Elia couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
One moment, they were calmly sitting on the couch, and in the next, they attacked Alyn and Liam.
The only thing she could do was watch as they continued to beat the people who did no wrong.
Her shaken gaze fell on Samuel as he was still bleeding, “Oh my God!” She got up from her place and rushed towards him.
She shook off the remnant glass pieces from his palm and pressed the leftover gauze from her earlier treatment into his injury, “Have you lost your mind?” She glared at Samuel while he had a blank look on his face.
Samuel glanced at his two brothers, slumped down after getting another dosage of wolfsbane.
Alyn had thought fast and ministered them with an improved potion to stop their ramphage and to also save his own life from their attacks.
It took everything inside him not to attack Alyn and Liam like his brothers.
Elia’s touch also helped him stay calm.
The more she was near him, the more he remained still and contained.
His injury was not serious and would heal on its own over time, but seeing her make a fuss about it satisfied something deep inside him.
Elia sighed when she saw the bleeding stop.
But her relief didn’t last long when her eyes fell on the one on ground.
On Liam in particular.
His entire face was covered in blood, and he was taking in shallow breaths.
Her first instinct, taking in that terrifying scene, was to get up from her place.
She let go of Samuel’s hand as she was about to rush to Liam, until a grim voice and vice-like grip around her wrist stopped her.
“He will die if you go near him.” Samuel’s voice sent chills down her spine.
He had this frenetic look on his face as he gazed at her, “I’m barely holding back, don’t test me. Sit” he pulled her against him until she landed on his lap.
“What are you doing?” Elia protested when she felt him encircle his arms against her waist, “Stop it. Mr. Donovan, this isn’t right.” But her words fell deaf on his ears.
Sam further pressed her against him and buried his nose along the crook of her neck.
Where his mark should be.
That thought produced the mating fluid in his canines, making them grow.
To hell with all this contract and bullshit!
Why should he give a damn about what others think?
This woman was His!
She was made for him.
Elia shuddered in her place.
His sharp teeth against her neck terrified her to no end, “Samuel?” She tried calling him by his name, “Please stop.” She was regretting even signing that contract and the Blood thing.
She was afraid even to move when his canines gazed on her skin.
Meanwhile, Samuel took a deep whiff of her scent as he nibbled on her soft skin.
Just a little, all he had to do was sink his canine, and she would forever become his.
However, that never came to pass as he felt a sharp sting on his neck, followed by a familiar weakness that he could feel in his veins.
The last thing he saw was the fear-filled face of his mate before he slipped into darkness.
Alyn helped Elia up after disposing of the used syringe in his hand into the bin.
“Thank you.” Tears gathered in her eyes as she hugged the doctor, “You saved me”
The terror of being held by someone stronger than her was soul-crushing.
That feeling of absolute helplessness would never leave her.
She was sure of it.
“This was a long day,” Alyn said numbly as he felt pain due to the blows he had received, “Alpha Ros did a number on me.”
Elia heard him say as she pulled back from the hug.
Alyn talked in such a casual way.
He had fewer expressions than a rock, but at least he was not dangerous, unlike the brothers.
She saw the two on the ground and Samuel on the couch, lying unconscious.
Words left her lips of exactly what she thought of them, “They are monsters.” Then she glanced at Alyn, “They could have killed us.”
“Killed me and Liam, yes.
But not You,” Alyn replied as he checked on Liam’s injuries, “You are their mate.”
Elia frowned, “Is this how your kind treats their mates? By forcefully holding them down, trying to sink your teeth into them?”
“Don’t know,” Alyn shrugged, “Never had a mate”
She was done.
Speaking to people here was draining her, and after this incident, she wasn’t prepared to stand here even for a minute more, “I can’t do this.” She went through the drawers and found her belongings before Alyn could protest and started to walk out.
“You signed the contract,” Alyn reminded, the obvious to which Elia retorted by pointing at Samuel, “Well, he breached it first by trying to hurt me. I don’t think I have to follow it anymore.” It was laughable that the one who prepared the elaborate contract was the one to break it.
Alyn cleaned Liam’s blood-smeared face.
“Alpha Sam was not trying to harm you.” She waited as he added, “He was trying to mark you.”
“Mark?” Elia asked, “Doesn’t that mean….?”
”Marking happens between chosen mates”, he cleared, ”Our kind are known to be possessive of even their chosen mates.
You are much more than that.
It has been so long since wolves recognized soulmates; every union now is between wolves that choose one another on their own.
A human is a true mate.
That was news to her.
His rambling made no sense, “So you people never had a human as your mate before me?” This was not what Samuel informed.
In fact, he didn’t even say anything.
It was like he purposefully kept her in the dark.
Alyn was frank with his words, “You are the first true mate our kind has recognized in a millennium. The bonds such as yours had disappeared between the wolves until now.”
Elia stuttered, “Then their plan of marking other women? What about that?”
“That’s because they don’t want a human as their mate. So they are planning on marking others who would then become their chosen mates.”
She groaned, “You keep on calling them chosen mates and me as a true mate, what is the difference?”
Alyn furrowed his brows, “You are slow, Human.”
“Please…”
He sighed, “Chosen mates are those that we choose to mate with for breeding, for companionship, and which can be broken easily when two parties involved agree to it. But the true mate, just like you, is chosen by fate. The moon goddess herself makes a pair that transcends life and death. I had once read in the old scriptures that the true mate pairs end up together in every life they are born into. If one amongst the pair dies, then the remaining one wastes away and dies of heartbreak, and their souls don’t find peace until they reunite with their mate’s soul.”
Elia felt her handbag slip as she tried to digest everything she heard.
This kept on getting worse and worse.
She could understand why Samuel had withheld this information.
It was not only difficult to believe but also absolutely frightening.
So that was why they behaved so strongly when she took Alyn and Liam’s names.
What in hell was she supposed to do with this information?
Everything she had planned till now seemed to disappear.
She had thought that all she had to do was stay here for six months, not die by their enemies, and then get the heck out of here once they took their own mates.
It was simple, but how could she have any peace when they behaved like savages just because she put forth the idea of other men acting as her partner while she remained here?
Her eyes involuntarily went to Liam.
He was severely injured.
“Will they act like this whenever I interact with other men?” Elia asked, “This isn’t normal”
“This isn’t normal for even us, Miss Miller” Alyn answered, treating his own injury.
It seemed like only the brothers had exceptional self-healing ability in this place.”The possessiveness I mentioned about chosen mates is limited only to them feeling uncomfortable whenever their partner fucks another without their prior knowledge”
Elia raised her brows as he continued, “The concept you humans have about cheating? That is very rare in our kind. It occasionally does happen when there are feelings involved, but that’s it. Most of us take mates as a political tool or to continue our progeny. So, imagine our reaction when none other than our Alphas act like mindless beasts in your presence. All of this is new to us, too.”
Elia looked at him for a long time before replying, “You talk a lot.
Has anyone said that before?” Her plan to leave had to come to a halt for now.”Will you not get in trouble for sharing these things?
Your Alpha didn’t seem very keen on informing me of all this”
Alyn nodded, “I will get reprimanded, yes. But didn’t this help you?”
She smiled at that, “I have many things to thank you for today, Alyn”