by Ava Williams
All the anger, all the resentment, all the times where he wanted to strangle the self-righteous little asshole boiled to the surface, but everything else fell away when the memory of Molly’s cry of pain echoed through his skull. Eli had shot Molly, and he was smiling. Faster and faster Titus’s blood pounded until he couldn’t even feel anything other than sheer, pure rage.
Titus rolled his shoulders, stepping through the shattered window as he locked eyes with Eli. Titus had been waiting for this moment for years. Eli was about to find out why Titus was pack alpha and Eli wasn’t. He turned his head to the side and spat out the blood that filled his mouth, his nostrils flaring and his hands shuddering with hatred.
Eli attacked, stabbing wildly at Titus with the silver dagger, but Titus knocked the blade away and threw him to the ground. The two wolves wrestled in the mud and blinding rain in front of Molly’s home. And though Eli held an early advantage, the odds shifted considerably as Titus’s strength slowly returned.
Eli was weak, and enough of a coward to go after Titus’s mate and heir.
Titus was the alpha.
And it showed.
Titus unleashed on Eli, years of antipathy fueling each blow. In a fair fight, Eli knew he didn’t stand a chance. Which was why he had never challenged Titus for the position of pack alpha in all these years—not until Titus had a mate that Eli could use as a weapon.
Titus’s knuckles smashed into Eli’s jaw and rain splattered from the impact. Another clean strike. This beatdown had been a long time coming. He could almost ignore the pain that still radiated from stab wound, which still freely bled down his side. Eli tried to scramble away, tossing Titus with his hips and grabbing the silver dagger out of the mud. He tried to stab Titus, but Titus blocked it.
“Titus, look out!”
Molly’s voice broke Titus’s concentration. Instinctively, he whirled to see her standing in the window with a horrified look in her eyes—but alive. Blood dripped down her shoulder with her other hand covering it as she scrambled to help him.
Titus reeled back around just in time for Eli to plunge the silver dagger into his heart.
20
Molly had never been shot before.
She never thought it would be easy.
She had no idea.
It wasn’t too bad at first. Painful, but survivable. Eli fucked up the shot and popped her in her shoulder—which hurt like a motherfucker, but at least he missed the rest of her. She stumbled back, falling into the coffee table and thinking for a quarter of a second that it should hurt a lot more.
And then it started.
It felt like someone had impaled her with a white-hot poker, and it seemed to get worse by the second. She tried her best to muscle through it, scrambling up from the shattered coffee table to try and help Titus—not that he needed any help beating Eli into a bloody pulp. She found them in the lawn out front, Titus holding the obvious advantage, unaware that Eli was reaching for the silver dagger in the mud as other wolves scrambled up to try to help their alpha.
“Titus, look out!”
Calling his name to alert him to the dagger had the exact opposite reaction she wanted. He turned to look at her instead of watching his opponent.
And she watched it happen in slow motion.
As other wolves rushed to help, only a few feet away from him, Eli’s hand gripped the blade. He reared it back, roaring with rage as he sank the blade into Titus’s broad chest, all the way through to the other side. She felt vomit rise in her throat as she realized that the tip of the silver blade poked through Titus’s back, directly in her line of vision.
The other wolves tackled Eli and knocked the blade out of his hand, overwhelming him as Seth and the other guards got there. Eli was pinned underneath a pile of snarling wolves.
“Feel it, Titus!” he screamed. “Feel what I did!”
Titus stumbled to his feet with the blade still lodged in his chest. Molly’s heart jumped up into her throat and she scrambled out of the window to him, eyes wide with horror as Titus looked over at her, confused and stunned. His hand grabbed loosely at the blade, like he couldn’t comprehend the wound, but it was real, a mortal injury for anyone. Including a nearly invincible wolf. He blinked once, twice, looking at Molly with a perplexed expression.
“I’m sorry,” he managed as the light dimmed from his eyes. He slumped to the ground, landing hard on his back as Seth sprinted toward them.
Molly’s world fell away as she watched her fated mate breathe his last right there in the mud, dying for her. For them.
Her hearing dulled and the rest of the world blurred as she watched Seth pull the blade out and frantically try to resuscitate his alpha. Titus lay limp as his heart weakly pumped his lifeblood from his wound to trickle into the dirt. Each pump was slower than the last as she stared down at Titus’s body. Muscular, superhuman. Motionless.
She dropped to her knees numbly as she stared into Titus’s unseeing eyes.
“No!” Seth shouted, slapping Titus on the cheek. “Don’t you fucking dare! Hey! We’ve got an ambulance on the way! Listen to me!”
Molly extended a hand, hovering over the wound. The pain of her own injury faded as the bright blood coated her hands.
She closed her eyes, goosebumps washing over her skin as she did something that she’d never, ever been able to do: call magical power far beyond any witch: the power of life and death, to pull someone back from death’s door. Something her sisters would never do together, and something that she couldn’t even dream of.
