Four

ELARA'S P.O.V.

My wolf purred with excitement at the feeling of his warm body pressed up against mine. Sparks erupted along my skin where he touched, and I shook my head back and forth. There was no way.

He couldn’t be…

No. No. No. Not him. Anyone but him!

“Mate.” My wolf purred as my heart dropped to my stomach. He was darkness, and he was…. mine.

My eyes widened in shock as a loud screeching from behind made my knees go weak, and my hands flew up to cover my ears before my eardrums could burst.

I blinked rapidly as soon as it stopped and reached down, grabbing the hand on my hip with all my strength. Surely this wasn’t where he lived.

He was Death. He had to be able to get us out of here.

"Following me was a stupid decision, Sweetheart,” The deep voice of Death growled down next to my head, and I sucked in a shocked breath at the way my wolf instantly relaxed.

My body turned into his side, and though I couldn’t see him, I had no doubt that he could see the things in the darkness that I couldn’t, because we weren’t alone.

I could feel eyes on us in the shadows.

I could hear them moving, breathing, and even growling with excitement as the man holding me walked forward, pulling me with him.

"What are they?” I whispered, and the rumble of delight as I acknowledged their presence made every pore pucker until goosebumps covered my entire body.

"Hungry.” The man responded, and my stomach twisted into a knot, sending a stabbing pain through my torso. Yet his arm tightened around my waist, and he pulled me in closer to his side. “I should have let them feast on you.”

Yet, he hadn’t and from the confusion and frustration in his tone, he didn’t know why he hadn’t either.

Maybe he felt the same pull that I did.

I wanted to ask him where he was taking me, but the terror that washed through me at the distinct feeling of something slithering across my back in the darkness caused my voice to fail.

The creature began to pull at me, my hair, my shirt, as if trying to get me away from the man holding me tightly to him so it could feast on my soul and body for itself.

Its claws sliced at my skin, tearing at my clothes, and I screamed.

“Get off me!” I shouted, and the man pulled me closer.

I turned my head from one side to another, trying to see what it was attacking me, pressing further into the man’s side when I realized that it was no use.

The darkness was all consuming and the creature in the shadows was determined to steal a taste of my blood.

My hair fell free as my ponytail snapped, and I could feel the creature pulling at the now-loose strands, the pain making my eyes sting.

“Stop it!” I shouted again, and my terror intensified as they did just that because the air thickened with their anger.

They weren't stopping just because I asked.

I could feel it.

I had only angered them.

They were preparing to really attack this time.

“Leave her,” Death growled.

My knees gave out as we stopped walking and Death wrapped both arms around my waist, holding me flush against his front. A scream of pain ripped from my throat as I felt something stab into my back, digging beneath the skin over my shoulder blade before it burned its way back out.

"I said leave her!” The man growled again with fury.

The world around us exploded with color, the sudden change from nothingness to seeing everything sent a mind splitting pain into my skull. My eyes squeezed shut and my body went limp, falling forward to the ground as the arms around me dropped.

My stomach turned violently as the room spun, and I swallowed hard as I tried not to be sick. Whatever dark magic he had used, I vowed to never let him suck me into it again.

“Alpha,” Someone greeted and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at the title.

Alpha?

I had felt his power for myself, my wolf had wanted to submit to him, but I had thought it was because he was one of the Gods.

We had all thought he was one of the Gods. Death.

But I never would have pictured him being one of us, walking among us, leading us…

“Who is she?”

“He has never brought anything living back.”

“How is she still alive?”

I pressed my palms to the cold hardwood floor and forced my head up as I felt him putting space between us. My wolf whined at the loss of contact, but I shook my head, trying to force her down.

She wanted to chase after him, and I wanted to run far away. It was the first time we didn’t agree on something, and the divide felt awful. She was the only one I had left until I could get what I came for.

There were dozens of eyes on me, but mine were on the giant man’s back as he walked away from me.

He towered over everyone he passed, and I gaped in horror at his sheer size.

He looked like he could crush a skull with one hand, and I was sure he had.

“She shouldn’t have been able to survive the shadows.” A woman hissed, and I flinched as she shoved my hair over my shoulder, exposing my shoulder blade. “They touched her, and she didn’t die. What is she?”

The strap of my tank top hung limply from the front, and I grabbed the top of my shirt to hold it up as the back was pulled down further to expose the full injury.

The room fell silent, but my eyes were still on the monster walking away. His head lifted slightly higher and his shoulders rose with tension as they spoke.

"The answer to that question is the least of our worries. The darkness didn’t just touch her. Look at that.” An older man said, moving closer, his voice dropping as he spoke again. “It was him. He marked her.”

The world around me slowed, and I watched as Death’s hands curled into tight fists at the announcement and he growled in anger.

Even the floor shook from the power behind it, but my wolf purred with excitement and contentment, pleased by his strength and in awe of his title and the respect he demanded.

He reached the end of the hall, and my jaw dropped as I watched the shadows close in to surround him, wrapping around the sides of his body from the front as if it were pulling him in until he was gone.

I glanced around quickly, seeing all of the mostly horrified faces as the group of strangers stared down at me.

“It’s not like he actually wants her. He left.” The same woman from before snapped, her anger evident as she glared down at me.

He had left, and I was grateful for it, but he would be back.

The mark guaranteed that.

One thing was clear from what they said. The creature in the darkness hadn’t been the one to hurt me like I had thought.

I knew they were right, too, because I could still feel him even though he was no longer touching me.

The thing that had attacked me had been him.

Death had claimed me as his.