Chapter 150 – Too Late
–ZANE’S POV–
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A scream shot through the air, making me freeze, as my paws slid against the ground.
That was undeniably her.
My Lia.
My mate.
I was on the right path. That sound came from Blake’s house for certain.
But was I too late?
She sounded like… no. No, that couldn’t happen.
I dashed towards his house, heart thumping in my chest as a million terrible scenarios swam before my eyes.
He couldn’t have marked her. That couldn’t happen. I wasn’t too late. I could still save her.
I reached his house, only to find an army of wolves waiting for me. I had never seen any of them before, which meant they were his pack.
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
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And I didn’t have mine. They were fighting for their lives and their home.
I had to fight his pack alone.
There was no power on earth who could keep her away from me.
Growling, I leapt forward, claws extended, teeth bared. I didn’t have time to waste.
The first wolf lunged at me, but I ducked low and slashed across his underbelly. He howled, stumbling to the side. Another one tackled me from behind, teeth snapping near my neck. I rolled, crushing him beneath my weight before throwing him off with a vicious snarl.
More attacked. Six, maybe seven, all snarling and charging like rabid animals.
I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. My mate was in that house. She needed me.
Lia’s scream still echoed in my head, sharper and more painful than the wounds forming across my body. I clawed through the next wolf, blood spraying across the grass. My shoulder throbbed, but I kept moving, lunging at two more as they tried to surround me. One went down with a yelp. The other dug his teeth into my leg, but I twisted and slammed his face into the dirt, cracking the skull.
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
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Blake’s pack fought hard. They were trained. Loyal. Desperate.
But I was something else.
I was an Alpha.
And I was furious.
Fueled by a rage that was sacred. And love for my mate.
My wolf burned with it, refusing to back down.
One of them lunged for my throat.
I met him mid–air, closing my jaws around his neck and slamming him to the ground.
Lia’s face flashed before my eyes. Her hair curled to perfection, her dress clinging to her gorgeous body. Her smile. The glint in her eye as she looked at me.
Another tried to bite my side. I kicked him in the ribs hard enough to crack his bones.
I was covered in blood, half of it mine, half of it foreign. But I didn’t feel the pain. The only thing I felt was her. Her fear. Her scream. That unbearable silence that followed.
Why was she quiet? Why wasn’t she calling for me?
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
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I pushed forward, charging through the last two wolves at the porch. One whimpered, the other didn’t get back up.
My paws hit the steps.
The front door shattered as I crashed through it, wooden splinters flying from impact. I shifted back, bones snapping into place, the pain of it dulled by adrenaline.
I stumbled into the house, blood dripping from my chest and arms, panting heavily.
“Lia!” I yelled, voice cracking. “Blake!”
There was no answer.
The hallway was a blur as I stormed through it, following her scent—the perfume she’d bathed in for prom, mixed with something metallic.
Blood?
No.
I reached the bedroom door, heart thundering.
It was slightly open.
And inside, I saw him, straddling her on the bed.
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
My world collapsed.
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Lia lay beneath him, limp and unconscious. Her wrist was cuffed to the headboard. Her neck was bleeding, freshly marked. The skin around the wound was red and raw, the mark still glowing faintly with the heat of completion.
Blake turned his head to look at me, eyes glowing red, mouth stained with her blood.
My blood.
My mate.
He smiled, licking it off his lips, mocking me.
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t growl.
I charged.
Blake barely had time to react before I slammed into him, sending him flying off the bed. He crashed into the dresser, shattering it into pieces.
“You touched her!” I roared, my voice shaking the walls.
He scrambled up. “I did the same thing you were going to,” he spat, face twisted with contempt. “She was supposed to be
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
mine!”
I didn’t let him finish.
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I tackled him again, fists and claws flying. I didn’t care that I was bleeding, that my vision was darkening around the edges. I didn’t care about the pain in every inch of my body.
I only cared about the girl behind me. About the broken sound of her voice when she screamed for me. About the dirty bruise around her throat and the blood on her collarbone.
Blake clawed at my face, but I caught his wrist and twisted until it snapped. He howled, trying to bite me, but I sank my claws into his shoulder and threw him against the wall.
“You think you deserve her?” I growled, stepping closer. “You think this–” I pointed to her mark, my voice shaking with grief, –means anything when you forced it? How could you do this to her? How could you hurt her this way? You apologised, you bastard!”
“She’s mine now,” Blake whispered, staggering to his feet. “The Goddess chose us both. And I completed the bond first. So she belongs to me now.”
“I don’t care what you think the Goddess chose.” My hands curled into fists. “She chose me. Every single day. Even when I didn’t deserve her.”
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I hit him square in the jaw, and he dropped to the ground, falling unconscious.
Silence fell.
I turned, breath catching in my throat as I looked at her.
My Lia.
She was so still.
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Blood stained her neck, matching the red of her dress. Her lips were parted slightly, chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and her skin was pale.
I dropped to my knees beside the bed.
How did I let this happen?
“Lia,” I whispered, voice cracking.“Please. Baby, open your eyes.”
She didn’t respond.
Her hand was ice cold. Her pulse was faint.
The cuff.
I broke the metal with one yank, freeing her arm and catching
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Chapter 150 – Too Late
her before it could fall.
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“Please don’t leave me,” I whispered, holding her close, cradling her to my chest. “I’m here. I’m here, okay? You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
But the mark glowed against her skin, and it wasn’t mine.
And I didn’t know if I’d made it in time to save her at all.
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