Dear Enemy, You're My Mate

Chapter 94 **

Maya

My chest is constricting as I watch Finn take in Beatrice and forget about the girl he kissed only moments ago—me, the girl lusting for a man who the moon goddess has chosen for someone else.

Ugh, why did I think I could change things?

Beatrice steps forward. "I'm Beatrice..."

I knew it!

Finn is stepping closer to Beatrice, and I shut my eyes, remembering how his lips felt against mine. It was all too good to be true, and nothing good lasts. Our time is running out. I can anticipate it in my bones.

Finn talks with his lips curving into a smirk. "Beatrice, huh?"

She is batting her eyelashes up at him. "Yes?"

"Sorry, but I, uh, Finn, reject you as my mate."

I almost choke. "WHAT?!"

Beatrice turns to ice, and Finn steps away from her with a smile aimed at me. He grabs my hand, and then he pulls me along. "We probably should get the hell away from here."

I'm too shocked to breathe, but even I can see the wheels turning inside of Beatrice's head. Her calm, angelic expressions turn molten hot, and then she looks like something cruel and fallen, like a newly awakened demon.

"You're rejecting me?!"

I can't fail to notice the weather around us shifting and thunderclouds taking the sky. Finn sees it too and grimaces. Werewolves and wizards surround us, all led by the crazy hybrid Beatrice.

"I don't understand..." Beatrice covers her face with her hand, laughing when she sees Finn holding my hand. "My vision didn't show you, my mate, having this girl by your side—you were going to be mine, all mine!"

Thunder crashes down from the sky, and I shriek when a tree falls to the ground, blocking our road. Wolves are snarling at us, and Finn squeezes my hand while his eyes scan for an escape route.

There is none.

Beatrice is cackling at the sky with her hands covered in electricity. She doesn't know how to take rejection, and her friends, the rest of the magical council, are glaring at us. They don't seem like a friendly bunch.

"What should we do with them?" a man, probably a wizard, asks in a tired tone.

"Kill them?" Someone suggests.

A woman with high heels and a red dress matching her witch hat laughs in amusement, licking her lips. "I say we kill them and strip that alien man of his powers—his surrounding aura is delicious. He must be powerful, and I can't wait to devour him!"

A row of shudders overwhelms me, and I lift my eyes, parting my lips, when I notice Finn's thoughtful expression. His eyes are calculating, and then he smirks at me.

"Let me try something."

The fairy rushes forward without giving me a chance to speak, gripping the woman with high heels by the throat. She tries to kick him, but Finn effortlessly keeps her in the air.

"W-What the hell..." the woman makes a gurgling noise. "What are you... Doing to me?"

A light covers them both until Finn is the only one glowing. He releases the woman, who flickers her wrist. When nothing happens, she screams at the top of her lungs.

"Why isn't my magic ability working?!"

I stare at Finn, who tilts his head before mimicking the woman and flicking his wrist. Immediately, a flock of ravens attack from the sky. They fly down upon the wolves and wizards, leaving me blinking.

"What in the..."

Finn turns around, shrugging. "Controlling animals was this person's magic power—I stole it from her."

Laughter bubbles up to my throat, but I get silent when Beatrice zaps lightning everywhere, killing the ravens attacking her. Finn runs for me with a grimace and slings me over his shoulder.

"Time to take our leave, little wolf—I don't think that woman will let me close enough for me to steal her weather-controlling abilities."

My stomach drops when Finn spreads his wings and leaps into the air with incredible speed. Butterflies take over my senses, and my heart is playing music inside my chest, drumming happily.

"You rejected your mate..." I'm so giddy.

Finn avoids lightning bolts while trying to hold me princess-style in the air. Werewolves are following us on the ground—chaos is everywhere, yet I'm too head-over-heels in love with this fairy to care.

"Don't celebrate yet," Finn says above me, and although his voice is serious, I can see his lips struggling not to smile. "Now we have a crazy human chasing us, and what were those other creatures? Humans turning into wolves?"

"They are called werewolves," I inform. "I used to be one."

"Used to?"

My heart squeezes, but I kick the pain away. I'm here with Finn, so giving up my wolf was worth it.

"The only way for me to time-travel was to give the sprites my wolf, but I regret nothing!"

Finn studies me briefly before speaking again. "And what exactly do you think you have to do here to change the future?"

I take a deep breath. "Close the portal and make sure fairy magic never makes it to our world. It's too powerful and has hurt way too many people—werewolves are not supposed to have magic."

Finn grimaces. "No offense, but Beatrice seems plenty powerful enough already."

"Oh, we have some powerful witches where I come from, but they haven't been a problem. They aren't as hungry to rule."

"Speak for yourself!" Finn barely avoids another lightning bolt and glares down at the witch chasing us by riding a werewolf. "That one is crazy! She is shooting at us like there is no tomorrow!"

I laugh, out of shock from the situation, out of Finn picking me—it's a mix of everything.

Finn meets my eyes, the corner of his lip curling. "Enjoying ourselves, are we?"

