Eight.

Eight.
"Two true mates?" Elijah asked, suppressing his lupine nature to growl at such a thought.

Colt sighed, knowing how hard this was for Elijah. How hard this was for everyone involved really. It was a huge concept to get your head around, simply because two halves make a whole; not three.

"Yes," she answered softly. "My soul is made up of two beings, each one an equal part of who I am. So, each part..."

"Has a partner soul out there." He finished for her, feeling his heart plummet inside his chest.

This meant the Wildcat's claim was a legitimate one.

Colt nodded but never said anything further, not sure herself on what she should say, so they both sat beside one another in silence for several minutes, listening to the fire crackling beside them. When Elijah did voice his next thought, it was one which seemed to weigh more heavily on him than he would have ever thought possible.

"And for him, you will have children?" He voiced out, unsure on whether or not he wanted the answer.

"I..." Colt began, "It wasn't like that."

"What was it like then?" Elijah asked, his voice turning bitter as his pain was starting to get the better of him.

Colt recoiled at the anguish in Elijah's voice, it was shining through him, and even if she couldn't see it in his eyes, what was left of their corrupted bond was thrumming with it inside her chest.

"In the hospital, I was told I couldn't have children. It was in the very same moment I finally accepted I had been lying to myself about not wanting them, Elijah. In the moment I was given the information I needed to allow myself to believe that being a mother was a realistic possibility for me, despite where we were at that point, it was all stripped away from me. I grieved, and I moved on, and that was an emptiness, and an extra wound I had to come to terms with; because I had no choice. It wasn't something I could change. Between that and the belief I would never again have sex, birth control seemed redundant really." Colt spoke, with a shaking voice, her hands quivering in her lap as she relayed her pain.

Elijah was frowning as he truly thought about how Colt had ended up pregnant. Not the pain of her carrying another man's child, but the physical act itself. Suddenly he was struggling to control his shift, his fur bristling under his skin desperate to push through as he attempted to keep himself calm. The reality of Colt having had sex with another man was too much.

Colt watched on, waiting patiently till Elijah was at a point he would hear her again, keeping her own breaths steady to stop Calum from detecting her own growing worry through their bond.

Elijah was breathing through his nose with heavy pants, feeling everything so strongly and all at once, it seemed too much. All the changes, Colt's presence, this new information, that his mate was having sex with someone else. But, when the first bone in his leg snapped with the intention to reshape he froze. Not because he was losing his battle, but because Colt's delicate hand had intertwined with his own. Each of her fingers nestled securely between his own.

"Just breathe," she whispered, knowing he needed her.

Without warning, his leg snapped back into its human state without warning, causing him to bite his tongue in objection till he tasted his own blood.

"I've got you." Came her next soft words.

Elijah's eyes gave in on him at that, and he began to cry.

Something broke, and before he knew it he was clinging to his mate, weeping for everything he had lost. His daughter, his best friend, the relationship he had with his parents was never going to be the same, his pack and of course Colt. Finally, it was too much to contain and the damn was broken.

Elijah was finally surrendering to his grief.

Colt held Elijah as he cried on her shoulder, his tears staining her dress till he had released what she could tell were years of frustration and sadness.

His hand was still clasped in hers, while the other gripped around on her waist behind her, clinging to her like she was his only lifeline. Colt's scent was infusing his senses as his forehead pressed against shoulder. His Colt, his mate, and he suddenly needed to look into her eyes. Those hazel eyes, that he wanted to get lost in for the rest of his life. He raised his head slowly, taking in the concern etched all over her face, but as soon as his eyes connected with hers, at such a proximity where he could feel her every exhale upon his face he knew he needed more.

Elijah needed to taste her. His mate, because that is what she was, she said so herself, she was as equally his as much as she thought she was the Cat's.

A kiss, just to show he wasn't as lost and alone as he felt he was.

Colt had already shown him as much, showed him he still had a place in her heart, holding him and allowing him to be more vulnerable than he ever thought he would be able to be.

Elijah tilted his face forward, angling his jaw towards her and closing the gap between their lips.

But as his eyes closed and he should have made contact with her lips at long last, he didn't.

"No." Colt whispered, as her free hand met Elijah's lips to shield herself from his affection.

Elijah sighed, pulling away from Colt entirely before her rejection could sting too much. But he could move like lightning, and that wouldn't have been fast enough. He stood, trying to put space between himself and this fresh wave of pain. No matter the softness in her eyes, or the way her face still lit with concern for him.

"So, you choose the Scotsman?" He asked with venom.

"Calum is my husband, Elijah." Colt responded calmly.

"You married him!" Elijah couldn't contain his snarl.

"Yes. I love him. Our bond is different..." She tried to answer.

"What? Because he wasn't so damaged?" Elijah snapped, revealing his own insecurities along with his anger.

"Elijah stop it," Colt hissed back.

His attitude was wearing thin, and despite her sympathy for him, Colt wouldn't allow anyone to insult her relationship with her husband.

"Calum and I bonded prior to our mating. We held off because I was scared for you. But, we still bonded by getting to know one another. By being honest with one another. By being there for one another." Colt defended herself.

"And what?" Elijah bit back, "We couldn't get to know one another too? Build our bond up again?"

"No." Colt answered in honesty, "We couldn't. Because I will not betray him like that."

"Like you betrayed me, you mean?" Elijah spat back.

"I... I..." Colt staggered, "It didn't happen like that. Calum and I didn't mate in our senses."

"Mating while drunk again? I thought you had more class than that, Little Bird." Elijah answered, unsure of why he was trying to hurt her.

Colt's head raised high at his words.

"No. I was attacked." She spoke with a steely voice.

Elijah deflated at her words, at the unshed tears shining in her eyes.

"I have wanted to kill before, but I had never actually crossed that line. Not until that night. His name was Arthur Bruce. He intended to kidnap and rape me, repeatedly. To keep me as some kind of sex slave. Turned up at my house with cattle prods and dog graspers. I didn't want to shift, didn't think it was safe to. But, when he revealed that he had once raped my mother, I snapped; shifted before I could stop myself and and then tore out his throat. Then I ran, well after almost attacking my Dad. I was ready to kill him too." Colt paused, taking a pained breath, as her agitation got the better of her. "Later, when Calum found me, I was taking shelter in a storm, running on pure instinct." Colt was absentmindedly scratching and pinching at her arm, turning the pale skin red and raw as she relayed her story. "The next morning I panicked, I called Marcus, but you were fine. Nothing out of the normal had happened. I think I had thrown up with the worry."

Elijah's hand suddenly stilled her own.

"Stop," he commanded, his Alpha authority naturally leading the command. "I'm sorry, Colt, I shouldn't have said what I said, or pushed you like that." He sighed, "I'm sorry."

Colt's eyes lifted to Elijah as he stood in front of her. Maybe they had both changed afterall.

Colt had no more words for him. She was exhausted and craving to be in Calum's arms once again. Her soul crying out for him.

Elijah's hand came to rest on Colt's cheek as he studied her, the contact distracting her from the comfort she sought from her husband. A distraction she wasn't completely comfortable dwelling on.

"Colt, I love you. You are where I belong. I'm going to go, but know this. I'm not leaving you, not again." His voice was steady and sure.

"Elijah, I..." Colt began.

"No, Colt." Elijah stopped her, "I won't walk away from you. I am not strong enough to lose you again."

"I will not leave Calum, Elijah." Colt stated, as he walked to the door.

His jaw tensing was the only recognition of her statement.

"By the way," he added, one hand on the door handle, "I always knew being pregnant would suit you. You will make a fierce mother, just like your own."

Then he was out the door and gone, and Colt was left alone.