24. Lumi
Chapter 24
Lumi
“ I need to talk to you. Now,” I growl at Ambrose through our mental connection. It doesn’t matter how far away he is or if he’s trying to block me out. Nothing is going to stop me from getting the message to him.
“I’m a little busy at the moment,” Ambrose snaps back out of breath.
“I don’t care. Where are you?” I’m already sprinting back to the Moonlight wolve’s home, assuming he’s still helping them recover instead of out looking for Kael.
“Fighting a couple of vampires. Get back to the house. I’ll be there as soon as I’m finished with them.”
I roar at his alpha command. I’m done taking orders from him. The hold his command has on me withers away with each step I take, until it feels like tiny little bubbles floating around me. He’s not my alpha; he doesn’t get to command me.
I run faster than I’ve ever run before. I’m not sure if it’s new wolf abilities developing, or I’m just so angry with him that my legs carry me faster than ever before.
“Why did you give Kael to Nyx?” I send the words before I think better of it. If I truly care about Ambrose, I shouldn’t distract him while he’s fighting. But then again, I’m so furious with him right now that I might just kill him myself.
There’s a long pause. If the bastard doesn’t answer me, then I’m done giving him more chances; I don’t care if he is my mate, I’ll—
“I’m on the west end of town. You’re close. I’ll finish these three off and then answer any question you have for me.” There’s a sadness and fear that he pushes through with his words.
I snap my mind shut, blocking him out in an instant. I’m not even sure how I block him or if I’ll be able to repeat it, but I’m not going to let him pour emotion into me that will confuse how I feel. There is no excuse for what he did to Kael. And if Ambrose still expects me to play his mate, he has a lot of explaining and graveling to do.
Ambrose is right, though; I am close. I hear the cheers of the crowd that has gathered to watch Ambrose fight. Before I make it out of the forest, Rowena collides with me.
“Are you okay?” She looks me head to toe before her eyes widen. “You know—you know what happened to Kael.”
I nod.
She sucks in a deep breath as a loud cheer has us both turning our heads toward the sound.
I don’t know how she knows what happened to Kael. But the sincerity in her eyes tells me she just found out as well. I’m glad she wasn’t hiding it from me.
She grips my shoulders firmly. “Give him hell. I’ll have your back, and you’ll always have a place to sleep if you decide he isn’t the one for you.”
I nod slowly, unable to speak for fear of taking any of my wrath out on her.
She seems to understand as she grips my hand, and together, we walk out of the forest and into the crowd. The crowd is cheering as if they are watching a boxing match instead of a real life or death fight.
Rowena and I both shove through the crowd, pushing people aside as they grunt at us, that is until they see my face. I don’t know how many of the shifters recognize me, or they just see my look of pure resolution. Either way, they begin to part for me instead of needing to be shoved out of my way.
At the edge of the crowd, I stop as I see Ambrose’s large wolf form tear into the neck of a vampire. His teeth sink hard into his cool flesh, and then, with a flash, he’s human. Emeric tosses him a dagger, and he shoves it through the vampire’s heart.
The crowd roars with applause as Ambrose drops the vampire’s body to the ground before immediately shifting back into his wolf form. I scan the ground and find another vampire already dead with a stake in his heart. Only one female remains.
I look the three vampires over quickly, but none of them are the same ones who attacked Emeric and I earlier.
The female bares her teeth at Ambrose. But he doesn’t so much as break a sweat as he stands to his full height and lets out a warning growl—one that says you’re next.
They both stare at each other for a second longer, and then the female runs. She’s fast, so fast that my eyes can barely track her as she moves.
The crowd parts, no one brave enough or stupid enough to try and stop her.
I turn back to Ambrose, curious to see what he’ll do.
“She doesn’t get to escape. Not after what she did,” he growls in my head.
I don’t know how he plans on catching her. Vampires are faster than wolf shifters, and she already has a head start.
But he breaks out into a run, darting through the crowd where she just zipped through. I hold my breath even though I expect it could take hours or even days for Ambrose to track her down. And I don’t have that long.
I’m about to send a message telling him that in my head when a high-pitched scream echoes above all the other noise. The voice falls silent quickly, and so does the crowd. All eyes are locked in on a break in the crowd.