But none of that mattered anymore.
All that mattered was Titus.
She grabbed a thin ribbon of magic and didn’t take no for an answer. She dragged it into the spell, feeling her own powers increase in strength. She asked for more, and for the first time in her life, the magic gave. She whispered a healing spell, her voice shaking and tears dripping down her cheeks as her quivering hands felt Titus’s pumping blood slow.
She grabbed the magic and forced it to work for her, pulling deeper than she had ever gone. The spell took a toll on her, dragging out her own lifeforce and draining her strength. Bit by bit, she poured herself into the spell.
If she died, she died. All that mattered was saving him, for not being a fucking terrible witch for once in her goddamn life, for saving the only man she’d ever loved. There was no life for her without Titus.
Her muscles shuddered with the strain as she shoved the power into his chest, pushing the aura through his veins and ordering his heart to beat again. After four or five seconds of agonizing pressure, she felt his heart twitch once, weakly. Another wave of goosebumps moved through her, and she pulled harder. Thump. Again. Thump.
“What the . . .?” Seth’s voice. She ignored it, focusing on the spell the spell, repeating her orders over and over until it was a shouted chant. The hair on her arms stood up with the magic, and she felt it in every vein, every pore, in her fingernails and tingling along her skin. It was more than she’d ever felt before, bending to her will.
Thump. Stronger this time, and more blood poured into her hands. Thump. Strong again. Thump, thump, thump, thump thump thump thump! His heart started to race, blood surging through his body as her eyes opened wide and she looked around.
Ten feet from the sodden earth, they levitated with a cocoon of golden energy swirling around them like a storm. The rain couldn’t get through the energy, which moved and swirled like a living creature. Golden tendrils moved through his body, suffusing him with a gentle glow and connecting the two of them. Her hands shook with the exertion required to hold such a spell and her vision darkened, but she kept going.
Her body felt like it was burning up from trying to harness such overwhelming power surging through her, a hundred times more power than even the strongest witches could hold at one time. She thought she might pass out. Maybe die.
Her concentration narrowed even further and she stayed focused on the only thing that mattered to her: Titus’s beloved face. Even
as the rest of the world went dark, she kept her gaze fixed on him. The wound over his chest started to heal, but it wasn’t enough, not yet. He could still die, and she was his only chance. She felt his tissue and muscles knitting themselves back together, but even as her body started to shake and smoke rose from her skin, she didn’t stop.
One thing.
Titus.
That’s all she needed to see.
She felt the blackout coming. She had asked more of her body than it could give, and she knew that one witch was not meant to wield this power alone. If it was the end, she just hoped her effort was enough.
She felt her life force start to fade. She felt it coming. Her body, though scorching hot to the touch, shivered as her senses faltered.
This was it.
The end.
She looked one last time at Titus, tears spilling from her eyes. Maybe she would find him in the next life, but for now, their story might be over. She hadn’t been strong enough, even with everything that had happened. She’d put everything she had and more into the spell, but she was out. Done. Finished.
“I love you,” she whispered to him as the darkness claimed her. The last thing she saw was Titus’s eyes flash open as he gasped.
Gone.
21
Five years later
The grove was exactly as Titus remembered it.
He still remembered meeting Molly all those years ago right where he was standing, under the massive trees. She was so defiant, so cocky, so fucking bold. She wandered into wolf territory for, of all the stupid things, a love spell. A fated mates spell, one of the dumbest and most frivolous spells.
She had to have known that it was a scam. Right? And as he got to know her, he realized something about Molly: There was no one else on the planet quite like her. She hadn’t gone into that forest to find love. She trespassed in wolf territory to prove to herself that she could, that she wasn’t the shitty witch and that she could be great. Or at least passable.
He had never asked her.
Never would.
Titus had softened up in the past five years. Life had a habit of doing things to a man. Sometimes, he liked to go down here and think about what was, and what almost never was. In these quiet, reflective moments, he thought about Molly and how they first met.
And it always brought him joy, in a bittersweet sort of way.
He was so different back then. He should have treated her better at the start. Should have been quicker to show her his love. She showed up, threw his life into disarray, changed everything, and put it back better than it had ever been before. And he hadn’t appreciated it, not back then. He fought her, and his desire to make a life and a family.
His hand drifted to the scar over his heart. He remembered that night like it was yesterday, felt the cold hand of death on him. And then, she’d been there, warm and beautiful and amazing, pulling him back into the world of the living. Now, it was just a pale bit of flesh, but it was more than that. It was a reminder.
He looked up at the forest, at the leaves that drifted in the quiet breeze. The trees rustled gently. He hadn’t been here in years, not like this. It brought up a lot of memories.
When he first met Molly in this spot, Eli was an ally. Back then, he was single as hell and perfectly happy about it. He had nobody and wanted nobody. So much had changed since then. Seth stepped up to take control of more of the business, and they worked as partners now, more than anything. The business had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. The pack was thriving, and Eli was behind bars for life. The Brothers had been dominated into submission, and everything that had been stolen was returned. Those responsible had been punished accordingly.
