Chapter 333
Ellie’s POV
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Dominic shifted back to human form and stood there for a moment, chest heaving, just staring at me. His face was pale, drained of all color save for the red blood staining his skin. He looked like he’d bee nthrough hell. I supposed I looked much the same.
“Ellie,” he said in a raw voice. He rushed toward me. “Thank the Goddess you’re alright.”
I took a step back before his arms could close around me.
He stopped, his brow furrowing. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want a hug,” I muttered.
Dominic sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I know you’re angry, but I did what I had to do.”
“You chose her over me.”
“Because it was the only way to save you both.” Dominic took a breath. “From the moment those rogues took you, I’ve been working to get you back. I’ve been searching for you all night. I went to the rogue camp, I did everything in my power to bring you home.”
Deep down, I knew what he was saying was logical. Choosing Vivian in that situation had been the only way to keep us both alive.
But he didn’t know that for certain.
I couldn’t imagine watching my mate being taken away by rogues and picking someone else, even if it felt like the only way. And after everything else we had been through, after what happened in my past life, this just felt like another level to the lies and deceit.
The truth was, I didn’t trust him or his motives. I didn’t even know if he was currently trying to block me from getting to my mother. And that was the worst part about all of it.
That lack of trust was precisely why I needed to leave. Because no matter what his true feelings were, there was nothing that could repair the rift between us, and I knew that now. No amount of prpinises or therapy could change the way I looked at him.
Like a murderer waiting to strike.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m leaving. As soon as I find my mother, we’re both getting out of here.”
Dominic’s face fell as his arms dropped to his sides. “You don’t mean that.”
“I’m done, Dominic,” I said. “With you. With Vivian. With all of this. I’m going to Lucas’s pack. I’m filing for divorce. And I’m breaking the mate bond.”
He took another step toward me. “Ellie, listen to me. Whatever you think happened, you’re wrong. I would never willingly let anything bad happen to you.”
“What do you know about wolfsbane toxin?” I asked.
The question stopped him cold. His mouth opened, then closed. For a second, he just stared at me.
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“What?” he asked.
“Wolfsbane toxin,” I repeated, “What do you know about it?”
His jaw tightened. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Just answer the question.”
He hesitated. “It’s a poison. It’s lethal to wolves in high doses. Why?”
“Have you ever used it?” I asked.
“What? No. Of course not.”
“Are you sure?”
“Ellie, what the hell is this about?”
I watched his face carefully. He looked confused, maybe even a little defensive. He certainly didn’t look innocent, and that was what I clung to. He knew, didn’t he? He knew about wolfsbane toxin. Perhaps he had been the one to apply it to my wound in my past life. Perhaps he’d been planning to use it on me in this one.
“Ellie-” Dominic reached for me again, and I raised my hand, swatting him away. But before that could happen, a scream cut through the air.
We both froze.
My mother.
I took off running in the direction of the scream without thinking or noticing my injuries. Dominic was right behind me, shouting my name, but I didn’t stop.
The scream came again.
“ELLIE!”
I crashed through the trees and into a small clearing. And there in the center, was Gareth.
He was in human form, covered in dirt and blood. His one good eye was wild, the other exposed as the patch hung loosely around his neck. And in his arms, struggling and crying, was my mother, still wearing her nightgown. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were full of the same terror I had seen when they executed her in my past life.
This time, it was Gareth who had a knife pressed to her throat.
“Stop,” he snarled, yanking her back a step. “Take one more step and I’ll kill her.”
I skidded to a halt. Dominic appeared beside me a second later.
“Let her go,” I said.
Gareth laughed. “Let her go? After all the trouble I went through to get her?” He pulled my mother tighter against him. She whimpered. “No. I don’t think so.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
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“You,” he said. “Come with me. Now. And I’ll let her live.”
“Don’t do it,” Dominic said beside tre. “Ellie, don’t.”
I ignored him. “If I come with you, you’ll let her go?” I asked.
“You have my word,” Gareth said.
“Your word means nothing,” Dominic said. He turned to me. “Ellie, he’s lying. The moment you step forward, he’ll kill her anyway.”
“Shut up, Alpha,” Gareth snarled. He pressed the knife harder against my mother’s throat. A thin line of blood appeared. She cried out. “You’ve done enough meddling for one lifetime. You destroyed my camp. You killed my men. You took everything from me. I won’t let you take my Queen, too.”
“Your Queen?” Dominic barked. “You really are just as insane as they said.”
Gareth sneered in response.
“Ellie,” my mother gasped, “don’t. Don’t come with him. Just go. Please.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I said.
I took a step forward.
Dominic grabbed my arm and yanked me back. “No.”
“Let go of me!” I yanked at his grip, but it was too tight, my wolf too weak to fight back.
“I’m not letting you go with him,” Dominic said. “Not again.”
“He’ll kill her!”
“The last time I chose another woman, it backfired,” Dominic whispered, tightening his grip on my arm. I’m not making the same mistake again.”
“But she’s my-”
“No.”
”
The command in Dominic’s voice made my wolf stiffen. I went rigid, staring at him, my eyes wide. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw movement. Slowly, I turned to see that Gareth was tightening his hold on my mother. Her eyes bulged and her face started to pale from the way his arm was hooked around her neck.
“I’m going to count down from three,” Gareth said. “If you don’t walk over here by one, then she’s dead. Three.”
I yanked at Dominic’s grip. “Let me go!”
“No,” Dominic snarled.
“Two.”
“Dominic!”
“Ellie, no,” my mother choked out. “It’s okay, I’ll be okay-”
3.4
ATY BRACT AN
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“Let me go, Dominic!”
“Ellie.” His eyes darkened “I can’t.”
Gareth sneered.
“One.”
The blade caught the light as it drew across my mother’s throat, momentarily blinding me. I heard a wet gurgle, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
I blinked, and my mother was on the ground, clutching at the gaping wound in her throat as blood gushed through her fingers.
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