Blood Choices

**Elara's POV*

"Choose," Darius repeated, golden eyes burning into mine across the blood-soaked clearing. "Him or your people."

Kael staggered to his feet behind me, blood dripping from his muzzle. His silver-black wolf snarled low, ready to charge again despite the fresh wounds.

I shifted back to human form, naked and glowing with barely contained power. "Neither. I choose myself."

Darius laughed, the sound cold and broken. "Still playing the victim? Three years I gave you everything and you hid your true self like a coward."

"You gave me nothing but pain!" I shouted, stepping forward. Golden energy crackled along my skin. "You called me barren. Worthless. You fucked your whore in our bed and expected me to smile while raising your pup."

His expression darkened. "Seraphina lost the child because of you. She's dying because of you."

"Lies," Kael growled, shifting back to human. He moved to my side, bloodied but unyielding. "She never touched your bitch."

Darius's gaze flicked to Kael, pure hatred flashing. "Stay out of this, rogue. She was mine first."

"Was," I snapped. "Past tense. I rejected you, Darius. The bond is dead."

He lunged.

Kael met him halfway, their bodies colliding with bone-crunching force. Fists flew. Claws slashed. I tried to help but two Ironfang wolves tackled me from the side.

"Elara!" Kael roared as one wolf's jaws snapped near my throat.

Power exploded out of me. Golden light burst from my body, throwing both wolves backward like ragdolls. I felt stronger. Meaner.

Darius noticed. While grappling with Kael, his eyes widened with dark hunger. "There she is. My powerful little Luna."

"I was never yours," I hissed.

I charged into the fray, claws extended. I slashed one attacker across the face and drove my knee into another's gut. The battle raged around us, Eclipse warriors holding the line but slowly being overwhelmed by Darius's reinforcements.

Kael landed a brutal elbow to Darius's jaw, sending him staggering. I moved in, grabbing Darius by the throat before he could recover.

"Leave," I growled, squeezing. "Or I'll end this right now."

His hand came up, not to fight, but to cup my face almost tenderly. "You still smell like me under all that rogue stench. Come home, Elara. I'll forgive everything. We can start over."

For one sick second, the old bond whispered, memories of rough nights, possessive touches, the way he used to make my body betray me.

I shoved him away hard. "I'd rather die."

Darius smiled through bloody teeth. "Then watch them die for you."

He howled. More wolves poured from the trees. Too many.

Kael grabbed my arm. "We need to fall back to the fortress."

"No," I said. "I won't run anymore."

But the numbers were crushing us. An Eclipse warrior fell nearby with a sickening crunch. Another screamed as Ironfang wolves tore into him.

Viktor's voice boomed through the pack link. "Retreat and regroup! Protect the princess!"

Kael lifted me despite my protests, throwing me over his shoulder as he ran. Bullets of pain shot through his body, I could feel them through our bond, but he didn't slow.

"Put me down!" I yelled, pounding his back.

"Shut up and let me protect you for once," he snarled.

Behind us, Darius's roar shook the forest. "This isn't over, Elara! I'm coming for what's mine!"

We burst through the fortress gates just as they slammed shut. Warriors rushed to reinforce. I slid down from Kael's shoulder, both of us breathing hard.

He cupped my face immediately, eyes wild. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," I whispered, but my hands trembled as I touched the new gashes on his chest. "You're the one bleeding everywhere."

He pulled me into a fierce kiss, all teeth and desperation. His tongue claimed my mouth as his hands roamed possessively over my naked body, squeezing my ass, palming my breast.

"I need you," he growled against my lips. "Right fucking now. Need to remind myself you're still here."

We barely made it to a shadowed alcove inside the walls. He pressed me against cold stone, lifting one of my legs around his hip. His cock was already hard, sliding against my slick folds.

"No time for slow," he rasped, thrusting into me in one brutal stroke.

I cried out, nails digging into his shoulders. He fucked me hard and fast, each thrust deep and claiming. The sounds of distant battle mixed with our heavy breathing and skin slapping.

"Mine," he groaned, biting my neck hard enough to bruise. "Say it."

"Yours," I gasped, clenching around him. "Only yours, Kael."