A Howling Heart
Chapter forty-three

Fae's POV.

It's the growling that awakens me. The fierce growls. The piercing howls that follow. All of it. Matias! Is he okay?

I force my eyes open, ignore the pain throughout my entire body, and sit up. My back is pressed against the wall in the hall as I realize Nate and Matias are still fighting. Matias's face has a gash from where Nate cut him with a blade. I cry out for him, and he looks at me quickly. I realize my mistake when he takes his eyes off Nate and gets another cut on his arm.

"No! Stop it! Please, God! Stop this!"

I won't let him hurt you! I'll die before I allow it!

Matias's forceful voice is in my head again. "No! Stay back! I won't let him hurt you, Fae!"

Matias isn't my keeper, and despite my strange need to obey him, I won't sit by and let him die. I pull myself upright, ignoring the screaming in my limbs and skull as I focus my eyes on Nate's back, which is heaving as he swings the knife again.

I've had enough of him.

When I stand, I finally notice the liquid trickling down my neck and the searing pain in my throat. I reach up, fingers sliding over the wound, surprised that I'm not bleeding more at the size of the gash on my throat. Probably weird wolf juju.

I creep toward Nate, careful not to alert him that I'm closing in on him until I'm at his back, and I throw myself at him. He yells when I smash my fists in the side of his head, knocking him sideways, giving Matias the leverage to land a blow to his stomach and wrist that makes the knife fly down the hallway, skidding on the floor away from the chaos.

"Fae, no!"

I had to.

I had to save Matias.

Nate throws his back against a wall, and all the air rushes out of my lungs when I hit the wall, but my hold on him remains, and I hit him in the head again, my eyes moving down the side of his face to the pulsating vein in his throat. Bite him...

Bite him, and it's all over.

My mouth pools with saliva as if this is a normal thought. I'm overcome with the primal urge to sink my teeth into him and tear and chew his flesh.

Until he is just as worthless as he called me.

I sink my teeth into his throat as hard and deep as I can manage and clamp my jaw shut before ripping flesh, tendon, and vein from his throat. A strangled roar escapes Nate as blood squirts from the wound. "No! Y-you son of a-"

He trips sideways, and I let go, so I fall from his back. I watch as his hand reaches up to his neck, his fingers painted red when he pulls them away from his neck to look at them stunned. "You don't deserve to be Alpha."

I spit at him as Matias grabs him by his throat and lifts him up, blood leaking down Matias's forearm as Nate begins to choke. I'm unsure if he's choking from Matias or his own blood, but I marvel at the sight. "And now, you'll die alone and unloved."

Matias brings Nate close to him and bites the other side of his neck, tearing that flesh and veins and muscle until his head lolls as the blood loss reaches uncontrollable levels, and the life drains painfully from Nate's body before Matias tosses him on the floor.

"You traitor." Matias peers at him with uncontainable anger until Nate has stopped moving, and the blood on the floor is more than what's in his body. I dare a glimpse at Matias, eyes moving over the blood that's leaked down his chin and surrounds his mouth.

He looks ravenous...

Rabid.

His eyes are wide, like a predator's, and his chest heaves up and down with deep, labored breaths. I see my reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall, startled by how animal-like I appear. Blood stains my mouth and cheeks as well. Death coating my skin just like Matias.

"Because we are one. You were always mine. From the very beginning. And that is how you will stay."

He pulls me to him and captures my chin before feverishly pressing his lips to mine. The kiss claims me, just as he continuously says he will. He molds his mouth to mine possessively, the desperation of a man who's almost lost what he cherishes most in the world.

I am his soul.

His everything.

I taste my destiny, blood, tears, and fate swirl on my tongue as I get swept away by his lust and domination and how much I feel like I belong.

It's not long until his lips are no longer on mine, interrupted by the howls of wolves around. My heart still pounds as if he's kissing me. I pout at the absence of his mouth, and a satisfied sigh leaves his lips. "You seem disappointed."

"I am. The last time I kissed you was almost my last time ever...I don't want to waste time."

He grins and licks his lips, and that's when I truly notice how his happiness reverses his aging. He looks young, carefree, approachable..., and more human.

Regardless of whether he wants to admit it or not, he is a man and a wolf.

And I've fallen for both.

I bite my lip and peer in the direction he came from.

"Let's go."

He nods and holds me close to his side as he moves me through the halls.

I still don't know where I am going...

Where this place is....

Matias couldn't find it for a while or mentally reach me...

I frown as I climb the stairs.

"Where are we?"

Matias tenses as I continue to climb the steps. "Underground. That's why there are no windows down here."

Oh, my goodness.

He brought me underground?

That freaks me out.

"It should...I just don't understand how he was able to get to you... we left you back there with Tonya and a few other wolves patrolling. I told them to keep you inside. They all had strict orders..."

I blinked a few times, remembering that on my way out, I saw Tonya by the door, and she did nothing to stop me. Maybe this is the opportunity I need to get rid of her... I should tell him.