My Second Mate Took My Heart

CAITLYN

Blood.

Ash-gray eyes.

That was all I could register as I pressed my hands against the boy’s chest, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. A thick, jagged branch had pierced his side, and his face was pale, almost ghostly.

“Please, just hold on,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Help! Somebody, please!” My voice shattered through the empty woods, desperate, raw.

I wasn’t supposed to be there. My parents had warned me about these woods, whispering tales of danger, of creatures lurking in shadows. But I didn’t listen.

I never did.

And this time, my defiance paid off.

I had barely crossed the border when I saw him. A boy, maybe my age, lying pinned beneath a fallen log. His face was blood-streaked, his eyes flickering closed. Heart pounding, I lifted the log just enough to pull him free, and with a surge of adrenaline, I dragged him out.

He coughed, his eyes opening just barely, locking onto mine. Gray, stormy, as if clouds were trapped inside his irises and then the words left his lips, shaky and low, “One day, I’ll make you mine.”

Those were the only words he ever said to me. One damning sentence that I had no idea would ruin my life.

And that was the first and last time I ever saw him after by a miracle, some men showed up taking him away.

Ten years passed since then, life moved on, and he became just a memory— the boy with the beautiful ash gray eyes that I saved.

Until now.

Now, blood was coating my fingers again, staining them as I knelt by my fiancé, Michael, trying desperately to wake him but it was useless. He lay lifeless, eyes staring blankly, blood pooling beneath us.

Everything had happened so fast.

My mating ceremony— the day that was supposed to be the happiest day of my life turning into a complete nightmare; all because of him.

The elder’s voice still echoed in my mind, announcing Michael to mark me and the next seconds, he was ripped off me thrown across the hall just as the chaos and screams erupted.

Then I saw him.

The boy I had saved a lifetime ago. Only he was no boy now. He was a man who radiated power, tall and cold, his face chiseled like stone, eyes just as ash-gray, just as piercing, locking on me, just before he slashed Michael across his chest.

I could still hear my screen echo off the wall and then I realized he was gone. Michael was gone and with the tears flowing down my cheeks, I finally looked up at him, my voice breaking as I forced the words out, “Why… you… you killed him.”

He took a step closer, unhurried, each movement deliberate, powerful, and dangerous. Everything around us was chaos—people screamed, the scent of blood thick in the air, and yet, he moved as if none of it mattered, as if he was untouchable.

I wanted to run.

I wanted to fight, but I was rooted to the ground, my entire world crashing around me.

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke, his voice a deadly caress. “He tried to mark what was mine.” His eyes burned into me, unyielding. “No one but me touches you, Caitlyn.”

My head spun, trying to piece together what had just happened. Michael lay dead at my feet, killed by this stranger—no, this man I had saved, who had been a memory and was now claiming me.

His eyes held mine, unwavering, relentless. He leaned in close, his voice a dark promise. “You saved me once and I swore I’d make you mine. That day has come.”

That was all it took for my instinct to fire to life, and I staggered back, desperate to escape but he moved faster, his hand reaching out, capturing me in an iron grip. The second his fingers brushed my skin, the world seemed to freeze, and a shiver jolted through me.

I gasped, my eyes widening in shock.

No. This couldn’t be happening.

A flicker of surprise crossed his face before his lips curled into a slow, lethal smile. “Even fate agrees with me.”

I pulled away from him falling right on Michael’s blood trying to force my wolf who had gotten over the shock and was now stirring restlessly in my head.

This has to be some kind of twisted cruel joke because this psychopath who had just killed the man I loved even though we were not predestined for each could not be him.

He couldn’t be my…

His smile deepened, and his eyes gleamed with possession as my wolf cemented my fate with the one word I refused to believe.

“Mate.”