Chapter 9
1135words
Her entire body turned cold, her blood seemingly frozen in an instant.
She remembered how she had healed Karen.
She remembered what the book recorded about "a curse that can heal all wounds caused by silver."
She remembered Karen's suddenly intensified, suffocating possessiveness after she healed him.
She remembered when he marked her, that madness driven not by love, but by instinct.
Everything made sense now.
Ella slowly released Karen's arm.
She turned around, raised her head, and looked directly at the man who had just marked her.
"Is what he said true?"
Her voice was soft and calm, calm without a ripple of emotion. But Karen shuddered violently because of this deathly stillness.
"Ella..."
"Answer me, Karen Wolcoff." Ella interrupted him, "Did your father slaughter my wolf pack for my bloodline?"
Karen pressed his thin lips tightly together. In those golden eyes of his, for the first time, Ella saw something she had never seen before—panic.
His Alpha pride wouldn't allow him to lie, especially after the "marking," the bond made it impossible for them to completely conceal emotions from each other.
He couldn't speak.
And his silence was the loudest answer.
Ella smiled.
It was a smile more heartbreaking than tears. The fresh, burning mark on her neck now seemed like a huge joke, a shameful brand.
"You never loved me," she stated the fact. "You didn't even 'desire' me. You just... needed me."
"No!" Karen finally roared out, his inner wolf feeling unprecedented panic at the prospect of losing everything in Ella's cold tone, "I..."
"I hate you."
Ella said softly.
Boom——!
These three words were more devastating than when Leo revealed the truth.
Karen's tall body suddenly swayed, and he staggered back a step, as if struck in the chest by an invisible hammer.
An excruciating pain tore through him, starting from that brand new "mark" and instantly backlashing against his soul.
"Rejection."
This was the most complete emotional rejection from his mate.
The giant wolf in his heart let out a painful, desperate howl. This pain was ten thousand times more intense than Silver Venom's corrosion. It was his own heart actively tearing him apart.
"Ella, come with me," Leo Wilde firmly extended his hand at this moment, "Leave this monster. I'll take you home, back to our surviving people."
Karen's golden eyes instantly turned crimson red.
"Don't go!" he roared, his powerful Alpha pressure suddenly erupting, "You are my Luna! I marked you! You belong to me!"
He tried to command her using the "Alpha Voice."
In the past, this power was enough to make any Omega kneel in submission.
But Ella just looked at him silently, her eyes filled with unmelting coldness.
The "Primal Omega" bloodline within her, after being marked and awakened, gave her the right to stand as an equal to any Alpha. Her power was "Balance," the only existence that could resist an Alpha's "Fury" and "Command."
His orders had no effect on her anymore.
Ella ignored him, turned around, and resolutely took Leo Wilde's hand.
"No!" Karen was completely panicked.
"Catch her!" he roared at the warriors around him, "Bring her back! Don't hurt her!"
The warriors of Shadow Fortress recovered from their shock, immediately transforming into several giant wolves, roaring as they pounced toward Leo and the Rogues behind him.
"Protect Ella!" Leo also shouted.
The battle erupted instantly. The altar immediately fell into chaos.
Leo's Rogues were clearly well-trained. Although outnumbered, they had extremely rich combat experience and were all equipped with silver-infused weapons. They fought while retreating, obviously covering the escape for Leo and Ella.
"Ella, run!" Leo grabbed Ella's hand and rushed into the darkness of the forest.
"No——!"
Karen's eyes turned blood-red as he pushed away all the warriors blocking his path, like an out-of-control beast, frantically chasing after them.
He couldn't let her go!
He didn't know why he felt such fear. Was it because he had lost the "antidote"? Or was it because... he couldn't bear to see her holding another man's hand?
The rain began to fall, cold raindrops mingling with soil, just like the day they first met.
Leo pulled Ella as they sprinted through the dense forest, but they weren't faster than an Alpha.
Just as they were about to burst out of the forest and reach a cliff edge, a black figure descended from above, crashing heavily in front of them, splashing mud everywhere.
It was Karen.
He was soaked through, his black ceremonial robe covered with soil, hair disheveled and plastered to his forehead. His chest heaved violently, his golden eyes filled with a desperation and pleading that Ella couldn't comprehend.
He was no longer the lofty wolf king. He was just a desperate Alpha about to lose his mate.
"Ella..." his voice was terribly hoarse, "don't go."
Leo shielded Ella behind him and drew a silver-coated dagger: "Get lost, Volkov! She doesn't belong to you!"
"Ella!" Karen ignored Leo, his eyes fixed intently on her, "Stay... please."
"Please"?
This word coming from Karen Wolcoff's mouth stunned both Ella and Leo.
The Alpha of Shadow Fortress, begging an Omega.
A sharp pain pierced through Ella's heart. She almost softened.
But she immediately remembered her parents' blood, remembered that tattered diary.
"Why should I stay?" Ella's voice was ice-cold, "Stay to be your 'cure'? Stay to be a tool that proves your 'property' is valid?"
"No..." Karen stepped back, stung by her words, "I... I need you."
"You 'need' me." Ella repeated the word, with nothing but endless sorrow in her eyes, "You're right."
She held Leo's hand tightly, as if it was her only lifeline.
"Leo," she turned to her childhood friend, "take me away."
"With pleasure." Leo revealed a victorious smile. He pulled Ella along, rushing without hesitation toward the edge of the cliff, where a hidden rope path had been prepared in advance.
"No——! Ella!"
Karen lunged forward frantically, but it was already too late.
He only managed to grab a corner of her deep blue gown, but the wet velvet slipped through his fingertips, and he caught nothing.
Ella and Leo's figures disappeared into the darkness and pouring rain below the cliff.
Karen Wolcoff stood at the edge of the cliff.
His tall body trembled violently in the wind and rain.
He reached out his hand, as if still trying to grasp at nothingness.
Rain washed over his handsome face, making it impossible to distinguish between rainwater and something else.
The giant wolf in his heart, that Alpha giant wolf symbolizing absolute royal power and invincibility, at this moment, let out the most painful and lonely howl since its birth.
His Luna, his mate, his heart...
Was gone.
He had completely and irreversibly lost her.
