Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Al barely looked up when Deindra leaps and morphs in the air, shifting into his wolf form to attack. Al barely managed to move and roll away when he landed, but that did not stop Deindra when he runs to chase Al and aimed for his throat. Al raised his paw to protect his neck from getting bitten, but ended up with a bleeding leg. He screams in pain and stands up on his back legs to swipe Deindra’s wolf with his other front paw.

As an alpha wolf, there’s no doubt that Al is bigger than Deindra. Even though he is weak, his hits still pack a punch and Deindra released his hold on Al’s paw. Al could have ended it right there, but I guess the delirium that he got from the pain was still in effect because he started to become whoozy.

I made a mistake. I was wrong to believe that Al could have handled the situation. We failed to consider the after effects that the curse would cause him. I shouldn’t have listened to him.

It doesn’t matter. It has already passed. The only thing that I can do right now is to stop him from getting killed.

But that is easier said than done.

Al fell back from losing his balance, temporarily exposing his neck to Deindra. The beta wolf did not miss the opportunity and went in for the attack. Pain shot through my head when I thrust with a surge of force that pushed him away from Al.

Sending Deindra flying and rolling to the ground somehow pleases me for a bit before I feel fear once again when he switches his gaze in my direction. Once he regains his balance, he starts to charge towards me.

Great. I saved Al, but who is going to save me?

I barely have any magic or even the strength left to move. I closed my eyes and simply braced myself for the impact and pain that was about to come when I heard heavy footsteps approaching us. As I looked up, Al was back on his feet, and charging Deindra. He managed to divert Deindra away from me, but they were rolling towards a cliff. The two wolves managed to get back on their feet just before they fell.

Deindra got to his feet first and charged again. This time, he lands on Al’s back to bite his ear. Al’s scream was so painful to hear that I even winced. He rose to his feet and harshly landed on his back in an attempt to crush the wolf on his back. Deindra managed to steer clear before he could be crushed and went back to attack him again. Al was too slow to dodge his attack, so he wasn’t able to stop Deindra from bitting his throat.

“AL!” My scream turned into a horrified shriek when I saw his blood pouring from his neck. I forced to push myself up and slowly dragged myself to head in their direction.

Al’s eyes rolled and met mine. His eyes turned red, and it seemed like he regained his strength again to roll and push himself and Deindra off of a cliff.

All the pain in my body seemed to disappear when I saw Al disappear along with Deindra. I ran hastily to the edge and saw him hanging on the wall by his claws. For a brief moment, I felt a sense of relief, but I realized that he wasn’t out of danger yet. He was slipping down, and he was too far and too heavy for me to carry on my own.

I’m not even sure if my magic can lift him up or if I have enough, but I should at least try.

“Hang on, Al. Don’t move.” Even though he was in his wolf form, I saw him raise his brow at me. “I mean…yeah, you get the point.”

I tried to look around and saw a branch that was not far from him. I definitely cannot levitate him, so I need to at least stabilize his position a bit. I made the branch grow to support his weight, but I unfortunately failed to consider that moving the root would cause the soil to loosen. He started to slip and fall into the running water below him. I was frozen solid out of fear that I would not even move.

Something fast moved past me and dove towards Al. Tyrelle, in his semi morph form, grabs Al with one hand and uses the other to snatch the root that I was just starting to regrow.

“Gabriella, a little…help?”

I was so caught up in my feelings of relief that I failed to notice that they were still in danger. I snapped out of my thoughts with a hard shake of my head. “Right. Give me a second.”

I focused my attention on the root and urged it to grow. The root starts to grow and extend, carrying both Tyrelle and Al safely back to the surface with me. Tyrelle set Al on the ground before the two of them collapsed.

“Gabriella, do you have any magic left? He’s bleeding!” Tyrelle got on his knees and moved Al to help me see the wound. He looked at me the moment I knelt beside him. “Can you help him? The bite isn’t deep, but his wolf is too weak to heal. If we don’t do something, he is going to bleed to death.”

I felt inside of me and found a few specks of magic left. It will undoubtedly leave me powerless for a few weeks, but if I can help Al, that’s more than alright with me. I started casting my spell on him to close his wounds.

As it healed, I found Al beginning to relax and slowly turned back to his human self and caught me just before I was falling towards him.

“I thought that you were going to die on me.” I could not move, so I just decided to make myself comfortable in Al’s arms.

“I’m sorry.” His voice sounds a little strained, probably still recovering from the wound that I just healed. “I did not mean to put you in any more danger than it is. But you no longer have to worry. Deindra won’t be bothering you any more.”

I tilted my head up so I could see his face. “You sound like you’re leaving again, aren’t you?” His eyes suddenly turned guilty and hurt. He tried to look away, but I grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look my way. I struggled to fight in a sitting position despite the pain in my lower back. “Are you that desperate to get away from me? If you hated the idea that I am your mate, you could have just-”

Al suddenly snapped and clasped my hands. “I don’t hate you! I could never hate you!”