I smile at him while trying hard to ignore the ground far below. "How did you know you could steal that woman's powers?"

"I didn't," Finn says. "Another vision waltzed into my head, and I saw an older version of myself taking Kyra's water abilities when she died."

"You saw her die?"

"Yup." Finn gives me a charming, toothy smile. "But I'm not worried—you're here, changing the future. Maya, my hero."

I blush. "Please refrain from calling me your hero!"

"Fine," Finn laughs, then winks at me. "Let's lose the ones who are following us, shall we?"

"How?"

Finn smirks mysteriously, and then we pick up speed, soaring above a volcano, and then a white, beautiful dragon, as large as half a mountain, takes for the skies. A melody unlike anything I've heard rattles me to the bone. It's all coming from the dragon.

I do a double-take—gigantic eyes, the color of the rainbow, meet mine, and my chest heaves at the view of the magnificent creature. Its wings are like tree branches, stretching out in every direction and giving off a shimmer similar to the wings of a fairy.

"Uh... Finn?"

The fairy laughs behind me, and I close my eyes when the dragon rushes past us to head for Beatrice and her crew. Finn turns us around, and I observe the dragon roar at the werewolves, who come to a halt upon seeing the angry dragon.

A colorful blast of fire leaves the dragon's jaws, and Beatrice and her crew scream in fright before turning tail. They head for the portal while the beautiful dragon chases them with its large, rainbow wings spreading to give it more momentum.

"Wow," I'm utterly amazed. "I've never seen a dragon before."

"That dragon is one of the fairy elders, Carla. She is part of the tree of life, but she has been sleeping for many years—the reason the sprites needed your wolf is that they required your light abilities to wake her. They told me just now."

"Oh," I rest my head in the crook of Finn's muscular neck, feeling his pulse beat against me. He is warm and smells like bright summer days spent by the lake. I want to remember his scent forever, bottle it up and keep it forever. "I'm guessing she will chase away Beatrice."

Finn holds me tighter, his eyes meeting mine with a thousand words unspoken. Tears are being held back, and my chest constricts seeing him having to fake a smile. Suddenly, I know the reason behind his saddened expression.

"No," I whisper. "Please don't tell me this is goodbye."

"Carla will close the portal forever," Finn kisses the top of my head, speaking calmly. He is gentle with me like he was before losing his memories. "Thank you for saving my kind, Maya."

I struggle to breathe when I notice my hands are being whisked away from this reality. My skin is rapidly becoming transparent, and some parts of me turn into glitter, causing me to peer up at Finn with my heart shattering into pieces.

"I'm guessing I'm being sent back to my world, but I don't want to go."

I cry into Finn's chest. If only I could die in his arms right now, then I would never have to live without him in my world. I would just be gone without the pain of having to say goodbye forever.

"Maya," he says, gently lifting my face to look at him. "Don't cry—we won, and you can go back to your family without having to worry about Arvin."

"But what does it matter if I can't be by your side?" I wail, not caring about how ugly I must look with snot running from my nose. "I can't live without you, Finn."

"But you will," he smiles, though it is a pained smile and most likely forced. Finn is trying to be strong for both of us. "In my heart, you will forever be my true mate—Beatrice was my goddess chosen mate, and all she wanted was my powers. But you, Maya, you're different—you sacrificed your powers to save me out of love."

I nod and slump against him, wanting to hold him forever and never leave, although I'm already fading. "You remember everything?"

"I do," Finn says, hugging me to him. "The sprites showed me everything—they were there from the start to the finish line, rooting for us."

"Rooting for us?"

Finn grins, showing me those sharp canine teeth. "I was rooting for us too."

His happy, gorgeous face brings tears to my eyes. "Don't forget about me," I whisper with my palm pressed to his cheek. I'm bleeding out. "Please."

Finn places his giant hand over mine, grinning at me like a fool. "Forgetting you would be impossible, little wolf."

I cry louder, unable to stop the tears, and Finn leans his head down to claim my lips. And I swear by God it's the last kiss of my life, for I will never love another man like Finn. This kiss is our goodbye, and I close my eyes, feeling the warmth of his breath until he is no longer there.

When I open my eyes, I wake up inside my room at home, drenched in a cold sweat. Years have passed in the blink of an eye—I know it, yet I can still taste Finn on my tongue.

And wait, I'm inside my room? My eyes dart around my furniture. Huh. I guess changing the past made it so that Arvin never captured me?

"Maya?!" my mother calls from downstairs. "Breakfast is ready!"

It is strange to return to routine after so many weeks spent locked inside a prison cell. I can sniff the pancakes being cooked downstairs, but instead of experiencing the happiness of being back home again, I'm a broken girl.

"MAYA!"

"I'm coming!" I yell back at my mother. "Give me a moment!"

I sit up in my bed, and tears drip down at my bare feet. I'm trying so hard to smile, but my lips are quivering.

Two minutes spent in this timeline, and I already miss Finn's smile. But I have to be brave because whether we like it, life goes on, even if it has to pull us along.