Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 11

ARIA

Terror flooded my system as my mind supplied everything I knew about these creatures. They'd been werewolves once—centuries ago—before they'd committed atrocities so heinous that a coven of witches had cursed them. Stripped them of their humanity, their pack bonds, even their physical forms. They existed as invisible predators now, able to hunt without being seen, cursed to an eternal hunger that could never be satisfied.

They were enemies to all—humans, werewolves, even vampires gave them a wide berth. They lived only to kill, to spread the misery of their cursed existence.

And I'd just stumbled into their territory.

Another growl, closer now. I felt something brush against my leg—cold, wrong, making my skin crawl where it touched.

My hands shook as I grabbed the moonbeam plants, yanking them free with their root systems still attached. I couldn't fight what I couldn't see. My only option was to run.

I scrambled backward from the cliff edge, snatching up my basket and the other herbs I'd collected. My wolf was trying to surface, wanting to shift, but what good would that do against invisible predators?

The growling intensified, surrounding me on all sides.

I ran.

Branches whipped at my face as I crashed through the underbrush, no longer caring about staying on the established paths. My wolf's instincts guided me, helping me dodge trees and leap over fallen logs. Behind me, I could hear the nightwalkers giving chase—the sound of their pursuit like wind through dead leaves, like whispers from a grave.

Something struck my shoulder, claws I couldn't see tearing through my jacket and into flesh. I bit back a scream and pushed harder, my lungs burning.

The pack borders. If I could just reach the pack borders where the guards patrolled—

But I wasn't going to make it. I could feel them gaining on me, sense their invisible forms closing in.

Another strike, this time catching my leg. I stumbled, went down hard, my basket flying from my hands. Herbs scattered across the forest floor.

I rolled onto my back just in time to see the air shimmer where one of the nightwalkers stood over me. Not quite invisible—more like looking at something through water, a distortion that hurt to focus on.

It raised what must have been a clawed hand, preparing to strike.

This was it. This was how I died—alone in a forest, killed by cursed creatures, never knowing if bonding with Kael could have saved him, never getting the chance to truly start over.

The nightwalker's claws descended.

And then a massive black shape slammed into it from the side.

Kael.

Even in wolf form, trapped by his curse, he was magnificent. Huge and powerful, his midnight fur marked with those strange silver patterns that seemed to glow in the dim forest light. His eyes blazed gold as he tore into the invisible nightwalker, his fangs finding purchase on something I couldn't see.

Black blood sprayed across the ground—nightwalker blood, visible even when their bodies weren't.

But there were more of them. Four others materialized around Kael, their shimmer-forms circling him like sharks scenting blood in water.

Five against one.

"Kael, run!" I screamed, trying to scramble to my feet despite my injured leg. "There are too many—"

But he didn't run. Instead, he positioned himself between me and the nightwalkers, his massive body a shield, a snarl rumbling from his chest that shook the very ground.

The nightwalkers attacked as one.

What followed was the most brutal fight I'd ever witnessed. Kael moved like death itself, all lethal grace and savage power. He caught one nightwalker by what must have been its throat, shaking it like a rag doll until I heard bones snap. Another tried to flank him, but he spun and caught it mid-leap, his claws raking across its invisible form hard enough that more black blood sprayed the forest floor.

But they were landing hits too. I watched in horror as gashes appeared in Kael's fur, his blood—red and bright—staining his dark coat. A nightwalker managed to sink its claws into his shoulder, and Kael's howl of pain made my heart shatter.

He was going to die. He was going to die protecting me, and it would be my fault for venturing too far into the forest.

My wolf surged forward, demanding to be released. I might not be able to see the nightwalkers, but I could fight alongside him. I could help.

I started to shift when Kael killed the second nightwalker with a vicious bite that nearly severed its head. The shimmer-form became solid for just a moment as it died—a twisted, corrupted version of what had once been a wolf—before it dissolved into black smoke.

Three left.

But Kael was slowing down. I could see it in the way he moved, the way he favored his left side where a deep gash leaked blood.

The remaining nightwalkers sensed weakness. They pressed their advantage, attacking in coordinated strikes that Kael barely managed to deflect.

Then he caught the third one. His jaws closed around its neck, and he threw it with such force that it slammed into a tree. The trunk cracked from the impact, and the nightwalker didn't get back up.

The last two nightwalkers seemed to hesitate. They'd gone from five to two, and this cursed Alpha was still standing, still fighting, still protecting the omega behind him with every ounce of strength he possessed.

One of them made a decision. It fled, its shimmer-form disappearing into the forest.

The last nightwalker tried one final attack—a desperate lunge toward me, trying to get past Kael's guard.

Kael was faster. He intercepted it mid-leap, his fangs sinking deep. The nightwalker let out a sound like grinding metal and went still in his jaws.

Then there was silence.

Kael dropped the dead nightwalker and swayed on his feet. Blood dripped steadily from multiple wounds—his shoulder, his side, a deep gash across his back legs. His golden eyes, usually so wild and feral, focused on me with an intensity that stole my breath.

Those eyes swept over me, checking for injuries, making sure I was alive.

I was alive because of him.

"I'm okay," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "Kael, I'm okay. You saved me."