“Then why do you still want to leave!?”

“Because…” He trailed off and I saw how his eyes were on Tyrelle for a few seconds before he stared at the ground. “Because I know that you love someone else already. It’s too late and burdensome for me to be in your life. If I stay, I might not be able to contain my emotions and I might just start a pack war.” He tries to laugh at his joke, but it just doesn’t match with his emotions.

There was something about his words that caught me. “What did you just say?” Did he just assume that I am inlove with someone? Hell, I didn’t even know that I am inlove myself.

Tyrelle sighs and heads to join our conversation. His hand was on the side of his head as he shook his head. “I was planning on leaving you guys to fix your problems, but it seems that you two can’t even solve them on your own.” His gaze was sternly fixed to Al before he threw a jacket in his direction. I suddenly realized that Al was naked, so I moved away and focused on Tyrelle, who was standing before us with his arms crossed over his chest. “Gabriella isn’t in love with me. She’s in love with…you.” I can feel my mouth hanging open when Tyrelle starts to turn his attention towards me with a heavy look in his eyes. “You already know that, don’t you? Still, it is your choice whether you want him to stay or not.” He lowers himself and places a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll leave you two alone for some time. I’ll support you in whatever decision it may be.” Tyrelle starts walking away with a resigned look, leaving me alone with Al.

“So,” Al starts to speak once Tyrelle was out of earshot. He has the jacket wrapped around his bottom part, which was still awkward, but it was better than him being completely naked. “Is…is what the mutt said true?” There was a hopeful spark in his eyes when he looks at me.

Tyrelle was right. I do love Al, but I never got the courage to admit it. I have never been in love before, so I don’t really know what to do with these feelings. Looking at Al, I bashfully nodded my head. “Yes. Even though you started out as a creep, a stalker, and a lowkey thief, you were always sincere when it came to me. I know that I should be questioning myself for still lov-”

“That’s enough.” He cuts me off.

My heart sank. I was broken. I may not know much about love, but can this be a form of rejection?

“Oh,” I tried to keep my voice steady so he would not hear the pain in my voice. “I see. I-It’s alright. I guess-”

“How could I let my mate confess to me first when I have not even told you properly how I feel. What kind of guy, much less an Alpha wolf, would I be?” He smirks. “I love you, Gabriella. And if you let me, I would like to start all over again. I want to reset and court you the proper way, not the stalking kind.”

I blinked out of my shocked state and could not help but giggle at his confession. “Al, I already love you the way you are. Do we really need to start over?”

I was surprised when Al started blushing and smiled shyly at me. “Yeah, kind of. When I was a half vampire, I’m…kind of crazy and even threatened you. Of course, I am to blame because I could not control myself properly. I just want you to know the me right now.”

I met his gaze and rewarded him with a smile. “Alright. Let’s try. I also want you to know the me without the freaky smile. I think with the new us, we need to have a new start.” I shrug.

Al chuckles and extends his hand to me with a grin. “Hi, my name’s Aelfric Beaumont. I’m the alpha of the Beaumont pack. I’m actually super rich, handsome, kind, and smart.” He winks.

I chuckle quietly as I shake my head. “I’m Grabriella Bryce. I’m a witch who previously had the smile of a killer that could chase away hooligans.”

Al laughs, and his face beams with joy. “Well, seems like we’re heading off to a good start, Gabriella.”

“Indeed we are.” I agreed, laughing alongside him. I leaned on his shoulder while watching the sky before us beginning to brighten.

Al suddenly moves his head away from the sunrise. “Hey, I know that we just met and all, but can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

“Can I have a kiss?” He looks embarrassed when he asked me the question.

I don’t know how red my face must have been when he asked me. I was hoping that the sunset could mask my embarrassed face as I met his eyes and shyly smiled and leaned close to him. “I thought you’d never ask - since we just met and all.”

Al laughs and flashes a bright smile. He places one hand on my cheek while he uses the other to support himself while he leans close. Our lips met in a passionate kiss before we both parted with red faces.

“Yeah, that’s enough for now. It’s kind of awkward since you are naked and all.” I averted my gaze from his face, suddenly feeling embarrassed about the situation.

Al chuckles. “I agree. The next time will be after you introduce me to your parents and after we have our first official date. How does that sound?”

I smirked and gave him a side glance. “You know, for someone I just met, you sound way too sure of yourself.”

Al suddenly looks a little worried at my words. “Is it bad?”

I shook my head and leaned on his muscular bare shoulder while watching the sun rise. Al responded by wrapping an arm around me while we enjoyed the view before us.

“No.” I answered him. “Not at all.”

I know that I am in pain and all, but sitting here and looking at the sunrise with my werewolf boyfriend just seems so right. I allowed the feelings of love and contentment to settle in my heart and just enjoyed this rare moment.

No more hybrids. No more werewolf attacks. And most importantly, no more killer smiles.

Right now, it’s just Gabriella the witch and Aelfric the werewolf. Just two mates enjoying the serenity together.