splashed over her like ice water.
He’d lied to her.
It was obvious Stefan was here to kill the things she’d studied, maybe even kill her now that she’d been infected. He’d used her to mine information. How could she have been so stupid?
The knowledge settled with heavy weight in her human consciousness, but in her wolf form it was the beast who was in control. The beast didn’t understand betrayal—that was a human emotion. All the beast knew was that her mate was under attack. When uninfected werewolves poured from the blast hole in the facility wall, Bethany launched herself toward him.
Even as she leaped, he pulled out knives that caused lycanthropic flesh to smoke and tear without regenerating. There was no tang of fear to his scent—he obviously knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what kind of creature he faced. He ripped through the werewolves like paper. They roared and he roared back—a guttural war cry filled with rage.
Beth added her own roar, drowning out the other wolves. Since there were only two of her kind, by default Beth was a Beta wolf to the Alpha of Alphas. She was an Alpha in her own right, and wolves, even of another species, would submit to her might.
Mine, she said to the other wolves. Mine. She lay claim to all the men with Stefan but left the remaining Aeternali for the others. The soldiers were the ones who’d imprisoned them—their own government had handed them over for testing without pause. The tide of wolves turned on the Aeternali soldiers with fierce jaws and brutal claws. She pushed images of the destruction headed their way into their minds and hoped they understood.
She turned to Stefan and his knives were still at the ready—his brows drawn together in confusion as he looked into her changed eyes. He may have been confused, but disdain curled his lip back in a sneer.
“Looks like you have a fan,” a voice echoed from the throng.
“Silence,” Stefan demanded, and silence reigned.
Beth stood bipedal, her wolf form making her as tall as Stefan. Her breath came out in quick puffs, bringing her tongue out as she tasted the pheromones in the air. The coppery tang of fear and blood splashed together, but none of it was from Stefan. She wondered if revulsion had a taste and if she’d mistaken it for something else.
Her heart twisted in her chest and all the hopes and dreams she’d had for their future together were discarded. He hated what she was, and even if he didn’t, he’d never loved her. He’d used her, lied to her, and all those dreams she’d mourned were nothing but broken glass.
She didn’t want to feel this as the beast; Beth needed her humanity. She didn’t care how he’d react.
As soon as her human consciousness was in the forefront and her human form washed over her, she was hit with a tidal wave of memories. All the planning that had gone into their wedding—the seating charts, the chapel, her colors... Things they were going to do together, memories they talked about making. Shame flooded her. How stupid he must’ve thought her with her silly plans.
“What are you doing, Stefan? You know about the bomber.”
He flinched away from her when she changed form. Her nakedness and humanity were somehow more abhorrent to him than her wolf form. “We were supposed to be in and out. Then the wolves came.” His voice was devoid of emotion.
Not that she expected him to have any. He’d lied about everything. Seduced her with cold calculation, inserted himself into her life until she believed a life without him was unthinkable. Even as she tallied his sins, the love she felt for him didn’t diminish. Though she desperately wanted it to. The man she’d fallen for wasn’t real; it was a pretty mask he’d made. Still, her beast roared, Mine.
No, not ours. Not real.
Mine.
“That wasn’t a very good plan, was it?” she said softly. Beth wanted to flee, not just the bomber but everything he made her feel. The pain, the humiliation and that damned torch he’d ignited in her—love. Only, it was so much more than love. It was unquantifiable. It was more and it was less, it was everything and nothing. It was the reason she couldn’t leave him here to die alone.
The beast wouldn’t let her, even if her humanity told her he had it coming.
He stood, knives drawn—frozen. “They told me you were dead.”
“I know.” She reached out to touch his arm, but he jerked away from her like she’d tried to burn him with a hot poker. Beth was struck by the ridiculousness of the situation. He was the one who had betrayed her, but he got to play the injured party. She was so angry with him, but with death looming, it didn’t matter so much.
The sound of the jet rumbled in her ears.
“Do you want to live?” she asked him, her tone still low and soothing. Beth wasn’t ready to give up yet. She didn’t want to die, and even though she wanted to kick him with a brick, she didn’t want him to die either.
One of the uninfected werewolves, obviously an Alpha by his size and bearing, took human shape and approached them. “Bethany, the jet comes. Leave the Gypsy scum.”
“The Gypsy scum freed you. You owe them a debt,” Beth said.
He snarled, muzzle erupting from his face as his beast overcame him.
Stefan immediately shoved her behind him, his grip like a brand on her wrist. Beth put her hand on his shoulder, and once he realized she was touching him, he shrugged her off. It hurt, but Beth was determined. They had only minutes left. She stepped around her would-be protector.
“Konstantin was once the Beta to Luka Stanislav, your Alpha. He still speaks for him and I speak for Konstantin. Help me save the Gypsies and your debt is resolved.” She turned to Stefan. “Drop your silver and you can save all of your men.”
“We do not fear death,” Stefan assured her.
“You owe me a debt, Stefan. You betrayed me. Let us save you and then we can both walk away.” She fought as much for her own life as she did for his.
He looked at her, an unrecognizable expression on his face.
As the seconds ticked by, Beth knew they were reaching the point of no return—where even if he agreed to let her save him, they’d be doomed. She wouldn’t leave him. It didn’t matter to her beast what he’d done, he was still her mate.
She sighed and turned to the other wolf. “Go. You don’t need to die here.”
Beth had already resigned herself to death once; maybe he was just now catching up with her.
The other wolf looked at her, head cocked to the side. “We stand with you.”
“Take my men,” Stefan croaked, and then called the order to stand down.
Beth nodded to the wolf and watched as they bounded away with their passengers. She knew she’d done a good thing. She’d been unable to stop or cure the infection, but saving those lives would have to do.
“What are you doing, Beth?” he asked, sounding tired and dejected.
“Staying with you.”
“Go.
