Derek’s POV
I watched Bella stumble backward, the realization of what was happening hitting her like a physical blow. Her scream pierced the night air, raw and desperate.
Her attention snapped to the elderly man standing at the edge of the ritual circle. His weathered hands shook as he clutched a wine bottle, his eyes wide with terror and sothing darker.
The mont Bella lunged forward, he hurled the bottle with surprising force. Glass exploded against her body, alcohol splashing across her skin. The liquid burned her like acid.
Her agonized shriek told everything I needed to know. Those bottles contained wolfsbane mixed with the alcohol.
He was already reaching for another bottle. Bella charged again, driven by instinct and pain. The second bottle shattered against her shoulder, soaking her further, but she still managed to rake her claws across his chest and send him flying.
Then I saw his hands moving in an ancient pattern, and my blood went cold. He was going to ignite her.
Bella was experiencing her first transformation. She had no control over her wolf, no understanding of what was happening to her body. I had to act.
While she writhed on the ground, fighting the burning poison in her system, the old man conjured flas between his fingers.
The sight froze montarily. No ordinary werewolf possessed that ability. Only mbers of the ancient fire tribes could summon flas at will. But there was no ti to process that revelation.
I forced myself upright and sprinted toward him as he advanced on Bella, fire dancing in his palms.
He raised his burning hand to set her fur ablaze. Without hesitation, I threw myself between them.
His flaming fist punched through my stomach. The pain was imdiate and devastating. My flesh sizzled and lted around his hand as it drove deeper into my abdon. The world tilted sideways as shock overwheld my system.
I choked on my own blood, staring into his weathered face. He looked as stunned as I felt.
"Foolish alpha," he snarled. "Throwing your life away for her. She will be the death of you all."
Before he could withdraw his hand, I clamped my fingers around his wrist. If he broke free, he would kill Bella while she was defenseless. I had to hold him here.
"Are you completely insane?" he shouted, struggling against my grip.
I could hear Bella behind , growling and whimpering as her body fought the transformation. Then her sounds grew distant as she retreated into the forest.
I loosened my hold slightly, hoping he would strike again. The fresh pain would keep conscious a little longer. He had already carved a hole through my midsection.
The mont I released him and he moved to pursue Bella, I grabbed him again. I fought back this ti, though my strength was bleeding out of with every heartbeat.
Then a sound split the night that made us both freeze. A deep, primal growl echoed through the trees. We turned to see Bella racing toward us, no longer human.
"Release !" the old man scread.
I tightened my grip on his fingers, preventing him from moving or summoning more flas.
Bella struck like a force of nature. She slamd into the old man with enough force to send them both tumbling across the clearing. When they stopped rolling, she had him pinned beneath her massive fra.
He tried to raise his hands again, but Bella reared back and drove her fangs deep into his skull.
Her savage cry echoed through the forest. Her wolf was magnificent and terrifying, completely unrestrained.
In seconds, she tore his head from his shoulders, shook it like a rag doll, and flung it into the darkness.
When she finished, she turned those wild eyes on . She approached slowly, her wild eyes fixed on my wounds.
She was enormous, nearly matching my own wolf in size. Despite the agony radiating from my stomach, I managed a weak smile. Then my legs gave out.
I never hit the ground. She caught , lowering herself so I could slide onto her back.
Pain rolled through in nauseating waves as she carried away from the ritual site. But a terrifying thought cut through the haze. If I died now, Bella would wake up alone and confused after her first transformation.
The strongest wolves always suffered the most afterward. Judging by the size and power of her wolf, she would be completely lost when she shifted back.
"Just once more," I whispered to my wolf. "She needs us."
My wolf stirred weakly, responding to the desperate need to protect our mate. Bella stopped when she felt moving on her back.
I slid to the ground and lay in the grass while she watched over . Using every ounce of strength I had left, I forced my body to shift.
The connection between our wolves snapped back into place the mont my transformation completed. Both our wolves felt the overwhelming urge to run together.
Against all logic, my wounded wolf dragged himself alongside her. Every step cost , but I pushed through the pain for her sake.
Eventually, I had to stop. My wolf understood and began the painful shift back to human form.
Bella scread as her own transformation reversed. I watched her struggle through the agony, her eyes never leaving mine even as tears stread down her face.
Those sa eyes that had looked at with such hurt when I betrayed her before.
When she finally returned to human form, she collapsed unconscious in the grass.
I pulled off my shirt and covered her naked body, then lifted her into my arms. By the ti I reached the car, rain had started falling in heavy sheets.
I knew I should take her ho to her children, but they would panic seeing her like this. She needed care first, and for the first ti in years, I was here to give it to her.
She had always deserved soone who would put her first. Tonight, I would be that person.
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