Claiming My Wolf
Chapter 59

~~Sadie’s PoV~~

My hand clenches the handle of the knife in my pocket as Micah’s dad’s eyes meet mine. I just need him to come a little closer. Micah promised me all I have to do is nick him with the knife, just a scratch, and that will be enough.

I didn’t even know that he put the knife in my pocket. He says he did it when he shifted to his wolf in the woods outside the pack house, when I was distracted, because he didn’t have anywhere to carry it once he was naked. He told me he was supposed to use it to kill me, that his dad gave it to him for that reason, but that now I can use it against his father instead. He says it would be poetic justice.

I’ve never fought anyone before, and certainly not with a deadly weapon. But this man wants to kill me, he killed my parents, and he killed Logan’s mom and sister too. If there was ever anyone who deserved to die, it’s him, so I’m ready to do what I have to do.

I guess I’m more animal than I realized.

His eyes stay fixed on me in spite of the wolves fighting around him. They glint dangerously beneath the moonlight.

“Apparently my stupid son couldn’t even betray me properly,” he says, sounding amused and frustrated at the same time. “He led you straight to me.”

“Micah’s ten times the man you are,” I tell him, tightening my grip on the knife once again. “Which is a miracle considering you’re the one who raised him.”

He just smiles at me coldly. “And you were raised by a human and a wolf who was pretending to be one. They hid the best part of you from you for all your life. You don’t deserve to be the vessel. You don’t deserve to be part of this pack at all. And without your wolf, you don’t even know how much danger you’re in right now.”

In a split second, he moves towards me, shifting into his wolf in mid-air. I see him coming, but I don’t move. I stay rooted to the spot, waiting for him to be close enough.

Waiting…

Waiting…

At the last second, I pull the knife out of my pocket and hold it out in front of me. His eyes widen as he sees it but there’s nothing he can do. He’s already airborne, already committed to the attack.

And as he lands on top of me, the knife drives deep into his wolf’s chest at the same time his claws dig into my skin, shredding my flesh as b***d pours from the wounds.

“Sadie!”

I don’t know who shouts it. Maybe it’s Logan. Maybe it’s Micah. Maybe it’s both.

But I can’t look to see. My eyes feel heavy, and the last thing I see is the Beta’s wolf falling limply to the ground before darkness takes me too.

When I open my eyes again, it’s not night anymore. It’s bright, but with a strange glow around everything, and when I turn my head, I’m not even surprised to see Selene there. This whole place looks like her. It must be her home.

“Am I dead?” I ask, looking down at my body. There are no wounds, not even scratches. How is that possible?

She smiles and shakes her head. “No. Your body is still there, in the woods, but it needs time to heal. I brought your spirit here so we could finish our talk before you go back.”

I’m a spirit? At this point all I can do is shrug. Why the hell not? It’s not even the weirdest thing to happen to me today.

“Did I kill him?” I ask. I don’t know if she’ll know, but she nods her head.

“Aldric is dead. The pack will be safe, thanks to you, and Logan, and Micah. The three of you make a good team.”

We do, but it can’t always be the three of us. I need to choose, and that’s why I’m here. I understand that without her spelling it out.

I’ve been thinking about it ever since she left, thinking about it as Micah and I made our way through the woods to replace Logan. Micah’s sense of smell is good and he could sniff out his father without too much trouble thankfully. We ran quietly, trying not to attract attention, and it gave me a bit of time to think.

If I choose Logan and Selene makes him my mate, on the surface it sounds great. He would feel our bond and would want to be with me. But if he found out that I made the choice, that the bond might have been changed, I don’t think he will like it. He might feel like I cheated, or manipulated him somehow, and he might come to resent me, and that’s the last thing I want.

On the other hand, if I choose Micah and Selene makes him my mate instead, I don’t think he will mind that I made the choice. In fact, he’d probably be happy that I chose him. But what if he has a different mate out there, someone who would be the perfect complement to him, and I get in the way of that? What if she never replaces someone else who’s as good for her? What if we aren’t as good together as he seems certain we will be?

The more I think about it, the more complicated it gets. I can see reasons to choose them both and I can see reasons to not choose them both. And the more I think about it, the more I decide that maybe I don’t want that responsibility after all.

I thought I wanted to be free to make the choice, but if I’m going to fully accept being a wolf, if I’m going to be part of the pack and everything that goes with it, then maybe I have to accept that the mate bond is a key piece of that. Maybe, just this once, I have to give up my desire for control and accept the path that’s been laid for me.

I didn’t ask to be a werewolf, but I am. I didn’t ask to be the vessel either, but I’m that too. And if that’s my life, if I’m fully going to claim my place as a wolf, maybe I have to claim my full destiny and everything that involves.

So that’s what I tell Selene now. That’s the choice I make.

“I want you to restore the mate you chose for me. I want you to choose.”

She smiles at me like she always knew that’s what I’d say. “When you wake up again, he will be there,” she promises me. “You’ll be my vessel now until your own daughter comes of age, and I will visit her then. Maybe I’ll see you again at that time too.”

“I would like that,” I tell her sincerely. It’s actually a bit comforting to know that there is someone watching over us, even some of the time.

“Good luck, Sadie,” she whispers, and my eyes start to feel heavy again. Darkness surrounds me, and the next thing I know, I hear several voices above me.

“She’s moving!”

“Sadie? Can you hear me?”

Someone’s holding my hand, and I feel sparks shooting through me, kind of like the tingles I felt with Logan before, but even stronger.

Mate! Ebony shouts gleefully in my head.

I guess he’s here. I guess this is it, the moment that will determine my path for the rest of my life.

With my heart racing, I open my eyes to see who it is.