The Elemental Mate
Chapter 5

Xander POV

As we raced down the road, the rain bounced off the windshield. If it wasn’t for my advanced vision, I wouldn’t have even been able to see the blacktop.

“Who the hell was the witch, anyway?” Asher asked, still going on about the meeting.

My knuckles turned white as I gripped onto the steering wheel, “I don’t know, but I’m not taking her threats lightly. I want patrol to double around the border. Tell the guards to keep an eye out for any witches. If the witch she was looking for is in our territory, I want to know about it.”

“If the witch is found in our territory, are you really just going to hand her over to that bitch?” Levi asked from the back seat of the SUV. He was the pack doctor and had agreed to come to the meeting with us, just encase any of the other alphas got out of hand and we needed a doctor.

I thought about what he asked for a second before replying, “I honestly don’t know. All I do know is that I rather know if the girl needs to be turned in or protected.”

“For a witch to threaten all the packs because of one rule-breaker, that girl must have done something pretty bad to merit that response,” Asher chipped in.

Drive faster! Kai screeched at me. He has been on edge ever since that witch disappeared. Something was wrong, and he knew it, but he wouldn’t tell me. All he has been screaming at me to do was get back to the pack. I assumed it was because of the witch’s threat over the packs. Neither he nor I liked the idea of our pack being in danger, or for a witch to have the audacity to try to stand against us.

We were about to round a curve when a bolt of lightning struck the road, halting my thoughts completely. I slammed on my breaks, throwing everyone in the car forward, “Is everyone okay?” I asked quickly, looking over Asher next to me and the five other people in the back seats.

“Alpha,” Levi said as he pointed out the front windshield, “There’s someone out there.”

The headlights shined through the pouring rain as the light landed on someone lying on the ground. My wolf started growling in my mind as I opened the door and stepped out into the rain with Asher and Levi right behind me.

I walked cautiously closer to the person as I tuned into my hearing. I could hear a faint heartbeat. The steady rhythm sounded broken as it tore into my heart and my wolf whined.

That’s when I smelt it.

The perfect scent of cherry blossoms and vanilla invaded my senses as I moved closer to the person, but another scent started to get stronger, overpowering the beautiful scent with the metallic smell of blood.

“Levi!” I called as I rushed forward and kneeled next to her to inspect the damage. Levi went immediately to her leg, which looked as if a chunk had been taken out of it. She jerked forward in pain the second he touched the wound and she started to cough up blood.

She’s still alive, I let out a breath of release for a second before scanning the rest of her broken body.

She looked so small. I could barely make out her light skin as her entire body seemed to be covered in dirt and blood. The part that stood out the most about her was her fire-red hair. I could see her eyes start to shut as her heartbeat slowed even more.

I placed my hand against her cheek, moving her face slightly so I could look into her eyes. Electricity poured through me at that small touch. Her eyes just barely opening to reveal the softest blue I had ever seen.

It was as if the world stopped spinning at that very moment. The only thing that mattered to me was her. The one thing that had been missing in my life, the piece that I didn’t even know I needed. It was her.

Mate, Kai spoke to me, but he didn’t even need to say it. It was as if I had known my entire life. This was my mate.

“Mine,” I state, Asher and Levi both breaking their stares at my mate to stare at me, shocked by my declaration.

She cried out in pain again, breaking our moment. I growled loudly at Levi. I looked over to see he was applying more pressure to her leg, “Alpha, she’s bleeding a lot. I don’t know if she will make it.”

I growled again as I looked down at her wounds. She was covered in deep cuts. Her leg that Levi was currently holding together was a mess. She had a huge gash in her shoulder and claw marks all over her body.

I picked her up gently into my arms, my wolf growling at us to make her better. She whimpered as Levi moved to inspect the blood coming from her side, causing me to growl again.

“Levi, what do we do? She can’t die,” my voice sounded almost broken as my eyes held onto hers again. I had just found her, and she might die in my arms. I didn’t even know my own mate’s name.

“I don’t know. There isn’t enough time to get her to the hospital. She’s not a wolf, otherwise, she’d be healing,” he tells me, “I don’t think there is anything we can do.”

I was about to roar in reply that there had to be something when a whisper broke through the heavy rain. I looked down at the perfect girl lying in my arms as she spoke the words that nearly broke me, “I don’t want to die.”