Chapter 20 #2
As much as Elias had been a pretentious bastard who’d lied to me for the entirety of our relationship, I’d never seen him raise his hand to a woman before. Elias himself went completely still, his hands shaking at his sides as though even he was shocked by his actions.
But no one was more shocked than Ivy, who now clutched a cheek twice as red as it had been seconds ago.
“Elias…” Her voice broke. “How could you…”
Ivy’s eyes shifted from Elias to me, who stood behind him.
“It’s you,” she whispered, shock and pain shifting to rage. “This is all your fault. You turned him against me!”
Ivy bared her canines, launching herself at me.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!”
Before she could reach me, though, Elias caught her, restraining her easily, his front pressed to her back, his hands banding around her middle as he pulled her away from me, retreating to the other end of the room.
I shouldn’t have been able to pick up Elias’s whisper, but somehow I did.
“This isn’t Raven’s fault,” Elias sounded gutted. “I can’t be your mate, Ivy.”
Ivy spun to face him, her lips twisting into a vicious snarl.
“What did you just say?”
Elias dipped his head, his tone contrite.
“I’m sorry.”
“No,” Ivy began to shake. “You can’t be serious.”
Moving myself out of the room before Ivy decided to levy the blame of her failed relationship on my shoulders, I headed to my favorite brooding spot, settling on my swing.
Several minutes later, I felt a shadow fall over me.
My heart raced, and I lifted my head only to see Elias, not Damien.
I looked away, beyond annoyed at myself for wanting to see him so desperately.
“Are you alright?” Elias asked, his tone strangely soft.
I nodded once, confusion swirling within me as I considered his sudden defense of me. Since our conversation about Rielle, we hadn’t spoken. So what was this new scheme about?
To my surprise and building confusion, Elias knelt in front of me, leaning in to—I shoved him aside before his kiss could land, standing on my feet.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?”
Elias didn’t seem offended. Rather, he dusted himself off the ground, his gaze even more earnest.
“You loved me, Raven, and I was wrong to hurt you the way I did. Even then, I knew the act I’d schemed up with Ivy was no longer a pretense, and I’d fallen for you, yet I…”
Elias shut his eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek as though the memory of what he’d done shamed him.
“Please give me another chance to make amends.”
I stared at him for a moment.
“No, thank you,” I said, turning to leave. “I’m not interested.”
“I’ll get rid of Ivy for you and void the duel.” He caught my wrist in a loose but firm grip, his tone plaintive. “Please just take me back.”
I didn’t even turn to look at him before shaking him off.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of this. Have a great day, Elias.”
I’d barely made it a step away when he called out to me again, this time a touch more desperate.
“Don’t act like you haven’t seen the way he has changed these past weeks since Rielle’s return. He has already chosen her over you!”
I froze midstep.
“That’s not true.” Even as I spoke, I knew the words were a mistake, a hold Elias would latch onto to go for the kill.
But to my surprise, Elias made no attempt to come after me.
“Look me in the eye, Raven, and tell me you really believe that.” His words were soft and almost pitying. “Tell me you believe Alpha Damien would choose a woman he’s known for a handful of months over his childhood love and fated mate, and I’ll leave. I’ll never bother you again.”
Unshed tears burned in my eyes, but my lips couldn’t form the words to deny Elias’s claim.
I felt him behind me then, and I turned to face him, my voice and spirit broken.
“What do you want from me, Elias?”
Elias took my hand in his, pale blue eyes searching mine.
“Tonight, the council will call for Alpha Damien’s deposition on grounds of disloyalty to the pack for plotting to reinstate the woman who caused the blood war as his Luna.
” He let out a breath. “Then, I will be named alpha in his stead. All I need is for you to step forward and corroborate my claims and confess to the pack that I am the father of your child, not my uncle. He’ll lose whatever credence he has left, and I’ll claim you and your child as my luna and heir. ”
Elias’s hand dipped to my belly.
“I’ll love the child as if it were mine, Raven. We can be a family as we should have been if I hadn’t ruined everything.”
My heartbeat slowed.
“I…”
If I betrayed Alpha Damien, he’d lose everything. But if I didn’t and Alpha Damien got back together with Rielle, his literal soul mate, not just my life but even my child’s life couldn’t be guaranteed.
From the start, my arrangement with Alpha Damien had been to keep myself and my child safe—to survive. If there was a more guaranteed way to do that, there was only one choice for me, wasn’t there?
I met Elias’s baby blue gaze, then I stepped back from his touch.
“I won’t betray Damien.”