Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 45

ARIA

This was the moment I'd been both anticipating and dreading. The physical marking that would make our bond visible to everyone, that would announce to the world that I belonged to Kael and he to me.

Kael moved closer, his free hand coming up to cup my face with surprising gentleness. "This might hurt," he warned softly. "But I'll be as gentle as I can."

I tilted my head, exposing my neck in the traditional gesture of submission and trust. "I trust you."

His eyes flashed gold—wolf rising to the surface even in human form—and then his teeth were at my throat. The bite came sharp and sudden, pain lancing through me as his canines broke skin. But almost immediately, pleasure followed—a rush of sensation that made my knees weak and my breath catch. The bond exploded between us, solidifying, becoming something permanent and unbreakable.

*Mine,* I heard through the connection, Kael's mental voice resonating with possessive satisfaction. *My mate. My Luna.*

When he pulled back, I saw blood on his lips—my blood—and something primal in his expression that made heat pool in my stomach. But we weren't finished yet.

"Your turn," he said, his voice rough. "Mark me, Aria. Make me yours."

My wolf surged forward, lending me strength and sharpness as my teeth elongated slightly. I reached up, pulling him down to my level, and bit into the junction where his neck met his shoulder. His blood filled my mouth, hot and metallic and somehow right. Through the bond, I felt his pleasure, his relief, his joy at finally being claimed by someone who'd chosen him freely.

*Mine,* I thought fiercely. *My mate. My Alpha.*

When I released him, we stood there for a moment with our blood on each other's lips, the bond between us thrumming with new life and power. Around us, I heard the pack beginning to cheer—at least some of them—acknowledging the completed bond.

Elder Marcus raised his hands. "Behold, Alpha Kael and Luna Aria, bonded beneath the blood moon! Let all witness and honor their eternal union!"

The cheering grew louder, though I noticed it wasn't universal. Still, enough wolves were celebrating to make it feel real, to make me feel like maybe we'd done something right.

Kael pulled me into an embrace, careful of our fresh marks, and through the bond I felt his happiness, his relief, his gratitude that we'd made it this far despite everything.

"We did it," he murmured against my hair. "You're mine now. My Luna. My mate. Mine."

The possessiveness should have alarmed me. Instead, it made me feel anchored. Safe. Chosen.

"We did it," I agreed, allowing myself to lean into his warmth. "We're—"

The chaos erupted before I could finish the sentence.

It started as distant shouts, rapidly growing closer. Then the sound of fighting, of guards calling warnings, of something—or someone—forcing their way through the perimeter defenses.

Kael's body went rigid against mine, his wolf surging to the surface as he scented the air. Through the bond, I felt his sudden rage, his protective fury, his recognition of who was coming.

"Damon," he snarled, pushing me behind him. "He's here."

The crowd parted in chaos as Damon and what looked like at least twenty of his wolves stormed into the ceremonial clearing. He was in human form, his face contorted with fury, his eyes wild with something that looked dangerously close to madness.

And behind him, stumbling and out of breath, was Ivory.

Her elegant clothes were disheveled, her hair falling loose from whatever style she'd worn it in. She looked panicked, terrified, and when Damon rounded on her, I saw genuine fear flash across her face.

"You took me to the wrong place," Damon snarled, grabbing Ivory by the throat and lifting her off her feet. "You deliberately led us to the wrong clearing! You said you wanted to stop this bonding as much as I did, that you'd help me get here in time to challenge before the marking!"

Ivory clawed at his hand, trying to speak, trying to breathe. "I—I tried—the directions—"

"Liar!" Damon's voice was a roar. "You set up two different ceremony sites! Decorated both of them! And you led me to the wrong one on purpose, buying them time to complete the bond!"

Understanding crashed over me. Ivory hadn't been absent from the ceremony because she was bitter or upset about not being chosen. She'd been acting as a decoy, deliberately intercepting Damon and his wolves, leading them astray to give Kael and me precious minutes to complete the bonding.

She'd sacrificed herself to protect me. To protect us.

"Let her go!" Kael's voice was pure alpha command, resonating with power that made several of Damon's wolves cringe and lower their heads involuntarily.

But Damon was beyond reason. "She betrayed me! Promised to help me stop this farce of a bonding and then deliberately sabotaged everything!"

His fist connected with Ivory's face with a sickening crack. She flew backward, crashing into the buffet table that had been set up near the edge of the clearing. Food and dishes went everywhere as she collapsed in the wreckage, blood streaming from her nose and mouth.

Screams erupted from the crowd. Wolves scattered, some trying to help Ivory, others forming protective barriers around the children and elderly. Nina was suddenly at my side, her hand on my arm, trying to pull me away from the platform.

But I couldn't move. Couldn't process what I was seeing. Ivory—who I'd been so jealous of, so resentful toward—had put herself in danger to protect my bonding ceremony. Had deliberately led Damon astray, knowing he would be furious when he realized what she'd done.

Guards flooded forward, weapons drawn, forming a protective barrier between Damon's wolves and the pack. But Damon's attention was fixed on Kael now, his expression twisted with rage and something that looked like betrayal.