Now that there was nothing between us, Eros slowly started to prowl to my side. His eyes were still red, shining eerily in the gradually dimming light, and I don't really think he recognizes me.

The crazed and predator-like glint in his eyes were filled with this underlying layer of rage that made him seem even more menacing and bloodthirsty.

I felt like a piece of marbled meat, waiting for him to eat because there was no fight left in me.

Eros like this made me terribly nervous.

I know I shouldn't fear him but nothing could take off the edge of my nerves as he scrutinized my form with this gruff and feral expression on his face.

I took a deep breath into my deprived lungs and tried to make myself seem less tense and scared. But my heart continued to pound incessantly in my chest as I waited for his approach, standing stalk still several yards away from him.

My legs shook.

"Eros," I whisper out, a shiver wracking my entire body. I hastily swallow a mouthful of saliva as my brows furrowed tightly into a knot.

He disregarded my call, circled around my shaking body and sniffed the air with his snout lifted high.

After a while, his eyes narrowed down on my form, head lowered until his snout was only inches from my nose.

The rough and harsh breath fluttered all the hair on my head, making me squint as I try to keep my eyes open.

What in the world was he doing?

"Eros, it's me. Emira," I whispered shakily after a minute of complete silence. I reached a hand out to tentatively touch his fur when he shifted his face away from my touch and bared his teeth into an ugly and intimidating snarl.

At me.

His mate.

My heart stuttered a beat and my stomach turned uneasily.

I gasped sharply in shock, stumbled back and fell onto my rump. I failed to recover after that.

My organs had jostled during the fall because I can hear the wet squelching noise accompanied by the pain was enough to make me lose my breath.

With a shaky inhale of breath, I suddenly remembered the story that Rora told me about Alpha Zander Siphe, the Northern Cardinal Alpha. After his mate died, he had gone into an insane rage, losing most of his logical sense when his blood beast took full control.

He ended up killing a lot of werewolves in his territory, injured members of his family and had even severely wounded his own son.

The rampage continued for weeks because any werewolf that tried to subdue him failed.

Since Eros and the other Cardinal Alphas had a treaty bound by blood and land, they could not challenge him without being revoked rights as a Cardinal Alpha.

If, and only if, he crossed the boundary lines, then the Cardinal Alphas can challenge and fight him. Since he never crossed into another territory, the hell on earth continued.

He wreaked havoc across the land and everyone who challenged him died trying.

In the end, he was forced into submission by a Female Alpha, and peace was restored to the Northern Lands.

Unfortunately for me, I was no Female Alpha. Right now I couldn't even stand straight.

How in the world am I going to bring Eros back to his senses?

"Eros. Eros!" I recited his name like a mantra yet there was no response.

None whatsoever.

I swallowed thickly.

My eyes trailed from his darkened eyes to his silken fur before stopping as I noted that some spots were matted down in thick and wet clusters.

It was obvious that Eros was injured, but to what extent, I am not too certain.

I didn't notice earlier because the black of his fur masked everything with its darkness.

At the heartbreaking knowledge, my eyes burned with unshed tears while my chest heaved in choked sobs that I managed to force down into the recesses of my lungs.

Before I could try to reach out to him again, Eros' head sharply whipped to the left and I was pulled out of my thoughts.

His ears perked up and swiveled at the top of his head when I noticed his massive form tense and immediately harden into a battle stance.

It was obvious that someone or something dangerous was coming because Eros' hackles raised and he started to growl viciously to the left of where I laid.

"Get away from Eros," a rather familiar and annoying voice ordered from afar before I actually saw the tall male approach.

Zanthos.

My eyes narrowed in response to his order. Why did he always think he can boss me around like he was still the Alpha?

With a frown on my lips, I saw Beta Toren and a couple of other members of the pack right behind him.

At their appearance, my shoulders immediately slumped and a breath of relief left my lips.

Thank goodness that it wasn't the Hunters or anyone else.

I can only imagine how terrible that ending would be.

"If I could move, I would, Zanthos," I snapped back in an irritated manner. I said I was totally over the whole stunt Zanthos pulled, but I'm a female. We tend to hold long and ugly grudges.

And the fact that Zanthos is acting as if I'm just laying here for the fun of it instead of being extremely wounded to the point of passing out pisses me off.

Asshole.

Zanthos seemed to consider my fallen form for a second before turning his full attention to Eros and ignoring me entirely.

If I wasn't so incapacitated, I would have launched myself at him and tried to tear his arrogant face off.

But then I thought about it and decided not to.

Eros was probably going to do that.

Since he doesn't even recognize me, what makes Zanthos think that Eros would recognize him or any of the pack members?

I just hope that no one gets killed because I have no doubt that Eros would win over them all, Zanthos included.

