A Howling Heart
Chapter Sixty

Tonya's

POV.

How can fate be so cruel? How can that which created my heartbreak be flaunted in front of me as it is? How am I expected to remain quiet, impartial to this imposter of a Luna who has come waltzing in and swept the only source of comfort

I've had right out from under me?

And I'm supposed to remain silent? Not making a fuss as the man I love creates a bond with this woman? A bond I was somehow hoping I could seduce my way into, but life as Lycan is not so simple. We don't get to pick and choose the man for us when it is the Alpha. Fate has chained the wrong people together. The God that reigns over us has made a mistake.

Matias is mine.

Why couldn't he be mine?

The thought grips me inside with a crushing force. It sends pain shooting forth from my aching heart like blood in my veins until it's even harder to move as I stand up with serious determination. "No! I have an objection!"

There are voices in my head screaming to run that I'm making a mistake by sticking up for the love I once had with him, but I can't help it. I can't sit idly by and watch this. I have to try. One last time to beat fate, to destroy this idiotic path that has been created.

Because there has to be more..., there has to be something better..., and this can't be it for us.

Don't I deserve happiness? Don't I deserve to rule by his side?

The warnings I received in the past not to get emotionally involved with an Alpha that wasn't my mate came crashing back with a vengeance.

'Tonya, you know you're playing a dangerous game...'

'Once his mate comes, you will be replaced.'

I had laughed it off. I secretly hoped she would never show up and that somehow Matias and I would get the life we deserved together. That all changed the day Fae showed up.

I could feel it in the atmosphere, even smell it in the air anytime Matias was around me. His mate had arrived, and his entire body chemistry changed to accommodate that bond, to parade it to the surrounding wolves that he was stepping into more power through a bond I dreaded with a woman I still don't believe deserves him.

So, I will stand up for us because he isn't in his right mind. He is blinded by their bond. Blinded by this wolfish need to do what fate has deemed he must, but there is a logical part deep down. I know there is. There has to be! The one that held me night after night! That found happiness in me!

Not her...

"Don't do this, Matias," I beg him, my body vibrating with anxiety and hope that, for once, things will go my way. Just once, because I'm not sure I can live without him.

I don't want to...

***

Fae's POV.

My head snaps to her, watching as she moves carefully toward us while fully naked.

She's nothing but a threat. She always has been.

With her hands clasped together and a pained expression, she pleads, "Matias! Please don't do this!"

She wants what's mine.

Not happening... over my dead body!

The wolf lingering inside me lashes out protectively for Matias.

Matias gives me a serious look as if he won't even entertain that idea. "Not now, my Fae. Do not bring that up so nonchalantly; I can't bear that thought. Let me handle it."

Tonya frowns as he addresses me, but her eyebrows raise with hope when he turns back to her.

"Tonya," he says with exasperation. "You have disrespected Fae and our traditions.... You have become a threat... no longer an ally of our pack."

He snarls something in Latin to the wolves, who turn around and growl at her. She looks petrified as they go to snap at her legs.

Frantically, she shakes her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stumbles and attempts to keep the wolves from sinking their teeth into her flesh. "B-but- I think you're making a mistake." "You are the mistake."

"She is!" Tonya points an accusing finger at me, and my blood boils. "He's mine!" I snarl at her, hopping off Matias as the urge to set her straight overwhelms me until it's the only thing on my mind. I run at her, a bloodcurdling scream erupting from me as I near her frightened self.

"Fae!" Matias calls to me with a sternness reserved for children lashing out. I feel his body behind me in an instant. "Anima Mea, Wait!" He's behind me before I have a chance to reach her. He yanks me back before I hear him growl something in Latin at the other wolves. They begin to surround her.

He doesn't want me getting my hands dirty if I don't have to. I'm sure it's just him being protective of me again.

"You've dishonored this pack. You have called for the end of the blue moon ritual, and for that, you are no longer a part of this pack..."

The wolves continue growling and snapping at her, pushing her closer to the edge of the woods.

"Matias," she pleads. "I love you." She presses her hands to her chest as if he's physically wounded her by his rejection.

There is no remorse, no shame, no regret. He was never meant for her. This is how it is with wolves. At least with their Alphas. Definite. His fate lies with me.

"Do not utter my name, Tonya. Or I will let Fae go, and if I do, that will be the last time you utter my name, and she will make sure of that."

I frown, shooting daggers at Tonya as tears roll down her face. She stands and whips around, running off into the woods. The line of wolves looks after her before they turn back to face me. Matias carries me back to begin the ritual again, sinking to the ground with me in his arms.

I kiss him. "You are mine."

"Yours. You are mine," he mutters against my lips.

"Forever," I mumble back and grin when he chuckles.