not only save her life but make her stronger than ever before."

I nodded immediately, already moving toward Elowen's shoulder. But just as I was about to complete the ritual that would bind us forever, memories flooded back—Elowen's fury when I'd tried to mark her in my chambers, her desperate attempts to escape, all the pain and trauma I'd caused her.

My hands began shaking again, this time with self-doubt rather than urgency. How could I force this on her when she was unconscious, unable to consent? How could I take advantage of her dying state to claim what she'd refused to give me?

"Fuck!" Evelyn shouted, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "I don't care whether she's willing or not! You have to save our alpha! She's dying because she tried to rescue you, you absolute coward!"

Her words cut through my paralysis like a blade.

I whispered a brief prayer to the Moon Goddess, asking for forgiveness and strength, then sank my fangs deep into the sensitive skin of Elowen's shoulder.

The effect was immediate and overwhelming. The moment my mark took hold, the constant pain from my own wounds simply vanished. More importantly, I could feel our mate bond roaring back to life with ten times its previous intensity. Elowen's heart began beating strongly against my chest, and the horrific wound over her heart started closing with visible speed.

Scarlett and Evelyn both released shaky breaths of relief, their shoulders sagging as the immediate crisis passed. The tension that had gripped all of us began to ease as we watched Elowen's color return to normal.

*Thank the Moon Goddess. I finally managed to save you.*