And I'm not bragging because it is the truth.

Even injured, Eros can take them all down.

It was a gut feeling that will prove to be true in very little time.

"Eros, it's the pack members," I tried to say in hopes of keeping the members from getting killed.

After my words, the first wolf went flying through the clearing and into a giant tree.

Well, there goes that.

My lips parted and then closed when I realized that everything I said was not reaching him. He never once turned to me or acknowledged my words.

Regardless of anything I tried to say, Eros didn't hear any of it or chose to ignore it. I don't know.

He was back into rage mode seconds after that, charging and taking down every single wolf in his way.

Anyone who dares to come close is the enemy to him.

And it hurts to think that I am also in that category, one that I didn't like at all.

I sigh deeply and my shoulders slump in defeat.

"I've been waiting to kick your ass for years now, Eros," Zanthos declared with this menacing smirk on his lips, eyes glowing vividly when he shifted into his own grey-black wolf and charged.

The other wolves cleared the way, letting Zanthos take the lead.

I frowned at his choice in words and wondered who would be kicking whose ass. But I didn't have to think too hard about it because Zanthos was sent flying back not even 2 seconds after his declaration.

Eros trotted over and his big paw came down over Zanthos' face before Zanthos could roll around and get back up.

And then, Eros' sharp canines bit into the flesh of Zanthos' shoulder.

A rather sizeable chunk was ripped off, and black blood rained down onto the ground in massive amounts.

Zanthos' maw opened and he closed it around Eros' paw as he tried to pull Eros off of him.

At that action, my heart went to my throat as I was reminded of that time Rora told me that Eros had lost his arm before.

Aw shit.

I hope he doesn't lose his arm again.

I grimaced.

Although I hoped that Eros will be awakened from his current predicament, I didn't want him any more injured than he already is.

But there was really nothing that I could do.

I'm even considering kissing his beast form like in Beauty and the Beast in hopes of awakening him from his crazed rage.

Oddly, I keep thinking that might work.

Suddenly, Eros growled loudly, feral and enraged, probably at the fact that they dared to challenge him, their Alpha. At the scary sound, I shriveled into myself.

Eros smacked Zanthos without another paw, ran claws down Zanthos face until I could clearly see red streaks across the poor wolf's bloody face.

Zanthos growled back and they continued to bite at each other in a savage and lethal fight that I had the honor of seeing.

I grimaced at the rather violent scene but couldn't stop myself from watching the entire event unfold.

The other wolves tried to approach but they were batted aside with rather deadly claws that sent them several feet back.

I flinched and hoped that none of them fell on me.

After a while, I started to feel bad for everyone, including Zanthos. Most of the wolves laid strewn on the ground while Zanthos was missing chunks of fur and skin while bleeding so badly that the color of his fur had become darker. Yet he still fought.

Eros was also becoming more injured and his blood sprinkled around every time he moved. But, from what I can tell, his injuries were not as bad as Zanthos because Zanthos hasn't managed to rip out any chunks of Eros' flesh yet...or his arms.

Thank goodness.

The other wolves tried to come over to my side while Zanthos was keeping Eros busy, but most were stopped in their tracks or tossed aside like a ragdoll.

It was obvious that he was trying to keep them away from me. And I was comforted in the knowledge that he was still trying to protect me, even though he was not in his right mind.

All I can do now is lay here and patiently wait for the outcome.

But that was starting to become harder and harder by the minute.

My vision was starting to go blurry, my head felt extremely heavy on my shoulders and my ears were ringing loudly.

I gritted my teeth and pressed my hand to my abdomen in hopes of using pain to keep myself conscious. It temporarily helped but I felt myself become weaker and weaker by the moment.

I am in desperate need of help yet I am not getting it.

"Eros. Eros, please! I need help!" I called out through a dry throat as I racked my brain for ways to get his attention.

After several other attempts, I didn't bother trying to yell anything else because Eros ignored my words and continued fighting like no tomorrow. There was no point. I was just going to try to conserve energy and stay alive.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Zanthos failed to subdue Eros and was knocked out cold with a heavy claw across his head. The werewolves that were still conscious dragged Zanthos back and all lowered their heads to Eros in a way to submit to the blood beast and to keep themselves alive.

I'm guessing that Zanthos is still alive since they were trying to help him.

I sighed in relief.

Although I didn't really like Zanthos, I didn't want him to die.

With hazy vision, I noted that there were trails of blood all over the ground, even in the area I sat because I was starting to bleed out again.

And although I tried to keep myself awake, I couldn't stop my eyes from coming together. They felt heavy like lead had been attached to them.

Before I fell unconscious, I could only pray to God that I will wake up tomorrow.

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A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support with the ebooks! Please leave a review because that will help the book out a lot!

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q85WHG2

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