Dear Enemy, You're My Mate

Chapter 89 **

Maya

I fall like a comet and tumble down onto the wet grass. The impact with the ground sends sharp pain shooting through me, and I whimper as I roll around, unable to stop. My head is spinning, and I'm prompted to believe I broke a few ribs, judging from the burning sensation when I breathe.

'MAYA!' Finn screams my name. 'Are you alright?!'

Pain is ringing in my body, and before I get the chance to answer my lover, Arvin dashes up to me with the speed of lightning. With a laugh, he summons fire and creates a circle of burning flames around us. His eyes flash with glee.

"At last, you're here!" Arvin claps his hands as he approaches me with anything but friendly intentions. He plants his boot on my muzzle and presses down. "My fellow witches said you would be a challenge, that you stood in the way of my plans to take over the fairy realm, but here you are, fallen already."

I growl but get silenced by a surge of lightning crashing from the sky. It hurts like hell when it contacts my body, and Arvin laughs like a maniac.

"Lightning sure is a handy element to control!"

My gaze flickers until the second face standing next to Arvin makes all the hairs rise to stand on the edge of my body.

"Is that Maya?!" With her black hair and sweet face, Lily stares at me with worry embedded in her eyes. She turns to face Arvin. "You said you wouldn't hurt her! I gave you my powers so you could save my sister—not harm her! You lied to me!"

Lily is about to punch Arvin, but shadows appear out of nowhere with a click of his hands. With their faceless bodies, they approach my sister, causing her to scream in fright.

"No, get away from me!" Lily kicks one shadow creeper in the head. "Don't fucking touch me!"

Arvin laughs at my sister's futile to fight without her wolf. "They don't listen to your command anymore, former alpha Lily."

Finn sucks in a deep breath. 'Get up! We have to do something!'

All at once, power fills me up like water. My stamina gets replenished, and I rush in to protect my sister against the shadows.

'What do we do?!' I ask Finn. 'My sister seems to have given up her inner wolf!'

The shadows laugh at me, and I growl at them like a vicious beast, showing them I'm not a pushover. Lily is standing behind me, entirely human, while Arvin is laughing.

"I'm afraid a little wind won't work against my shadow creepers because that's the only trick up your sleeve, am I right?"

Finn laughs inside my head. 'Oh, challenge accepted—Maya, feel the ground beneath your paws, and take a deep breath.'

I dig my claws into the dirt. 'Is something about to happen?'

Finn doesn't reply. Instead, I can sense vines moving beneath the soil and smile internally. Finn mentioned the elders giving him new powers, and as I stand there, panting, I can feel the wind of the battle changing to our favor.

Lily is babbling. "Maya, if that is truly you, then we have to run—nothing can stop the shadow creepers! Dark magic is stronger than anything else I've ever seen!"

Finn snorts. 'Don't listen to your sister—fairy magic is way more ancient and destructive than anything she has witnessed!'

Logic tells me to head my sister's warning, but my heart listens to Finn—I stand my ground.

"Maya, are you crazy?!" Lily is panicking and letting her eyes roam around us before she hyperventilates. "We have to get out of here!"

The shadows are tired of waiting. They dive into the battle, ready to destroy us. Lily screams, but I have faith in Finn's abilities and open my mouth in amazement when roots plunge up from the ground, grabbing hold of every shadow creeper.

Arvin gaps. "Plants?! What kind of magic is that?!"

Although Arvin can't hear Finn, he answers the question in a cunning voice. 'The magic which belongs to the fairy king—the wrath of nature itself.'

Excitement shoots through me when I see the shadow creeps get strangled to death by vines. Arvin might be powerful, but Finn and I aren't weaklings either. We have a chance of winning this!

With a rattling growl, I charge for Arvin, who glares at me with his red, gleaming eyes. He easily evades my attacks and then pops up behind me with narrowed eyes and a sullen expression.

"Ever fought a hybrid before?"

Finn gasps. 'Maya, run!'

But it's too late—Arvin is shape-shifting into something out of this world. I hear his bones break before a shrilling growl makes me shudder. Arvin's hybrid wolf is more extensive than my midnight one, with teeth too big for its mouth. A coat of brown fur covers his muscular wolfish body, and his eyes are gleaming like rubies.

My instincts tell me close combat isn't the best idea. I decide to create distance between us, but Arvin lunges for me, digging his enormous teeth into my neck.

'MAYA!'

Finn leaves my body while Arvin shakes me like a dog that caught a bunny in the forest. Blood paints the grass, and I whimper, convinced Arvin will be the end of me.

"Enough!"

Finn grabs Arvin by his neck, yet the hybrid doesn't look afraid, and that's when I realize we stepped right into Arvin's trap.

Witches step out from behind the trees, and their chanting voices ring in my ears. The circle of fire around us burns hotter, and Lily faces me with her frightened eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry, Maya!" Lily is stressing out her words. "I thought Finn was the evil one—mum thought he had switched sides too—Arvin was so convincing, he told us Finn was the one who is making werewolves disappear on our side of the portal. So we set up the stage. The magic council is here, Alice too, and they-..."

I don't need to find out the rest of her pathetic excuse. Finn is screaming as the witches chant their melodic words, and marks are forming all over his skin, weakening him. It gives Arvin a chance to flee from his hands and shape-shift back into a human.

Finn tries to move, but Alice and her entire coven step forward. There are so many witches here, and they are all focusing on bringing Finn down to his knees.

"Down!" With her flaming red mane and green gown, Alice is commanding the fairy with her hands glowing with her powerful magic. "You're not allowed to move—not on my watch!"

I take the form of a human and scream at the top of my lungs. "No, Alice, what the hell are you doing!"

I run as fast as my legs can carry me, but Lily grabs my hand while Alice reads from an ancient book. Some witches fall to the ground, probably sacrificed to defeat the fairy, and I yell in desperation.

"Alice!" My heart is pounding super fast. "Finn isn't the bad guy here!"

Alice talks without facing me. "If Finn isn't the bad guy, how do you explain why so many werewolves are disappearing in our world?! Some of them were found half-eaten!"

"It wasn't Finn!" I'm crying. "It must have been Arvin who set him up—Finn has been too busy spending his time with me! And you know Finn!"

"LIES!" Alice yells. "I even saw one fairy, the one with red hair, eat a general! And it's been eighteen years since I saw Finn—people change, Maya!"

Blake?

Oh, fuck—Blake probably ate a soldier, but that doesn't mean she is behind the murders! She must have eaten one of Arvin's men in self-defense, and Arvin filmed it or something.

"Finn isn't the bad guy—Alice, please trust me!"

The witch doesn't listen, and Arvin laughs when Finn lies down on the ground, too exhausted to hold up his body. The witches are still chanting, which seems to leave Finn unable to use his magic abilities.

"This is how you die, fairy," Arvin is smirking while his shadow creepers are coming up from the ground. They are burning Finn's skin with acid. "And I will take your powers!"

Finn's blue eyes meet mine, and his lips form a sad smile before I pick up on the tone of his voice inside my head. 'I'm so happy. You've finally accepted me as your pack member. Sadly, I think this is it for me, but fear not—you can win against Arvin by yourself! You're stronger than you think, little wolf. I love you.'

Lightning forms around Arvin's hands, and I scream at the top of my lungs, but I'm too exhausted to shield Finn. Shadow creepers are covering him, biting into his skin, and when thunder strikes, his eyes turn dark, and the soul inside vanishes.

My heart breaks into a thousand pieces, seeing my motionless lover, and I scream again. "NO! You killed him, you fucking killed him! How could you do that?! Why, Alice! WHY!"