He smiled to himself, just for a second.
What a fool he’d been the last time he’d been here.
“Daddy!”
The second he heard Ellie’s voice, he grinned from ear to ear and turned to see Molly and their five-year-old daughter, Ellie, coming down the path.
“We’re here!” Molly said, grinning and tripping on a rock before catching herself. “I didn’t trip. You didn’t see that.”
Ellie sprinted up to Titus, who scooped her up and spun her around in the air. He set her down to her giggles and delight. She scampered off to the rest of the grove, poking on various things and getting wildly distracted, exclaiming over the flowers and leaves. Having Ellie was a full-time job.
Titus met Molly with a kiss and playful pinch on the butt. “I was starting to wonder where you were.”
“Well, someone took the map with him when he went to work, so I had to remember how to get here by memory.” She raised an eyebrow. “It’s you. You were the someone.”
“I did?”
“It’s okay.” She kissed him and grinned, turning to Ellie and dropping the backpack. “Ellie, sweetie! Don’t touch that!”
Ellie put down the bug, hurrying over to them and grabbing a training wand out of the bag. “Magic!”
Titus watched as Molly took the wand away and gave her a different one, along with a learner’s guide to children’s spells. Ellie was gifted. Very gifted. She inherited tremendous magic power, which seemed to make Molly very happy. And she was also a shifter, which made Titus happy. She was a strong, determined little girl.
She would make a great alpha.
And she was a fan favorite of the pack. They all took to Molly very quickly after they met her, and when she nearly died saving him, everyone had been even nicer. She spent some time in intensive care, but when she woke up, the pack threw her a welcome-home party. Titus didn’t consider himself a worrier, but her time in the hospital was some of the most stressful of his life. Seth had really stepped up, taking the reins as Titus spent all those nights with her in the hospital. Waiting, hoping, praying that one day, Molly would wake up.
In a second, he’d lost both of them. And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. With all his money, all his power, all his influence, he was as helpless as everyone else. One day, she might wake up. Or she might not. He spent hours holding her cool, limp hand, wishing for a miracle.
And one day, she just . . . woke up.
And now, it was the first day of their child’s magic training. Molly might not have all the power in the world, but she was a hell of a teacher with a bottomless well of love for their daughter. Molly was a great mother, and he was determined to give his child a normal life. The whole no influences, vulnerability is weakness thing was bullshit, he realized. Relationships were strength. Love wasn’t a weakness. He was weaker when he had love in his heart and ignored it out of fear.
Ellie would be better than him. Better than he could ever have been.
And that?
That made him happy. All of it thanks to Molly, the woman who hadn’t given up on him when she probably should have, and who had stuck with him through hard times and never stopped loving him even when he made it almost impossible.
When he first saw Molly in this grove, he was a hard, cold man without anyone to love or love him back.
And now, he was watching his beautiful wife teach his daughter how to do magic.
Life was funny.
Molly glanced in his direction and furrowed her brow as she stared curiously. “You okay?”
A smile spread over his face.
“Yes, I am.”
The End.
Did you like this book? Then you’ll LOVE Covenant of Lust.
A fine line exists between mortals and demons, especially when it's your sworn enemy and ex-lover.
I’ve wanted Mr. Tall, Dark, And Cocky dead for years.
Now, he’s back in my life. And as much as I hate him, we have to work together to survive.
I see the way he looks at me. I know what he wants.
I want it too.
But not before he begs for mercy.
Things have always been complicated between us, and that was before the baby showed up.
This is an alpha shifter romance novella for 18+. Each book is a s
tandalone and is a happily ever after.
Start reading Covenant of Lust NOW!
22
Sneak Peek
Sneak Peek - Chapter One
Start reading Covenant of Lust NOW!
“Shitty day, isn’t it?”
Minerva’s voice pierced the stillness of the swamp. As Cade rotated the focus of his rifle scope, he ignored her and peered into the lens. There was a structure a good hundred yards away, hidden in the tall, mossy trees, but somehow it didn’t appear to sink into the slimy mud like everything else.
Swamps turned his stomach. He’d been all over the world in some of the most wretched and dangerous places, but nothing ever really looked as shitty as a swamp. Everything had its upsides. Isolated forest? No irritating tourists. Snowy mountaintop full of things that wanted to eat him? Nice views. Desert? Well, at least he didn’t have to pack for rain. But swamps—swamps somehow combined all the terrible things and crammed them into one awful little hellscape of suffering. It was hot. It was muggy. It reeked of swamp gas. It was home to a bunch of weird and unsightly animals that probably did terrible things to people. He couldn’t see his own feet through the thigh-deep, murky water that periodically rippled as something no doubt awful slithered beneath the surface. Every time he tried to take a step, his boot would catch and he’d almost flop over like a fuckin’ idiot. It turned walking into a magnificent battle.
