Chapter 6

Sophia’s POV

Marcus, the heartless bastard appeared in the hallway with his pet whore Lila and a large number of guards lined up in front of us.

"Alpha Ethan, in my honest opinion, you shouldn't be here interfering in my family affairs." Marcus spat haughtily as he glared at Ethan with his fists clenched at his sides.

Ethan smirked as he reached for my hand and stared at Marcus with an arrogant tilt to his chin. "Sophia is my fated mate whether you like it or not. I'll be taking her with me."

I looked down at the hand that was clasped over my own trembling one. After being betrayed by my lover and poisoned by the witch that wanted him for herself, Ethan's wild and warm palm was incredibly reassuring. The warmth was a welcome contrast to the chill of the dungeon.

However, having just been betrayed and

hurt by Marcus, my mind was filled with doubts at this sudden appearance of my fated mate.

"Sophia, what are you doing?! Don't hesitate, this is our mate! I'm so excited right now!"

" Calm down, zyra! I can't even think about this right now!" I quickly suppressed Zyra's excitement and stared at Marcus intently.

"Sophia is actually your fated mate?! No! That's not possible!" Marcus fumed as his face contorted in a mask of rage. Lila, who still cowered behind him looked shocked, "She is a prisoner of the Nightfall Pack! You cannot take her!”

But Ethan had no intention of listening to Marcus. He let go of my hand and motioned for me to move back. Once I had done so, his previously charming golden pupils seemed to explode and a force rippled out from his body, disintegrating the walls of the cell that had been designed to hold werewolves securely, and allocated to me, the unfortunate Luna that was betrayed by her mate.

The members of the guards were obviously intimidated by Ethan's display of his power and they looked nervously up at the roof that creaked ominously above them.

"Careful Sophia, watch your step," Ethan said

as he gently brought me out of my cell and draped his coat over me. 

I could feel my face flush as the smell of cedar wrapped itself around me.

He reached out and pulled me closer in line with his shoulder, as if he fully intended to just swagger out of here.

"Alpha Ethan, I repeat, you have no right to take Sophia! She is my wife!" Marcus roared as he stood in front of us and attempted to block our way, with Lila still clinging to his coat tails behind him.

I felt Ethan's hand around mine tighten and he squinted his eyes, dragging his gaze over the two people who stood boldly in front of him and laughed suddenly.

 "Did you not get the message? Was that demonstration not enough to show you what I'm capable of?"

Marcus's face darkened and he frowned, gesturing to the guards around him to attack but they barely moved.

"Are you all cowards?! Did you not see my command?! Stop the Luna from leaving!"

The guards flinched under Marcus's fury and unsheathed their weapons one by one. 

As they fanned out to cover the ground between Ethan and the exit, with Marcus in front of them, I couldn't help but admit that the scene the arrogant bastard had created looked pretty impressive.

I knew Ethan's strength was clearly

incredibly strong, but I was still worried that he might not be able to handle such a large number of people alone.

For some reason though, Ethan seemed to find the whole situation amusing. He held me and chuckled, his shoulders shaking with his mirth.

Marcus and the guards were infuriated by Ethan's laughter and in a matter of seconds they partially shifted, allowing their deadly claws to become their weapons and attacked Ethan as one.

 I called to Zyra urgently but just as we were about to shift, Ethan put his arm out and stopped me.

Suddenly a scream echoed through the hallway and I looked across at Marcus's

guards to try and see what was happening. 

A large number of Marcus's guards were being thrown against the wall one by one, their screams accompanied by the sounds of their bones crushing and in an instant, more than half of his men were decimated.

A green haired figure appeared in the chaotic crowd with claws ready and his fangs bared, it was obvious that this carnage was his doing.

"-it took you long enough," Ethan commented dryly.

"Obviously. How am I supposed to keep up with you?"

The green haired man walked over and

respectfully bowed his head to me. 

"Hello Sophia. I must say you're even more beautiful than I imagined. I'm Max, the Beta of the Embermoon pack."

"How does a Beta have this level of power!?"

