Chapter 52: Fifty-two.

Elijah's heart sank at her words. He didn't understand what was going on, or why, but one truth shone through above all else, Colt, his mate was leaving him. The painful reality of that one fact made something inside him snap. The pain was too unbearable, she was everything and she didn't want him. Suddenly he couldn't breathe, it was like he was drowning in a dark and endless abyss and he didn't know how to get out, it was unbearable.

His shift was spontaneous, rupturing through his body like lightning and tearing the clothes from his back in a sudden flash of exploding fabric. All while pushing Colt several feet back from him. He relished in the pain that shattered through his body, the pain of every bone breaking and resetting, the burning sensation of the hair from his pelt pushing through his skin all at once. It was almost as bad as his first shift as a child, the following shifts lessened in pain, or he just got used to it, he wasn't quite sure. But right now he found relief in the agony of his body transforming. It offset the agony in his heart.

But, instead of running from his pain, he looked Colt dead in the eye and began to growl and snarl at her, stalking in towards her in slow measured steps as his rage began to build. To him, in this very moment, she was to blame.

Colt watched in abject horror, as Elijah turned on her, looking like he wanted to rip her throat out. It spiked her own frustration and anger, and as soon as he was in reach she struck out and smacked him across the nose, absolutely furious at the turn of events.

"Pack it in, Elijah!" She shouted, before retreating, as a feeling of cold dread seeped up her spine and wrapped itself around her chest as Elijah only growled louder, gnashing his jaws in a very clear threat. He was out for blood, hers.

This was not how this conversation was meant to go. Tears began to well in her eyes as she stood staring at her mate, watching as he prepared to attack her, unaware of what she could do to stop him. Colt was strong and could hold her own against most animal form shifters, but this was different. This was Elijah, her mate, and the man she loved preparing to harm her, maybe even to kill her. Her heart was breaking and the fight was slowly ebbing out of her, as the built up tears began to fall down her face. Her heart rate calmed, as her muscles slumped and she accepted the cruel fate she was about to be dealt. She gave up, because he was breaking her heart, with every menacing step he took.

Elijah couldn't see past his own pain, and heart ache. Colt was the cause of it and in his muddled up logic and anguish he lunged at her, trying to eliminate the source. He was an animal in pain, and animals in pain, are unpredictable and lash out. Time slowed as his front legs lifted from the ground, his teeth bared and muscles coiled. They released, barreling him into Colt and knocking her to the ground, his snarls were so loud he almost missed the sound of the air wooshing out from her lungs when her back thumped to the ground. On it's way out it dragged a sob from her throat, as the smell of her salted tears hit him, and finally penetrated through his senses.

He paused, with his jaws around her delicate throat, long enough to become lucid and recognise what he was doing.

Elijah froze. He could feel Colt's fear and despair in the surrounding area, and it was laying there thick. Fear of him. Despair that he was going to hurt her. But, what shocked him most was her lack of fight. She had simply given up. His spitfire of a mate had simply stopped fighting and resigned herself to whatever fate he would have dealt her.

Suddenly, he threw himself backwards in horror, shifting to a man before he had even touched the ground. Colt was lying where he left her, shaking. From the tip of her feet to the top of her head she was trembling.

"What have I done?" He whispered, appalled at himself.

Colt, still shaking stood up, the look on her face as she stared at Elijah was deafening. So much so, he wished he could gouge his own eyes out, so he may never see it again. He could quite clearly see, the evidence of his betrayal and the damage he had done written all over her face, before she turned and slowly walked back to the house, wrapping her arms about herself as she did so.

Elijah sat in the dirt, confused and disgusted at himself for ten minutes, before he had enough courage to go after her. He had to. He could still feel her pain as it lanced through him. A pain he had caused, it was a little wonder she was leaving him, he felt like a monster. In his own opinion, he was a monster.

He found Colt in the house, she was in the kitchen angrily trying to get the gas stove to work with a kettle off water beside it.

"Colt, I..." He began, but trailed off. What could he possibly say? There was no excuse, no justification. Just shock, and regret running through his veins. "I don't know what happened. Why I...." He sighed. "I am more sorry than you will ever know."

Colt turned her tear stained face to him for just a second, before turning away and responding quietly. "You need help, Elijah. Serious, serious help." She shook her head, still in disbelief of what had happened.

"You're leaving me." He croaked out. "I just couldn't cope..." He desperately tried to justify his reasoning.

"No. Elijah." Colt said, her voice raising as she began to get angry. At herself, as much as at Elijah, because of how weak he had made her feel, how in the heat of the moment she gave up. "I am leaving the country. Not you. Although could you really blame me if that changed now."

"You said, you weren't coming back." Elijah countered, choosing to ignore the latter half of her comment, because the truth was too much for him to admit.

"I said, I don't know when!" She screamed. "How dare you even try to justify attempting to kill me, by manipulating my words into a break up! And even if it were, you are still so out of line here. I just can't even." She retorted, backing up to the wall while holding her hands up, and shaking her head like it would make the whole situation disappear.

"I'm sorry." Was all Elijah could say, as he hung his head in shame, desperate to go to her.

Colt rubbed her temples, replying "Aren't you always." with a resigned huff. "I don't even know, where we are supposed to go from here, Elijah." She sighed, sliding down to the floor, and holding her head in her hands.

Elijah moved over to where Colt was, and sank down beside her, cringing as his naked body hit the cold floor. His heart sank as he felt Colt stiffen at his proximity, rather than the usual way she would soften, wanting to experience his embrace.

"Where are you going?" He asked quietly.

Colt sighed and looked at him through the fingers that were holding her head, before conceding to answer him. "I'm headed to the Amazon. Dad, found the Shaman he was looking for, and he managed to make contact. I meet him in just over a fortnight's time."

Elijah suddenly joined all the puzzle pieces together. Colt was leaving to learn how to shift, and he was the biggest bastard on the planet.

Author's Note: Just a short one, but boy is it doozy. Hope you like it. B x.