For what Akame had planned was to bring her friend back home, but Ellie was sticking to Channing as if she was now addicted to his blood. When Akame brought the clan heir, their princess, to Winterwells, she openly challenged Ellie. With the fight that had broken out in the most secluded part of Winterwells, no one knew the two sisters were going against each other.

"I thought you must be improved with the help of your pretty boy," said the princess, wiping the blood of Ellie that was on her knuckles. "Such a pitiful sister I have here."

Ellie was on the ground, panting, with a bloodied face. Her eyes strained to look up at her sister, who carefully wiped every drop of blood off her knuckles. Even though Ellie had been taking Channing's blood almost every day with hopes to go against her sister and take the position of the clan heir, the difference was shown in seconds. Ellie's bloodlust had increased over time and the envy towards her sister only converted into hatred. "I will kill you," groaned Ellie.

The princess snickered at her words, "Why don't you try standing before that?" She crouched on one leg to come face to face with Ellie, who struggled to even sit, as her body barely had any strength. Her sister's eyes glistened with threat, "If you eye what is mine again, you will be dead meat."

Ellie gritted her teeth, "I am the older daughter of the Cermesi clan. That throne was mine, to begin with. It was you who barged in to take it."

The princess laughed at Ellie. She put her hand compassionately over her chest, "I gave a good fight and took back what rightfully belonged to me. Now, now, if you want the throne, come at me and win." The clan heir got back up and threw the kerchief, which was used to wipe her hands clean on top of Ellie's head, "You disappointed me today, sister. Next time, make sure you are well prepared. I will wait right here in Winterwells for you to strike." A saint smile plastered her face as she said, "If you want some tips for fighting, I am always available for my dear sister."

Ellie cursed under her breath for the helplessness that she faced in front of her sister. The princess was an Alpha, and it was the second time her sister had defeated Ellie this badly.

"You will regret this," Ellie spoke to the retreating figure of her sister, "I will come for your blood next."

The princess waved without turning back to look at Ellie, "I am sure you don't want to drink in my Blood Noesis, unless you truly have a death wish. I will be waiting though right here in Winterwells." Her voice came fleetingly to Ellie as her sister walked away, leaving her gravely injured in the middle of the forest.

Ellie cursed under her breath at how her sister had found out everything. If anything, the princess was someone who was least bothered by anything.

It had been some time since Ellie had been taking Channing's blood and, unlike Channing, who had put extreme efforts in controlling the consequences of his special abilities, Ellie did not suppress it. Instead, Ellie let the bloodlust grow and, with every agonising second she spent there laying injured in the forest, a thought crossed her mind. She was going to find out who had snitched behind her back and make them suffer.

But Ellie, having all the hell let loose inside her, and the rage that was fuelled by Channing's Blood Noesis the plans to make the person just suffer was not going to go as she had initially thought.

When Akame found out that bringing the princess here had backfired and Ellie had suffered major injuries, she was quick to go to Channing and tell him about Ellie's condition in the forest. Channing had run with everything inside him to where Ellie had been. Even though Akame had just informed Channing through a letter and then disappeared without showing her face, she went behind him to the forest.

Ellie laid there unconscious and Channing was struggling to bring her to the hospital, as it was far away from there.

Akame, who had seen this, couldn't hold herself back, and went to help him put Ellie's body over Channing's wolf so he could easily carry her back. If he had marked her, it would have been easier to heal Ellie right there. That was exactly why Ellie was acting unconscious, hoping Channing would mark her and then she could use that to her advantage, but her plans had come tumbling down the hill with Akame coming there and helping him.

Ellie was quick to understand it was no one else but her best friend, Akame, who had stabbed her in the back. In front of Channing, Ellie did not break her facade and quietly went to the hospital.

When she woke up healed at the hospital, Channing was right by her side and she asked him hurtfully, "Why did you not mark me, Channing?"

Channing was happy to see his soulmate awake and finally talking to him, but he was expecting this question and now that it was asked to him, he did not know how to answer. He was barely 19 years old and did not know how the marking and healing worked. The last thing that Channing wanted was Ellie's already injured body going into some kind of shock, because Channing couldn't hold back his emotions.

