The Luna's Last Choice

23. The mistress's claim.

"Leave"

"Dan"

"Leave before I harm you" he gritted out pulling his hand harshly out of my grasp "I don't think I can hold my wolf for long"

I couldn't move. Do I just leave him here like this? What if he goes back there? My heart clenched at the thought of it. I grabbed his hand again.

"Dan..... please don't...." I began but my words retraced their path back when he snapped his head to me. There was no familiarity in the eyes that glared at me. There was no kindness in them.

"I'm sorry" I whispered, my heart thudding wildly in fear.

Two things happened in that instant. My grasp on his hand loosened and his other hand came up to hold mine in his grip instead. With a jerk he pulled me towards him, diminishing the distance that separated us. I had to quickly dig my free hand into the loose sand beneath to prevent myself from embarrassingly falling into his lap. Once I was stable I slowly lifted my gaze to him only to find his dark gaze staring angrily back at me, closer than I anticipated. The tip of my nose was almost touching his. I watched his lips twitch to form a gentle smirk as he took in the fear in my eyes.

"Not too brave, are we?" he whispered cruelly, his gaze steadily travelling lower as he spoke. I gasped and fisted my hand tighter around the sand when he stopped at my lips. He looked back at my eyes his own dark eyes shining in victory. The sand in my fist started slipping out in protest to my desperate grip.

"You should have listened to me when I asked you to leave" he said. One of his hands rose and I watched him in a strange trance as his knuckles softly trace the side of my face. His hand continued to slip south until it reached the curve of my neck. He inhaled deeply and his gaze darkened even further.

"Daniel"

"Shhhh...." He hissed without taking his gaze away from my neck, the back of his index finger continuously grazing the expanse of my neck with his thumb fixed at a spot "I'm tempted to mark you this instant and my wolf is cheering on that" he muttered, his jaws tightened with the effort he was putting to restraint himself.

I wanted to tell him I was sorry. I wanted to tell him it will all end well and that the pain he felt was only temporary. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't worth his efforts, I never was and I never will be. I can't ever give him the happiness and fulfillment that he deserves.

"Give me one good reason why I should not mark you this instant" he breathed as he looked back at me "I'll mark you and then not even you can keep yourself from me"

I wasn't thinking straight, in fact I wasn't thinking at all but there was one reason I couldn't forget even as my soul leaves my body.

"My child" I managed to whisper as a drop of tear made its way down my face.

His eyes traced the path of the tear, I could see the madness in them give way to confusion.

"The child" he muttered withdrawing his hands from me.

I quickly stood up as his grip loosened around me and turned away from him to run as far as I could before his wolf could take control once more.

"I'm sorry" I kept chanting as I made my way through the thick forest. I don't care where I was going as long as it was away from him.

When I knew I was at a safe distance, I pulled out my phone.

"Ethan" I gulped a lungful of air to stop myself from collapsing.

"Anna are you okay?" Ethan's concerned voice came from the other end.

"He....he needs you"

"Dan?" he asked.