"You said I killed you, haunt me then! Be with me always, take any form. Drive me mad! Only do not leave in this abyss where I cannot find you." -Wuthering Heights

Humans take stupidity to another level. Two asshats walk in front of me, tugging on my chains while two follow behind me. I continue to act as if the wolfsbane is still heavy in my system but I've been able to gather my senses on the walk to the lake. Hopefully, they don't realize that it takes more wolfsbane to knock an alpha out.

"Can't wait to see this wolf freak drown," one of the hunters in the front says.

"Too bad we couldn't drown the girl too," his companion replies.

It takes everything in me not to growl but I keep my composure.

Just as we reach the sand surrounding the lake, pain grips my chest. Immediately, I know that Alessandra has been hurt. It's not a slow blossom of pain like a simple injury, it's immediate and hits me straight in the chest. Whatever has happened is life-threatening. The single thought of her being in pain pushes my wolf to the surface despite the traces of wolfsbane in my bloodstream. For that moment, my body is no longer under my control as I relinquish control to my wolf. 

"Guys his eyes-"

I don't let him finish that sentence. My hands are still bound but my canines extend and I pierce them into his neck. Blood fills my mouth as the hunter struggles but I rip a chunk of his flesh out of his neck, silencing him forever. The guy next to him reaches for his knife but I knock my head against his bald one, using all the force in my body, sending him to the ground. The other two have already begun to run and I'm instantly full of rage. They must have known Donata was going to kill her and that's enough to warrant death. Using every damn muscle in my body, I rip through the cuffs and reach the hunters with my werewolf speed. I snap each of their necks, wishing to prolong their deaths but getting to Alessandra in time is more important.

The pain in my chest has amplified so I shift into my wolf. I'm able to track down Alessandra's scent within a matter of minutes but dread fills me as I get closer. It's not just her signature scent of vanilla that fills my nose, there's also blood.

No.

I run faster, desperate to find her when I come across my worst nightmare. Quickly, I shift back into my human form and call out to her.

"Alessandra!"

A sob breaks free as I find her body covered in the blood leaking from her chest and back.

"No, no, no," I chant.

The tiny bit of hope, the little light keeping me sane, leaves me in the next moment. It's a pain like no other. It does not compare to being tortured, attacked by a Nightshade, or being pumped full of wolfsbane. It feels as if the goddess herself reached into my body and ripped off half of my soul.

"ALESSANDRA!" I cry out. Now the tears stream down my face with no sign of stopping. I cradle her body to my chest and rock back and forth.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please come back."

Ricardo appears in front of me with his family trailing behind him. His eyes are wide open in horror as he stares at the lifeless body of his little sister.

"No," he whispers, it's one word yet it carries so much anguish.

"Alessandra!" Valentina cries out. She falls to her knees in front of me and cups her daughter's face as tears stream down her face. Words escape her mouth in a blubbering mess but I'm unable to hear them clearly.

"Antonio, help her! Do something!" Valentina shouts at her mate, her voice is full of desperation as she pleads for her mate to do something to save their daughter. His face is blank as he stares at his daughter in my arms. Then he crumbles to the ground and cries. In the next second, he's beside me and wipes the dirt off of Alessandra's face with shaky hands.

"Mio Tesoro," he says.

My body begins to become drenched in blood from the wound on Alessandra's back. I hold her tighter, hoping for a miracle to save her from death even though I know she's already gone. There's an emptiness in my soul that was once full of her love. In theory, the emptiness seems freeing, like a world of possibilities await, yet now that I know what it feels like to be full of love, the emptiness feels suffocating with no sign of reprieve. 

Suddenly, a slap meets my face. I might've snarled in normal circumstances but my body and my soul feel so drained it's hard to even react.

Isabel stares down at me with fury in her eyes.

"This is all your fault," she whispers.

"You put her in this position! She should have been in Italy right now, safe from all this violence but then you marked her. You marked her and now she's dead because of you."

I stay quiet. What am I supposed to say? That I tried my best? That our marking happened due to some divine intervention?

"How could you do this to her? Alessandra's good, she helps people, she has dreams, and now she's dead!" she yells the words but they end with a cry.

I should be angry at her but I suspect Isabel's the only one who feels her death like I do. They entered the world together and now one of them is leaving without the other. We both made mistakes when it came to Alessandra but she gave us both a second chance and now she's gone. 

Her sobs shake her body.

"I just got her back, and now she's gone," she cries out between her sobs.

"I know."

The tears never stopped streaming down my face but as I feel my mate's body go cold I feel it.

Rage.

I hand her body over to Valentina who stares at me in confusion but I march over to Donata before she can say anything. I feel my canines and claws extend in unison when I see the old woman's corpse. Her eyes are still open in terror while her neck is a bleeding mess.

The anger and grief take hold and I begin to slash. My claws meet her wrinkled skin and shreds of it peel off as I attack her corpse with a vigor unknown to mankind. I know she's dead, my wolf knows she's dead, but there is still satisfaction to be found in mutilating her body. What did she get out of all of this other than killing a good woman?

I'm not sure how long I keep it up but when I'm done the only thing left on her face are her eyeballs. Some patches of skin remain on her body but her face resembles a diagram of facial muscles found in an anatomy textbook, except completely obliterated. My chest heaves as I stare at her corpse and wonder how I got here.

We were just at the beach.

My heart hurts. It hurts so bad that I'm tempted to dig into my own chest and pull it out just to make it stop. I crawl over to Valentina and grab Alessandra. I press my cheek against hers and just breathe. Tears slide down my face as I hold her against me and wish for another outcome.

There were so many more things she wanted to do. She was going to open her own medical practice, she wanted a family, and she had just mended her relationship with Isabel. It should have been me. Donata should have killed me, not Alessandra.

No.

She can't be gone. 

I refuse to live in a world without Alessandra in it. I gather her body in my arms and take off without a word. Her family calls out to me but I don't stop.

I run towards the temple knowing what I must do. And for her, I'd do it a thousand times over.