"I didn't want to hurt you," came Channing's low voice as his hand went ahead to caress Ellie's face.

But this was the first time Ellie had backed away from his touch. In the past, she had always shown how understanding she was, but she desperately needed him to mark her and there was no better opportunity than the one that was here right now. "What if I had died today?" came Ellie's low voice.

The crocodile tears that welled up in her eyes struggled to spill before they finally rolled down her eyes, and Channing's heart twisted in his chest. "I am sorry," came his response as he went close to Ellie, opening his arm to call her in a hug.

He wasn't expecting Ellie to come in his embrace but she did and broke down burring her face in his muscular chest. "I was so scared, and then you weren't there I thought I almost died without getting the last chance to see your face." She looked up to meet Channing's face, which was holding back the pain. Ellie was hoping Channing would break today, "If you had marked me, we could have understood each other's agony, you could have healed me there."

Channing gave up on his resistance. All this time, he had been selfish to not mark her, as he wanted to know her entire life and let her meet his parents, but even Ellie had been reluctant to not meet them.

More than everything, Channing was worried that when he would feel Ellie's emotions after marking her, it would only tenfold inside him and cause him problems. He had mentioned this to Ellie before, but she had not bothered about this thought then, neither did she bother about it now. All Ellie wanted was the advantage of healing abilities that would come along with the mark.

Channing marked her at the hospital itself, but did not seal the bond.

It wasn't like they had not had sex before. Since the time Ellie had started taking Channing's blood, her sexual drive had also heightened, so it was a rather frequent thing in the past two months. It was just that Channing did not want to do it till she was completely healed, as sometimes he had lost control of his emotions in bed and Ellie had to use her abilities to cool him down. Channing just did not want to take risks right now.

But one thing that changed after marking Ellie was Channing started to hear her heartbeats more clearly. He was feeling a malicious energy come from her, even behind her smile.

There was a day more for Ellie to be discharged when Akame had come to meet Channing when the visiting hours were over.

It wasn't her own plan, but what the Cermesi clan princess had ordered her when Akame had gone to beg that the princess brought Ellie back to their clan. All Akame had to do was let Channing know what Ellie's real intentions with him were.

It all happened when Channing was already feeling the negative vibes from Ellie that Akame revealed to him how Ellie was simply wanting to use him.

Channing would not have believed Akame if he was not getting the whiff of Ellie's true emotions. "What is Ellie's true name?" Channing asked when Akame told him that everything that she was portraying was fake. He wasn't expecting to his soulmate having lied even her name to him.

Akame took a sharp breath, her hands playing with her long black hair, "I am sorry Channing, I don't want to create any more trouble for Ellie. I just wanted to warn you about your as well as her own good. Your Blood Noesis might start taking a toll on her and her sister is the clan heir who won't go easy on Ellie next time. Her sister might end up killing Ellie. Please Channing, let Ellie go, it would only save you and her enough time."

Channing watched Akame as his heart started to pain. The love he harboured for Ellie in the past half a year had crumbled in an instance.

"Where do you guys come from, at least you tell me some truth," Channing asked Akame with a face that was going numb from the pain he was trying to hold back.

Akame was a kind soul who could not take any more of Channing's painful face and she revealed the clan that they belong to and everything about how she had begged the princess to come and take Ellie back. Akame did not reveal any other name or face other than them being from the Cermesi clan. Channing did not bother to ask more and had just gone to the river to try and relieve the unbearing pain that rose in his heart.

That night, Channing had met Fang and spent the entire time on the crooked tree drinking with him. Even though Channing was the one that was hurt, rage had filled in Fang as somewhere he knew what was coming next.

When Akame had gone back to the princess, their clan heir was happy to hear the fire that she had instigated.

What Akame had failed to realise was that when she was talking with Channing, his troubled heart had reached Ellie as Channing had marked her. Ellie had come out of her hospital room to search for Channing, and she had spotted him talking to Akame from the corridor window. Ellie's hand had turned into a fist till her knuckles turned white in her mind pledging vengeance on Akame, the first thing she was discharged tomorrow.