Zyra's voice sounded in my head, clearly as shocked as I was at the scene of carnage in front of us.

I couldn't even begin to imagine the sort of pack that my fated mate leads with this sort of power at their fingertips. Were they all this strong?

Marcus and Lila stood on the opposite side of the hall, both clearly terrified. Lila had collapsed completely in Marcus's

arms and could barely stand. 

As for Marcus, if it had been any other Alpha that had decimated his men so easily, he would have been ashamed, but as it was Ethan, it was a little easier to swallow.

"Get out of the way Marcus," Max grinned as he walked over to them and gestured mockingly, as if begging them for their cooperation.

Marcus touched the scars on his face as if he had remembered something, but did not try to lash out. He let go of Lila, letting her fall to the floor as he walked carefully over to me.

I glared at him coldly, and Ethan's hand lifted from around my shoulder and moved

in front of me, barring Marcus's path.

He paused in his steps and raised his head to look at Ethan. 

"Alpha Ethan, I think I need to talk to my Luna... I mean Sophia...just for a few words. It won't take long." Marcus said respectfully.

The death stare that Ethan sent his way forced Marcus to change how he had addressed me from Luna, to using just my name. 

I looked at the man in front of me and saw a completely different person to the man who I had loved for all of these years.

 He was nothing but weak and lazy when faced with Ethan's might.

"Ethan," I said softly, using his name for the first time and liking how it sounded on my lips, "let me talk to him. There should at least be some closure for him."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here." Ethan nodded with a charming smile. He moved a short distance away and stood with his arms folded in front of him, glaring at Marcus.

"Sophia, I can forgive you for what you did, all of your mistakes, I'll forgive you. Stop being difficult. Just take your title back and be the Luna you were supposed to be."

 I struggled to hold back the snort of contempt that almost erupted from my lips. Forgive my mistakes? I'm the one who's being difficult? How dare he say such things to me after he was the one who had betrayed me.

"I don't have a title or a pack anymore, have you forgotten? I rejected you!." I said, stressing the last part so that he could hear it clearly.

Marcus's face suddenly imploded into a mask of fury. "Sophia! We swore to the Moon Goddess!"

"You're right, we did. I really hope that you take the full weight of her judgement and

accept the punishment she chooses because, after all, you were the one who betrayed us first"

"I didn't betray you! I just met my fated mate and I had to.."

"Had to put me in a musty old cell in the dungeon?" I interrupted viciously, "Let your wife of three years be pushed aside to make way for a woman who comes from goddess knows where? I really hope the Moon Goddess can see you like this!"

Marcus reached out to grab my shoulder but before he could touch me, Ethan was there. He appeared in front of me so quickly that I didn't have time to react. The next thing I knew, I felt a gust of wind pass

me by and the next second, Marcus was slammed against the wall by Ethan.

 I heard his shoulder shatter as Ethan pinned him with one hand.

"Marcus!" Lila's panicled cry rang across the room and I suddenly was reminded of that whore's presence in the room.

I flew toward her and grabbed her arm, tugging on it violently as she fell to the ground and I bent down to whisper in her ear. "I know exactly what you did, Lila, and know exactly what you are...witch. This is my warning to you that sooner or later, I'll have my revenge on you."

I watched with satisfaction as her expression morphed from innocent and

childlike into one of horror.

I stood up with a satisfied smirk and saw that Marcus was clutching his broken shoulder with a resentful glare while Lila sat motionless on the ground, struggling to come to terms with what I had said. 

The formerly majestic guards threw themselves on the ground and wailed in terror and I looked at them with pity. 

Whether it was my three-year marriage to that prick or this current farce, I just wanted it all to be over.

I looked at Ethan who was in the process of rolling his sleeves down as he made his way through the wailing crowd towards me.

With a gentle smile, he leaned forward slightly and extended his hand to me. 

"So, Sophia, will you come with me? My mate."

I practically fell into his golden eyes and my heart seemed to lurch in excitement.

With a small smile, I tentatively placed my hand in his and smiled up at him uncertainly. "Of course." Will you be my new beginning Ethan?