Ares.

Bloody. Beaten. Her heartbeat was so faint that I had to strain to hear it even with my Alpha abilities. I could faintly hear another gentle taping sound, but I couldn't tell why it was coming from her.

Wilson held a knife to her neck. "If you take one more step, I swear to the Moon Goddess that I will kill her. She's already almost dead, surely you can see that." Wilson's voice wavered slightly.

Jax stood next to him in a defensive position. "How could you, Jax," I spat out at him, betrayed.

"You knew she killed my brother, Cain. I simply cannot let that go," Jax calmly stated, but I could sense his fear.

"And because of your betrayal, I will kill Gwendolyn," I promised him. His tranquil demeanor shifted into panic. Katrina screamed at me, and I ordered Axel via mindlink to subdue her. He grabbed her arms and held them behind her and put his hand over her mouth. She was already a weak wolf, and Axel was one of the strongest I had ever met. She couldn't budge an inch.

"She isn't involved in this," He snarled at me.

I shrugged carelessly, even though my heart was clenched in fear as I could see the life draining from my mate. I needed to kill both of them, and quickly. "She's your mate, and since you took mine from me, I will kill yours as payment." I was bluffing. I wouldn't kill Gwendolyn, she wasn't involved and I wouldn't punish her for something she didn't do. But I needed him to believe I was, and Katrina's hysteric response was definitely help selling it.

Jax looked at Wilson in panic, and then back to me. He knew I was a brutal son of a bitch, and genuinely believed I would kill his mate.

He surrendered, putting his hands up in defeat. "I'll go with you willingly if you swear to the Moon Goddess that Gwen won't be punished for my actions."

"I swear to the Moon Goddess that no harm will come to Gwendolyn," I made the oath, omitting the fact that I had no intention of harming her regardless. "Axel, restrain the traitor."

Axel released Katrina, who had relaxed after I made the oath, but still glared at me. Jax walked over to Axel willingly, accepting his fate.

"This is for Carter," Axel grunted, and transformed his fist into metal. He punched Jax so hard in the sternum with his metal fist that I could hear every bone shatter. Axel sent another punch into his skull, knocking him out, but not killing him. He knew that the privilege of killing him was mine, and mine alone.

"Surrender, Wilson. It's over," I snarled at him, my wolf threatening to come out. It took every ounce of self control not to pounce on him.

Wilson sickly grinned at me. "Fuck no, it's not. If you take one step closer to me, I'll kill your pup."

I frowned. "Don't call her a pup. She's my mate." Calling her pup was my nickname only. I didn't take too kindly to other wolves using the term towards her condescendingly. I used it as a term of endearment, and I knew that Ares liked it. She would have threatened to stab me every time I called her it if she truly didn't like it.

Wilson laughed evilly. "You idiot. You are a weaker Alpha than I thought. Can you not hear it?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, and listened to understand what he was referring too. Again, I heard the faint little tapping in addition to Ares' heartbeat.

A pup.

My pup.

Our pup.

My face twisted in shock. Katrina and Axel gasped. Ares was pregnant with our pup, this sick fuck knew, and he still beat her within an inch of her life.

He laughed gleefully at my reaction. He moved the knife from her neck to her stomach. "Swear to the Moon Goddess that you'll let me leave the house without pursuing me."

"No," I whispered, looking at my mate, who barely looked conscious.

Wilson shrugged. "Say goodbye to your offspring then." He moved the knife closer, making me yell out.

"Fuck! Fine! I swear to the Moon Goddess that I will let you leave the house without pursuing you if you leave right this second." I made the oath, having no choice but to let him escape.

"Good doing business with you, Alpha. Don't worry, I'll come back someday to finish the job," He winked at me before darting out of the cellar.

"Should I go after him?" Axel frantically inquired.

"No," I whispered. "It's an oath to the Moon Goddess. We would be punished more severely by her if we broke it."

A low moan came from the back of Ares' throat. A sound of pure agony. I knew she wasn't conscious. She never showed weakness if she could help it.

I ran over to her, ripping the chains off of her as if they were made from paper. There was such a large amount of wolfsbane in her system, I could smell it tainting her blood. She shouldn't have been alive with that much in her system.

I carried her in my arms as we rushed out of the house to go back to Blood Lake to get her medical attention.

Axel haphazardly dragged Jax's body on the ground, not caring what cuts or scraps he incurred as a result.

Katrina ran along beside me, surprisingly quick for such a small wolf. "You weren't going to ever kill Gwen were you?" She asked me.

"You're the psychic, shouldn't you already know the answer to that," I grunted back in response.

"You're not a bad guy, Alpha. Ares is lucky to have a mate that cares so much for her, even if he is a bit of an asshole." She informed me, making me scoff. The attitude on this one.

"The pup," I hesitated in asking, not wanting to know the answer. "Will he live?"

Katrina looked at me sadly, but didn't answer. "The future isn't set in stone, and I don't want what I tell you to negatively affect it."

As always, I didn't understand what she meant. I was about to start arguing, but she cut me off, probably anticipating my protest.

"For now, the pup is alive, against all odds. It is strong. It is definitely your baby," Her words made me smile, but I still wanted to know for sure the well-being of my pup.

"Cain, Cain, Cain," she tsked at me. "What are we going to do about your impatience?"

I rolled my eyes. Females are impossible.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Ughhhhhh" I groaned aloud. It felt like my body was put through a wood chipper. Wait. I was supposed to be dead.

I shot up, ignoring the pain I felt in my stomach as I did so. I opened my eyes, seeing Cain's dark eyes staring at me in concern.

"Fuck, Ares, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days," He gasped out in surprise from my sudden movement.

I tried mindlinking him, but to my surprise, the bond was still broken. Why hadn't he marked me to reestablish the bond?

Sensing my confusion and panic, he took my face in his hands. "Shhh," He cooed gently. "I didn't remark you because, well... I wanted to make sure that this time I had your consent. That... we do it the right way." He explained slowly.

A small grin spread out over my face. After everything we went through, he thought there was a chance I may not want him.

I grabbed his bearded face, and pulled him in for a kiss. He was too shocked to respond at first, but quickly returned my affection.

Much too soon, he pulled away. "Wait, Ares. We need to talk about something first..." His voice trailed off, and he looked down at my stomach sadly.

The pup.

"I'm so sorry, mate," Cain whispered, emotion choking him up. "The doctor said that you were exposed to too much wolfsbane. Your uterus was so damaged, he said that there was no way you would have been able to carry a pup to full term."

Guilt squeezed my chest. Cain thought it was the wolfsbane exposure from Wilson, but I'm sure me drinking it for years had contributed to my uterus failing.

"It's okay, little mate. We don't need an heir. Don't worry about it, okay? We'll be okay," He promised me, but I felt like he was more convincing himself.

Cain wrapped his arms around me, and I gratefully sank into his embrace, even though I didn't deserve his comfort. It was my fault.

"It'll be okay, pup. We'll be okay. We're together, that's all I need," Cain kissed my forehead as tears spilled down my cheeks and coated his chest.