Chapter 48: Before it's too late (triggering content)

Benjamin’s POV

I had done a lot of shameful things throughout my twenty-eight years of life, but none worse than hurting and rejecting my destined mate. I had been so blinded by my Alpha status that I couldn’t appreciate the woman that was right in front of me. While I branded her a liar and cast the entire blame of our failed relationship onto her, I had neglected to recognize my own faults. I always thought of werewolves as better than humans and I never wanted to be mated to one so, in return, Mina must’ve sensed that she couldn’t trust me. I was ready to finally own up to my shortcomings and seek forgiveness, but I had to find her first.

I couldn’t get to Mina any faster if I tried. I was driving beyond the speed limit and almost wrecked my truck more than once along the way. I could hear my warriors asking me to slow down through our mind-link, but my foot remained glued to the gas pedal. There was no way that I could ever slow down, not with Mina’s safety hanging in the air. While my men were dying to capture and kill the rogue Alpha, she was the only person on my mind. She was my sole focus and the only one that truly mattered. I knew that I wouldn’t hesitate to let a thousand Micheal Millers go free if it meant getting her back.

Even through the distance and a broken bond, I could still sense that she was alive and as I got closer to the ranch, her vibrant aura became much stronger. My wolf howled at the warmth that overcame the both of us as we closed in on her location. The sun was beginning to set and the road had darkened from the heavy tapestry of trees. I slowed my truck down to examine the unfamiliar surroundings when my wolf began to stir nervously. He was restless, jumping and twitching in the back of my head and I knew that he was urging me to stop. I pulled over to the side of the road and, out of the the rearview mirror, I saw that the five cars following me did the same.

I got out of my truck and was quickly met by more than twenty of my men at the edge of the forest. I could see that they were all wondering why I had stopped us here and, frankly, I was just as confused myself. I was about to launch into some sort of an explanation when my nose caught on to a foul and disgusting smell. Suddenly, my eyes and my concentration were diverted to my left, towards a smaller nook in the woods.

“Incoming rogue!” Anderson warned loudly the rest of the us.

Like me, his ability to sniff out different scents from miles away was sharper than most of the other warriors in my pact.

“How many are they?” Jason asked the Gamma.

“I’m not sure. Maybe one?” Anderson replied seeking confirmation from me.

“Yeah, it’s only one.” I answered back walking towards the revolting scent.

As I approached the unbeaten path, the scent grew thicker in the air and before I knew it, a young rogue appeared through the trees. She was running so fast that she practically leaped into my arms and the panic-stricken rogue screamed and fought hard against my grip as I tried to hold her back.

“No! Mina! Help me! No!” She called out for my mate, shouting with all of her might when she noticed the number of wolves that surrounded her.

My heart dropped at the mention of Mina’s name and as the rogue fell to the ground, I could easily read the fear deeply embedded in her eyes. She was just a young, weakened and scared girl and any animosity that I could've felt towards her had completely vanished.

“Did you say Mina? Do you know her?” I asked the young girl hurriedly.

“Don’t hurt me, please.” She sobbed and begged in response, grabbing the hem of my pants.

“We’re not going to hurt you, I promise.” I replied as I crouched down to talk to her. “Mina is my mate. I need to help her. Do you know where she is?”

“She saved me from them. Please, don’t take me back.” The young girl cried into my chest, completely terrified.

I was having a hard time keeping my composure as the state of the poor girl made me fear the worst for my mate. The somber thoughts that filled my head in caused my chest to tighten and rendered my breathing difficult.

“Where’s the ranch? Where’s my mate?” I asked her one more time.

“A mile back, but she’s in the woods.” She struggled to say under spasms of sobs. “They’re chasing her. Please, help us.”

“John!” I called out to the youngest one of us. “You and Ricky get her in my truck and don’t leave her side.”

The young warriors helped the rogue up and, together, they headed towards the cars. Mina had escaped from the ranch and was being hunted in the forest and I couldn't waste a single minute more.

“Sheila and Jason, take your men with you and find that ranch. The rest of you will come with me.”

“Do we take any prisoners?” Sheila asked me.

