Finding Love With the Enemy

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Ella. I was just fixing Mason’s bandages,” Kara spoke up, her voice timid.

I slammed the bottle down on the counter, glaring at Mason. Normally, he wouldn’t let me touch alcohol, saying it was bad for my health. Yet here I was, nearly a quarter of the way through the bottle, and he was just letting Kara talk.

“Really? There’s nothing to misunderstand, Mason?” I asked, my voice, cold.

“Yes,” he replied firmly, his words hitting me like a punch to the gut.

“Then explain what happened back then.” My grip tightened on the bottle. He had to be kidding if he thought that was just another misunderstanding.

“Don’t be too hard on Mason, Ella. I got separated from the others that night, and he was just looking out for me,” Kara said apologetically.

That was the breaking point. Everything I’d been holding in erupted.

I smashed the bottle against the counter, shouting, “Damn it, Mason! Are you not going to say anything? You saw me about to die, and you turned your back on me! Do you even still see me as your mate?”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion, Ella,” Mason replied coldly. “Kara is like a sister to me. I promised her mom I’d keep her safe. Stop overthinking it.”

I was stunned. Any other wolf would have been frantic with worry for their mate, but he was telling me it was all in my head?

I was about to strike him with the broken glass when Kara wrapped her arm around his.

“Mason! Don’t talk to Ella like that,” she scolded him, and I watched as his cold expression softened.

All this time, I’d thought Kara was stealing my time with him. That’s why, even after three years, he still hadn’t marked me. But I was wrong. It seemed I was the one stealing him from her.

“Mason and I grew up together, Ella. We’re practically siblings. Please don’t let this come between you two. And Mason, you owe her an apology,” Kara said firmly, still clinging to him.

The idea of her demanding an apology from Mason almost made me laugh. He never apologized first, even when he was clearly in the wrong. So why would he do it now? But then he did.

“I’m sorry.”

The emotions welling up inside me were suffocating. I wanted to tear them apart, to make them feel the pain I’d suffered during that rogue attack. But one look into Mason’s eyes, and I couldn’t.

I marched to the door, desperate for air, needing to get as far away from them as possible.

Just as I stepped onto the porch, Mason called out, “Ella, don’t go. Let’s talk about this over dinner. Kara wanted to thank you for saving her life.”

“I’ll pass. I don’t want to spoil your fun.” I shot back, not even turning around.

I bolted into the woods, letting my wolf take over, pushing us to run far away. I thought I heard him shout my name once, but that was it. He didn’t even bother to come after me.

Before Mason, I was steadily climbing the ranks in my old pack. I was so good that the Alpha chose me as one of his delegates for the annual Silver Moon Ball. That’s where everything changed.

The moment I locked eyes with Mason, the world around us faded into a blur. I had no idea then that he was a sought-after bachelor in his pack.

People congratulated us on being mates, but there were also those who sneered, saying I wasn’t worthy of him. For three years, I tried my best to prove myself, enduring the whispers behind my back because I believed in our fate.

And now, look where that got me.

Exhausted from running, I found myself at the base of a waterfall high in the mountains. The water cascaded down, shimmering like jewels in the moonlight. It felt like the moon goddess herself was wrapping me in a comforting embrace.

So, I howled all my pain to her.

Morning came, and I woke up feeling refreshed. The pain that once consumed me now felt like a distant memory.

I shifted into my wolf form and took my time strolling into the woods, headed for the packhouse. Along the way, I ran into the only friend I’d made in the Springfall pack, Jena—the daughter of a pack elder.

“Ella?” Her voice was laced with shock.

I nodded, and she rushed at me, screaming and crying, “Oh, my goddess! You’re alive!”