Dear Enemy, You're My Mate

Chapter 23 **

Older Dior

The colors of the flowers growing outside always seem brighter after the rain has fallen. My garden is the only place that gives me a sanctuary. Here I can breathe without being judged for existing, but unfortunately, an uninvited guest has arrived.

"You weren't supposed to save her, Dior! Patricia shouldn't exist! You've created a new timeline, one we don't know the future of, and it could prove disastrous!"

With the left side of my lip quirked up, I turn around in my rocking chair to face Alice, the fiery one from my dimension. Her breaths are heavy, eyes so intense and angry I imagine her playing out the scenario of killing me herself.

Of course, she isn't powerful enough to do so.

No one is.

I'm a monster.

"Please, our world isn't one worth fighting for, love, not in my opinion," I tell her calmly, lifting my coffee cup to my lips. My eyes then travel to the flowers surrounding us. They are beautiful enough to remind me of Patricia. "Or don't you think I deserve a happy ending too?"

A butterfly lands on my shoulder, then another. It doesn't take long for the creatures to wither and die upon touching me, causing the witch to inhale behind me.

"You deserve to rot in hell!"

I laugh. "Your spoken sentences are always so colorful, Alice."

Alice growls behind me, and the atmosphere gets chillier. Snowflakes circle down from the sky, yet there isn't an ounce of fear within me. The little witch is talented at making brews and potions, but controlling the seasons is her primary ability.

Alice is the daughter of a former member of the magical council but has now taken that spot for herself. She is the fifth member of those assholes who lied and betrayed me.

"You should be grateful that the council is letting a monster like you breathe when you deserve to die!"

"Harsh words, but if you guys could kill me, then I wouldn't still be sitting here." I huff a laugh. "And how am I the bad guy? I helped the council defeat June, and the price was high. Not a single person in the Winterbite pack survived the battle against the Summerburst pack. And in the end, I wasn't even given the thing which you all promised me."

Alice is seething and clenches her fists. "You wanted us to help you leave this dimension after the fight and go and live someplace where Patricia is still alive, but you and me both know that is impossible!"

I laugh. "Not impossible—I've already figured out how to travel to a dimension where Patricia is alive."

"I'm well aware! And I suggest you don't revisit her, or you're dead meat when you're back!"

Another laugh. "Dead meat, huh?"

I stand up from my chair and tilt my head at the witch, who immediately holds her breath. Alice is afraid of me—suits the bitch right. I dislike her with a passion.

Alice rules the supernatural world together with someone who isn't even her mate. They are happy and all, but I wonder if this Alice in my dimension is secretly curious if the other Alice might be able to get the happy ending she never had in this world.

Because Alice in my dimension murdered her mate, she struck a knife through William's heart in the battle against June. And the worst part is that she never allowed herself to show a sign of remorse. It makes me sick how the magical council cares more about their idea of peace than they do about love, family, and happiness.

How could Alice kill her mate? I'm sure there must have been some way to save him instead of piercing through his chest. William and June were linked, but Alice is a witch—she should have tried to lift the spell!

"Yes." Alice glares at me with fear radiant on her face. "If you continue to disturb the order, then I will end you myself, even if I have to give my life to do so!"

I lift an amused eyebrow. "So you wish to challenge me, witch?"

Alice narrows her eyes. Her magic is causing a wind to blow around us, but she is about a thousand years too early to pick a battle against the lord of darkness himself. I'm immortal, probably only able to die from old age.

I stand taller in confidence, allowing the voices of the dark to whisper and surround me. The shadows caress my skin and snicker as they patiently wait for my order.

Ending Alice would be easy, but I'm not a murderer, and Alice doesn't possess a threat to me.

I lift my hand, stopping the winds from blowing. It doesn't take much strength.

"Your magic is useless against me." My voice is sad. I've tried to commit suicide a thousand times, but every injury will heal. I'm an immortal living an empty life, but Patricia can change everything—she can give me meaning. "So, how do you plan on murdering me?"

Alice snorts. "I've always found it funny how the white winter wolf is the darkest creature of them all."

I offer her a tight smile. "My body is that of a werewolf, but the original Dior died at birth. And then my parents begged the gods to bring life into their little boy yet again, which they shouldn't have. Through their prayer, they accidentally summoned the soul of something terrible—me."

"Yes, I know who and what you are," Alice says. "And you aren't natural at all, Dior. You might look like a man, but you're the devil wearing the skin of a beautiful man."

Her words cut like a knife. I wasn't aware of what I was until after my eighteen birthday. Strange powers came to me, and I developed the ability to change into a monstrous, hideous form.

I hated myself.

I still do.

"And who has the right to decide if I'm natural or not?" I ask in a voice hurt and angry by Alice behaving like she has the answer to everything. She isn't God, but she acts like it.

Thoughtfulness takes hold of Alice's features. She considers my words for a moment before opening her mouth. "Why Patricia? How come you're so interested in a normal girl?"

My lips twitch. "If Patricia were normal, do you think your precious council would be so horrified of her still being alive? Patricia is special. More than you realize."

Alice inhales. "Is she a monster too?"

"No." I smile to myself. "Patricia is someone capable of handling me, which makes her unique. There is no other woman like her."

My thoughts drift to the image of Patricia's fierce expression when she last saw me, and I close my eyes in an attempt to remember our night spent together. She glared at me so accusingly, as if she didn't trust me for a second. Yet, her nipples hardened whenever her eyes trailed up and down my body.

Patricia seems to love the veins snaking over my corded muscles, and the scent of her arousal that one night made my throat go dry. Yearning hit me harder than a smack to my face, and there I was, struggling every second not to give her a piece of me.

When I talk with Patricia, all my sadness drain from my body, and goddamn, she makes me laugh. My heart goes wild around her. She is the only one who makes me feel alive and normal. Around Patricia, there is hope that maybe I came to this world for a reason—to fall in love.

"But she isn't yours, Dior!" Alice exclaims.

I chuckle. "I'm aware of that, Alice. Patricia belongs to the other me, but make no mistake—once I've figured out how to stay in her world, I'm planning on taking her for myself."

The woman yells at me. "You're not planning on killing the other Dior, are you? Fuck, why are you so intent on being with Patricia?! You don't even know her yet!"

"Oh, but that's where you are wrong," I growl, for the first time losing a bit of my temper. "We grew up together, and even though this Patricia technically isn't the same, she is still the girl I fell in love with fourteen years ago. The only woman I've ever loved."

"You're going too far..." Alice laughs menacingly. "And Jesus Christ, you're pathetic too—just go and find some other woman, Dior!"

"How?" I laugh. "I'm already in love with that Patricia, who exists in that other dimension, Alice. And if I could walk away and give up, then it wouldn't be true love."

"She won't love you back, not when she knows what and who you are! The Dior in her world still isn't lost to the darkness, but you have given up and become one with the shadows! You kill for fun, Dior—Patricia wouldn't like that!"

I glare at her. "I never do it for fun, Alice. You have the wrong idea of who I am. So far, I've only done what is necessary to survive, and since I can still feel pain, I murder those who attack me."

Alice inhales. "Well, the most responsible thing would be to stay in this world and die from old age, Dior! Shadow creatures are following you like the goddamn plague, and you shouldn't bring more of those to the other dimension—there are already enough of them there, trying to murder the other you!"

An evil smile spread over my lips. "That is exactly my plan—let the strongest alpha survive. I won't kill the other Dior, but the shadow creatures might."