Ambrose drags the limp body of the female vampire with his teeth to the edge of the crowd and then drops it unceremoniously onto the ground before shifting back into his human form.
The crowd cheers once again. But Ambrose’s eyes lock in on me in a serious manner. He may have just defeated three vampires, but he hasn’t dealt with my wrath yet. And I may very well kill him for what he did to Kael.
Rowena places her hand on my shoulder and gives me a gentle squeeze, reminding me that she has my back. But I don’t need her help to deal with Ambrose. I don’t need anyone’s help. I don’t even need my wolf’s help, if she even exists at all. I’ve got this.
I take a step forward, out of the crowd, and into the center of the circle that Ambrose just fought the vampires in. The crowd is still reeling from Ambrose slaughtering the three dead vampires. Those who notice me don’t notice the expression I bear. I’m not about to congratulate my alpha mate on a job well done.
Ambrose is frozen as he watches me approach. Sweat-soaked hair frames his face in dark waves. His face is a stale, somber white, and his eyes never leave mine, not even to blink.
I’m burning with my rage as I stride across the grass. I don’t hesitate a single step. I don’t think about how strong he is and how weak I am. I don’t think about his threats to kill me so that he’ll get a new mate if he doesn’t find me worthy.
“You traded Kael to that monster. You traded his life like it meant nothing to you. You gave our enemy the only friend I have in this world.” I narrow my eyes, my teeth grinding together so hard that I feel the enamel turning to powder in my mouth. “You, Ambrose, are not my mate.”
A gasp ripples through the crowd as one by one they hear my words. I was their hope, their chance at breaking the curse. And here I am publicly admitting that I was wrong. We both were. There is no way this man is my mate.
Ambrose doesn’t so much as twitch a muscle at my outburst. He still hasn’t blinked as he stares at me. He’s processing, deciding what to do next. That’s his move, I realize. He guards his emotions and thoughts until the last moment. It’s probably served him well hundreds of times before. But now, it just gives me more time for my rage to swell inside me.
“Fight me. Kill me. Get a new mate. Because I won’t help anyone who trades away innocent lives like that.”
“I’m not going to fight you,” Ambrose says like a caress in my head.
“Coward,” I fire back.
“I’m not a coward. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You already did.”
He swallows hard, his throat bobbing. It’s the first outward sign that anything is bothering him. And then he makes a move toward me—an outstretched hand most likely to grab me and drag me back into that cell in his basement to keep me locked up until he’s seduced me into submission again.
I won’t let him lock me up. And I won’t let him get away with being the proud alpha defending his pack when he can’t even protect and defend his mate and her friend.
I duck as he reaches for me and then swing as hard as I can at his stomach. It’s like hitting a brick wall. But my hand doesn’t feel the pain, just the hardness of his body as I hit him. I know once the adrenaline wears off I’ll feel that. I most likely broke a bone.
A sharp inhale is the only reaction I get from Ambrose that he was affected by my punch.
“Fight me, you monster,” I yell, letting the entire pack hear me.
I can feel the shocked faces on me, and hear the muttering and gasps ringing all around me. I’m sure no one speaks to their alpha this way. I come from a small pack that was more family than anything, but even in that small pack, my father’s word was law. No one dared to disobey or defy him. And that’s exactly what I’m doing to Ambrose.
Low growls pierce the air, spreading through the crowd in a warning to me.
Ambrose holds up a hand, though, and the growls cease. He has absolute control over his pack. He just doesn’t have control over me.
I blink, and Ambrose is gone from the spot where I last saw him. I try to spin, sensing exactly where he went, but I’m no match for his speed. His arm wraps around my neck, yanking me to him in a hard embrace.
“I’m sorry,” he breathes against my neck.
“Sorry isn’t going to bring Kael back.” I elbow Ambrose as hard as I can, but once again, he doesn’t move. In fact, I think he tightens his grip on me.
I writhe harder in his arms, doing everything I possibly can to break free. But I could barely have a chance at fighting a human male, let alone an alpha wolf shifter. His strength is unmatchable by anyone here. He just fought off three vampires on his own. He’s probably fought countless males to keep his job as alpha.
