Dear Enemy, You're My Mate

Chapter 47 **

Alice

William transforms back into a human. He seems weak and uses a nearby tree for support. I shudder at the view. William looks so different from how I remember him at Dior's birthday party. The surrounding aura is darker, sadder and his face is wrung with anger.

"You shouldn't be here, Alice!"

The fury aimed at me doesn't change that I find William hot and alluring. The man is naked, for goodness' sake, and it's hard as hell not to let my eyes drift further south!

"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be!" I snap at him.

William approaches me, eyeing the door with apparent fury, making me step in front of him. He lifts an eyebrow when I spread my arms, and a wintry smile spreads over those lips.

"Let me pass."

"No!" I hold up my chin fiercely, not afraid of challenging the imposing alpha, even if he is twice my size. "Patricia is inside, and I won't let you enter the mansion! I will guard my best friend with my life, and I'm sorry, but your intentions aren't friendly!"

An indeterminate amount of time passes as we take each other in. Even though my heart is screaming, I won't back down. I tell myself that my reaction is only because of my physical attraction to my mate and that Patricia is way more important than my sexy mate.

"I see how it is." William's eyes reflect an inner curiosity as he peers down at me with the ghost of a smile touching his face. "But you wouldn't use magic spells against your own mate, right?"

He takes a step forward, and I backup, earning me a knowing look that makes my insides boil. I hate how this gorgeous man is on the opposite side, and fuck—are those flutters in my chest? Yuck!

"Listen here, you little shit!" I press my finger into his chest, ignoring the flutters and butterflies, and instead focus on the anger. "You rejected me, and therefore, you can't use the mate card with me! Now, walk home the way you came from and don't crawl back, ever!"

If William has processed my words, then he doesn't show it. His face remains ice cold and as expressive as the face of a rock. I swear William would make an excellent renaissance painting—sad and mopey with pouting lips incapable of smiling.

"I'm more interested in knowing what is happening inside of that old mansion. June ordered me to monitor Patricia in case she finds some sort of shiny object."

I glare up at William until my world is turned upside down—literally. He flings me over his shoulder without giving a fuck. The caveman doesn't even flinch when I hit his back.

"PUT ME DOWN!"

In moments like these, I curse how intrigued I am by this man. Even as I'm flailing around like a fish refusing to die, I can't help but admire his stature and the flawless skin of his defined, shirtless back. His round ass is staring back at me from a few inches below, making me blush like a schoolgirl.

My physical attraction to William irks me under the circumstances, yet I can't control my actions. I'm already growling and acting mad—I can slap his peach and get away with it too.

"You bastard!" I slap the shit out of the ass beneath me and gawk at the vibrations, mesmerized.

William stops walking, and there is an actual chuckle. The noise is low but still there as the man angles himself to glance down at me. I meet his eyes, surprised at the slight smile on his lips.

"Did you just spank me on purpose?"

Lie until you die. Deny everything.

"You're imagining things."

William sounds amused, yet collecting enough not to laugh at my comment. "If you say so."

"Could you put me down now?" I grimace at the blood gushing into my head and ears. "I'm dizzy."

Without complaint, William slips me down from his shoulder, making me touch his hard body on the way down. "You okay?"

I'm wobbly on my legs and seek balance from the behemoth standing next to me. I place my hands on William's chest but remove them as if his skin burnt me the second I catch his entertained expression.

My lips twitch from observing some of the former light that I saw at the birthday party seep back into his eyes—William is dying to tease me. "Please refrain from saying anything to make me blush. Spare me."

He snickers. "Alright."

William walks up the porch, but I pull him down with resolution bubbling up within me. He gives me a questioning look, and I wet my lips, thinking of words to keep him outside.

I never need to find an excuse.

A roar sounds from Dior's house. And every light on the street flickers until the shards from the lightbulbs fly off into every direction. A shriek erupts from my mouth, and actual fear settles in when I hear screams and people crying inside of the luxurious house.

William stops trying to fight me and moves to stand in front of me. I can sense his concern.

"What is happening?"

My breaths are ragged. "It's the full moon. Dior has turned, and I don't think the idea of locking him inside was successful."

William falls silent, and I stare at the door to the other house, covering my mouth when it blasts off to the side, revealing a monstrous wolf. It looks like nothing I've seen before.

Patricia described Dior's two-legged werewolf form as a more enormous polar bear with a black nose and white fur. She thought of him as cute, which tells me older Dior is different.

Because the creature before me isn't remotely pretty. Its eyes are deep-set and glowing mercilessly in red. Its flesh is rotten, with visible bones showing in some places. A stink of death fills the air, and my eyes fill with tears as I continue staring at the undead animal.

"What the hell is that..." William sounds confused. "Dior looked nothing like that the last time I saw him. He was smaller and less zombie-like with actual fur covering his body."

I don't give William a reply. I'm busy observing the werewolf, who slowly turns its head to glare at me. A smile seems to form on its lips, and the crazed eyes tell me my friend isn't in command—this thing isn't controlled by Dior but by the monster inside of him.

The beast growls, and William frowns. "Can Dior control himself while being in that form?"

"No!" I scream, taking William's hand in mine. "We need to run, now!"

Another growl fills my ears, and then the beast is over me, fanning my hair with its nasty roar. I'm stuck underneath a massive paw. It weighs a ton, leaving me incapable of breathing as the monstrous being is crushing my lungs.

I lift my chin and try to find anything human about the monster above me, but I can only find chaos. Dior is long gone, yet I place my hands on the paw, hoping I will survive. The beast lowers its head and bites into my shoulder, making me cry out.

Any faith of being saved disappears, and I lie there, convinced I'm about to die until William, in his wolf form, tackles the more enormous creature. My brave mate and alpha ferociously bite Dior's paw, causing Dior to turn around and chase William instead.

Still terrified, I back up against a tree trunk, eyeing the battle before me. No shadows have joined the fight—Dior is only using brute force and still winning against William.

My heart pounds, and I blink away tears. I'm not sure why William rushed in to save me. He rejected me and shouldn't feel anything for me, yet he is here, defending me against Dior's monstrous wolf.

I gaze out at the battle and recoil when William gets hit by claws the size of the blades belonging to a hedge trimmer. A whimper comes out of the cream wolf's mouth, and it halts forward.

My inner fear, which knows this is about life and death, makes me cry under the oak tree. I even scream at William.

"Run! Stop fighting for my sake! You rejected me and shouldn't risk your life trying to protect me! Go!"

Dior lunges for me the second he hears my voice, but William is determined not to let him bite me. He snarls before throwing himself over the other wolf, not even caring about his wounds.

Seeing my mate throw himself repeatedly at Dior breaks my heart. Blood is gushing out of his wounds, coating him red. William doesn't back down from the challenge. My mate is determined not to let Dior get to me, which frustrates me.

I push myself up from the tree and then curse myself for not understanding how my powers work. Plenty of times, I try to snap my fingers, make something happen, but the magic isn't responding.

Changing the seasons is something Dior told me I could do, and creating minor winds was easy a few days ago, yet now it's as if that magic has disappeared from my system.

With my heart longing to help my mate, I focus on the battle, only to turn around at the sound of a snarl—a new wolf, with weird glowing markings over its shoulder blades, is glaring out over the street.

"P-Patricia?" I ask, unsure if the wolf is her, considering magic is oozing from its very core. "Is that you?"

The wolf turns to me, wags its tail like an oversized dog, and then focuses on the battle, snarling once more. My heart kicks up dust particles and then races like a horse. Patricia can't be thinking of battling against Dior's monstrous wolf?! Is she insane?!