Mask | ✓

49 [part three]

I rushed through the pack lands, not caring about the way people were looking at me. The only thing on my mind was Eli. I needed to get to him, to get him away from Fen.

I knew that there was a possibility that the wolves in the cells could be lying, but I didn't want to take any chances. I didn't trust Fen as is, so I wasn't going to leave Eli with him knowing that he could potentially be an attempted murderer.

Fen and I never got along over the years. Ever since the day I met him. I tried to tolerate him, though, for Eli's sake. I felt terrible after leaving him when the Isaiah situation broke out, and I knew that Fen had been there for him when I couldn't have, so maybe he wasn't that bad. However, the more time I spent with him, the more I began to dislike him. It was clear to me that Fen only had one thing in mind, and that was being with Eli.

And I wasn't the only one who knew this.

Nolan had chalked it up to a harmless crush the first time I brought it up. He said that Fen would grow out of it once he met his own mate, but as more and more time passed, the stronger the crush grew. So I sent him away. I sent him off so that he couldn't try and manipulate Eli.

Clearly, that hadn't been enough to get rid of his feelings. If anything, they came back stronger, as did his hatred for me and vice versa. And yet, in the middle of it all, Eli remained oblivious. That was something Fen and I both wanted—we didn't want to force Eli to have to make a choice—but that turned out to be a mistake. I should've sat him down and talked about Fen's feelings. I should've done more to get him away from Fen.

When I reached the house, the door was wide open, which made my stomach drop. I slowly entered and looked around to find broken glass on the floor. I move around, heading in the direction where Eli's scent is the strongest, and find him sitting on the floor with tears still flowing. I don't say anything, but instead, I take a seat beside him, and we sit there in silence.

"Is he there?" Nolan linked me. After listening to what the wolves had told me, I linked him and started off toward Eli's house.

My eyes scanned across the area, but there was no sign of Fen.

"He left," Eli said quietly. "He told me about how he fucked up my life and then just left."

The tears increased rapidly, and I pulled Eli closer to me. I wanted to go after him, but Eli needed me more.

"I'm going after him," Atlas, my gamma, linked me, seeming to have similar thoughts to my own.

People began to try and link me; I could feel a multitude of emotions flooding the pack's bond, people responding to the overwhelming feeling of Eli's pain and sadness. All the chaos and the tsunami of emotions reminded me of the day Isaiah's death had been revealed to the pack.

The damage was already done. Even if we caught him, it wouldn't change the past. It wouldn't change the way the pack reacted. My jaw clenched, and the anger coursed through me.

Throughout all the voices, the questions, the confusion, and the fear, I felt it.

I wasn't the only one who felt it, though.

Eli's cries grew louder, and his body began to shake violently. Anything he had just felt was multiplied, and his dropped against my shoulder.

"H-He's...he's—" Eli tried to get out, but I didn't need him to finish the sentence in order to know what he was trying to say.

Fen was gone.