“Only if you can. Kill to protect yourselves first.” I replied before charging into the woods, followed by a dozen werewolves.

I could hear, through the mind-link, the two head warriors giving out their orders as they set about finding the rogue’s main base of operations. Separating from them, I focused on the young rogue’s lingering smell to retrace her steps until it could lead me to Mina. I continued my week long race against the clock hoping that the deeper I went into the woods, the more chances I would have of picking up my mate’s scent.

In a stroke of luck, Mina’s sweet honeyed fragrance faintly emerged through the revolting rogues’ smell that overtook the entire area. My wolf roared in exhilaration with me, but our excitement quickly turned into angst as the smell of her blood also hit my nose. She was badly hurt, that much was clear. Tapping into my wolf’s abilities and strength, I ran through the trees with a speed that was hitherto unknown to me. My mind went blank, emptying itself of any fear, weakness and fatigue. All I could do was run and as each of my steps widened the distance between my men and me, they brought me closer to her. Mina's scent was becoming more and more discernible until it had completely washed over me.

Amina’s POV

The rogues had me encircled and there was nowhere else to run. They looked at me in hatred as they approached me from all sides, forcing me away from the tree that I was resting on. I limped my way forward and searched for Micheal’s face. I knew that he was here somewhere, taking his time and enjoying my vulnerability. Despite the fact that I had come to terms with my imminent death, I couldn’t let him control it too the same way that he had controlled my life. This wasn’t his game anymore, it was mine.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you too much, Micheal.” I shouted into the crowd. “You really looked like shit when I left you to die.”

I wanted to draw him out of his hole and there was no better way to do so than to make him angry. His pride was easily hurt and I knew that it wouldn’t take too much for him to come out.

“It’s a shame that you’re still alive, though. I swear next time, I’ll aim for your pathetic heart.” I kept taunting him.

As I prepared to dish out more hurtful words, both Micheal and Gisele came into view with big devious smiles plastered across their faces.

“Ah! Two for the price of one. Excellent!” I laughed as my fear was replaced with the courage of a dying woman.

“This doesn’t have to end badly, my love. Let’s go back. I forgive you.” Micheal blurted out in his sweetest voice as he took a few steps in my directions.

“You forgive me?” I asked shocked by his audacity. “No, Micheal. I forgive you.” I punctuated every syllable with aimless swings of the knife.

“I forgive you for every little shitty thing that you’ve ever done to me. Shall we list them? Let’s list them!” I laughed as my sanity slowly came undone. “I forgive you for hitting me and for taking me hostage. I forgive you destroying my self-esteem and I forgive you for breaking my trust. Don’t come any closer.” I halted my speech to threaten him with my knife as he kept moving forward.

“Okay, I won’t. Now can we go back, flower?” He agreed in a low voice.

Despite his words, Micheal and his rogues continued to close in on me, but it didn’t matter. This was the last promise to me that he’d ever break. As tears ran down my cheeks, I couldn’t tell why I was crying. I wasn’t sad nor happy and I wasn’t angry nor scared. Gisele was actually right, I wasn’t anything anymore. It was over.

“I forgive you for raping me and I forgive you for killing our baby. I forgive you for ruining my relationship with Benji and taking away my only chance at love. And do you know why I forgive you, Micheal? Because where I’m going, it won’t matter anyway.”

“Mina…”

“I’d rather die than to let you have me again.” I cut him off abruptly.

In a final move to end my life, I hurried to raise both of my arms in the air with the knife firmly held in my hands. I had brought the blade back down to my stomach when a resounding no burst through the woods and suddenly, I was brutally knocked to the ground by a large body.

“Ben… Benji?” I asked feebly as I stared at the man on top of me.

I found myself slipping in and out of consciousness and wondering if this was what death felt like. Every time that my eyes would open, scenes that seemed out of this world would unfold in front of me.

Black.

*A teary-eyed Benjamin laying on top of me.*

Then black again.

*Benjamin walking away from me.*

Then black again.

*Wolves fighting.*

I opened my eyes one last time and glanced at the person who was carrying my body.

“Am I dead?” I asked the familiar face before finally letting the darkness win and take me along with it.