I should stop trying to fight him. I should give up. I should surrender.
“Promise me we’ll get Kael back. Promise me you’ll do whatever it takes.”
He stills, and I swear I hear his heart stop beating. “I can’t.”
That’s all I need to hear. I whirl, breaking his hold on me. My hands fly up, intending to smack him across his face, to break any hold he thinks he has on me, both physically and emotionally. I’m not his fucking mate. I’m not his anything.
Snarls and growls and gasps ring out at once. Suddenly, there’s blood leaking down Ambrose’s face. He breathes deeply, settling himself as I watch more blood pour—blood I caused.
I narrow my eyes, not understanding how I caused such a deep gash on his cheek from my nails alone. Until I look down at my hand and nearly fall on my ass at the sight.
Claws .
I have long, sharp claws where my fingernails used to be.
I stare at them and then up at Ambrose.
His lips curl up just the tiniest bit in satisfaction. I’m one step closer to becoming a wolf shifter. One step closer to being able to complete the marking ceremony with him.
Ambrose opens his mouth to speak, and as soon as he does, the crowd grows quiet. “You, Lumi, are my mate. You are my hope. You are our hope. But you are so much more than that. You are worthy of being an alpha. You have that strength, that fire in you. Your pack at the moment may be small—only you and Kael, but you already have the instincts of an alpha to defend your pack at all costs. You are my equal.”
I shake my head slowly, not believing a single word he says. “I can’t trust you.”
“I know. And I’m sorry for that.” And then the voice changes from out loud to crystal clear in my head. “I’ll spend the rest of my life earning your trust. As soon as you are part of the pack and my mate, I’ll tell you everything I can’t tell you now. I’ll spend my life being worthy of you. But for now, have faith in me and in us. We are mates. You know it. It’s why you are closer than ever to getting your wolf.”
“Promise me you’ll help me get Kael back. And that as soon as you can, you’ll tell me everything and never keep secrets or make decisions without me again.”
“I promise. I couldn’t promise before in front of the pack to save a nonpack member. But I promise you, my mate, that I’ll help you get your friend back.”
There’s a twinkle of hope in his eyes.
Warmth spreads through me, and my newly formed claws begin to retract until I’m once again looking at the pinks of my fingernails.
“To your soon-to-be new alpha female. She’ll do anything to protect you, as I always have and will continue to do by her side.” Ambrose kneels, and I find that as I spin around, the entire crowd does the same.
I’m their hope; that’s why they accept me so easily. They’ve been cursed for twenty-one years, and I’m beginning to think that I only know the most basic parts of the curse. As I look into the eyes of those around me, I see their suffering in their puffy eyes.
This is bigger than me and Ambrose. Or Kael. Or the promise I made to Nyx. This is about saving them all.
Suddenly, a man with straight long black hair comes running up the dirt path. He’s completely out of breath, but everyone stands silently at the sight of him. He stops just in front of Ambrose, who is the only one still kneeling in front of me.
The man drops to his knees in front of Ambrose.
“Is Freya…?” Ambrose asks, croaking out her name as if it hurts him to even speak it.
A slow, deep smile spreads across the man’s lips. “She lives. Serenai says she’ll make a full recovery. Because of you. You saved my daughter when you made the trade.”
I process the words as Ambrose’s eyes fly to me.
“How old is she?” I ask Ambrose through our bond.
“Seven.”
“How?”
“She’s human, not wolf shifter. Adopted her when her human parents died.”
“And you traded Kael to save her?”
“Yes, Kael wanted to trade. He was the only one I could offer. It goes against my oath as an alpha to trade any of my own pack members. I’m sorry.”
There’s a softness in Ambrose’s eyes as he looks at me.
“You weren’t going to tell me that you saved a girl? That Kael wanted to be traded?”
“I knew you needed to get your anger out. Nothing I said would ease your pain. I’ll always let you take your anger out on me. I’ll always be the man you need, even if I’m not always the man you want.”
Mate —that word echoes in my head again. And despite everything, I know the word is true. I know Ambrose is my mate. Fuck, he’s my mate.