Chapter 79: Bared To You: Part Seven

At those words, the words that seemed to make her heart race and her eyes fill with tears, she instinctively hugged him, surprising both of them. Marcus cleared his throat, "Stop messing around. We have to go. You should know this; we can't waste any more time," He ordered calmly, turning his face away, hiding the blush that spread across his chiselled cheeks. 

Butterflies or even wasps seemed to buzz in her stomach. She was excited and nervous about getting away from such a horrible place. She stared after Marcus as they started to rush forwards and, in sync, fought their way through anyone that got in their way. Esme stopped him from making fatal blows on pack members though she didn't care about the Hellhounds, and he obliged, killing them quickly without so much as a glance. 

They didn't make it that far away from Ethan before she stilled at the sound of his voice calling her name. She looked behind her, feeling a tidal wave of emotions from him at seeing her leaving with another man. But what made her stop and eyes widen was because her mother appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back, the other end ripping through his chest. 

"Ah!" Esme cried, her mark burned, and she felt as though her heart was being ripped from her chest. 

Her mate. 

Ethan..

Esme met his eyes briefly before he turned around, grabbed her mother by the neck and punched his hand through her chest. Esme heard bones cracking, and her mother's eyes went wide before she crumbled to the floor. Esme screamed, her hands flew to her face, and she didn't resist when Marcus threw her over his shoulder and started running away. But all too quickly, her mate's head whipped to the side, looking in her direction and sprinted towards them. 

"Marcus…" She croaked as fear gripped her, and her body shook. Ethan was coming towards them like a raging bull, but even though she tapped Marcus to go quicker, her eyes were still on her mother's body in the dirt. 

Marcus threw her to the side and turned around, shifting instantly into his wolf form, as did Ethan. Esme knew she should continue running and aim for the woods, it was what Marcus would want, and she knew this was the perfect time to escape. Everyone was distracted in their fights, but she couldn't look away from the ferocious battle before her. Ethan's large ash brown wolf attacked Marcus' smaller black wolf. 

Their jaws snapped at each other's necks, aiming for the instant kill, but even with Ethan's large form and strength, he was slower to Marcus' attacks, and when he attacked the Alpha, he didn't hold back. Esme always knew if Marcus didn't get the kill instantly, then he'd injure and tire his opponent out until the perfect moment. The issue was, even though Marcus seemed to be winning, biting flesh away from the Alpha, dodging countermoves, she could see what Ethan's aim was. He was leading him towards the cliff!

Esme froze then shook her head. 

She just lost her mum, she can't lose Marcus too! 

Esme pushed off from the ground, sprinted towards the giant beasts, and jumped in between them before they went towards each other again. She shifted mid-air, her brown fur sprouted out, and even now, she felt tiny compared to the two male wolves. Marcus stopped attacking and barked at her in frustration, but Ethan did no such thing and landed on top of her. He bit her in the neck, and she whimpered but mind-linked him anyway. "Stop! I'm here. I'm with you! Let him go. He won't return, I promise you!"

Ethan growled into her face, his claws sinking into the earth on either side of her body, but he made no move towards Marcus. His eyes moved up, and Esme shifted below him, clutching her neck as she turned around on the grass, facing Marcus, whose back was to the cliffside. 

"Marcus, get out of here!" She shouted. "I never said I'd come with you! Leave now! I love Ethan; he is just protecting me!" 

Marcus growled, his lips pulled back, revealing his sharp teeth, his amber eyes shining in anger. She could tell he knew she was trying to save him, and he didn't like it. He took a step forward and looked up from Esme's bloodied form on the ground to the Alpha hovering over her. 

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"Marcus will go, okay?" Esme looked up at Ethan, pleading with him and showed him how much pain she was in from her neck. "He won't ever return. You've defeated the Hellhounds; he has nowhere to go or has any power behind him."

She relaxed as her Alpha didn't move, then he mind-linked her, "You're right, Es. He won't ever return." His words suddenly sent a shiver down her spine, and she knew then and there, he wasn't going to let Marcus go. Ethan said before if he returned, he'd die. 

Esme turned back around and scrambled forwards on the ground, "Marcus! GO!" She screamed and gasped in pain as a large claw shredded through the skin on her back, barely missing her spine. 

But through the adrenaline and panic, she tried to move out of Ethan's hold. She didn't need to, he ran past her, and she watched as Marcus shifted into his human form, dodged the Alpha and raced towards Esme; he grabbed her by the arms, lifted her up but then was ripped from her again. Esme fell to the ground clasping at the grass at the cliff's edge, and she watched in horror as Marcus fell down the cliff. 

Esme's body went numb as she saw fear for the first time on Marcus' face. With two loud, sickening cracks, his back and head hit the rocks below before his body fell into the water, leaving behind only a trail of blood. 

Esme let out a high-pitched scream, the sound stilling almost everyone. She flung herself forwards as though her body was reacting before her mind; tears streaked down her face as she stared at the crashing waves below. She held her breath; her heart seemed to beat slowly, and her body was too tense to move as she searched and hoped for Marcus to appear like he usually would. Marcus never died. 

But as she leant too far forwards, large arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back from the cliff's edge. She struggled in Ethan's arms, thrashing, kicking and screaming, calling out for Marcus and then she sobbed as she watched her mother's body thrown down the cliff like she was nothing more than rubbish.

Fury and pain ignited in her, and she twisted in her mate's arms, pushing away from him and spitting in his face. Then she was thrown to the ground, and as she started to crawl away from the monster stalking behind her, her heart-wrenching sobs turned into hysteria. 

She had no one left. All she had was this demon. All she had was her mate. 

She clutched her head in her hands, almost pulling at her hair as snot and tears ran down her face. But then she was silenced by a sudden smack to the back of her head, and everything went black.

Esme had gone silent in Gabriel's arms; she still shook as though the cold and numbness from that day had never left her. His arms had tightened around her, nearly too tightly, but she didn't care. She needed his warmth. She needed his embrace to bring her back to the present. 

"How did you escape?" Gabriel asked quietly, almost too quietly. His voice was dark and chilling. Esme looked up at his angelic face and saw a dark, icy and distanced look in his eyes; it sent a shiver down her spine. Gabriel was dangerous, but that shiver wasn't from fear; it was more from the realisation that he might act in her stead at retribution. 

"How. Did. You. Escape?" He growled through gritted teeth. 

Esme smiled sadly and looked at the river again.

"By dying."

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