Page 49 of The Reluctant Mate (Shifters of the Three Rivers #5)

Chapter forty-nine

Sofia

I felt Derek’s muscles bunch, knew what he was going to do a split second before he attacked. Derek didn’t recognize his own twin. He would kill him.

My body moved before my brain could catch up. I threw myself between them, arms outstretched, facing Derek’s charge head-on. He skidded to a halt just inches from me, claws gouging trenches in the concrete. His snarl vibrated through my bones, spittle flying from his jaws as he bared his teeth, but he didn’t attack.

“Sofia, what the fuck are you doing?” Sam hissed, stepping up behind me. “When I say move, you’re going to run to the cars, okay?”

I kept my eyes locked on Derek, not daring to look away. “No.”

“The bloodlust has taken him,” Sam whispered, his voice cracking. “He doesn’t know who we are. He doesn’t know who you are.”

“He knows exactly who I am. He won’t hurt me.”

Derek began to pace, his head lowered, stalking first to our left, then to our right. Testing. Assessing. Looking for an opening.

“Sofia, please.” There was such raw anguish in Sam’s voice. “My job now, and always, is to make sure you are safe, protected. Even from Derek. Please. If Derek attacks, if he hurts you…”

“He won’t—”

“Look at him! That’s not Derek anymore. He’s gone, Sofia.”

I knew that bloodlust was a death sentence. I knew that no werewolf had ever come back from it, but I refused to accept it.

“He’s still in there. I can reach him.”

Derek stalked closer, muscles rippling beneath his blood-matted fur. A low, continuous growl rumbled from his chest.

“Sam…” Jase’s voice came from somewhere behind us, tense with warning.

“I know.”

I felt Sam shift behind me.

“Sam, don’t do this—”

“I’m sorry, Sofia.” His arm wrapped around my waist. “He’s my twin. I have to do what he would want. You are all that matters.”

“Sam—”

In one swift movement, he lifted me off my feet, spun, and threw me. I flew through the air, too surprised to even call out, straight into Jase’s arms.

“Get her out of here!” Sam roared just as Derek lunged.

The brothers collided. Derek’s immense wolf form against Sam’s human one. I lost it. Screaming, I struggled wildly against Jase’s iron grip as he picked me up and pulled me backward.

“Let go!” I thrashed, but Jase just tightened his hold.

“I can’t, Sofia. I’m so sorry, but I can’t.”

Derek’s jaws snapped an inch from Sam’s throat as Sam barely rolled clear, coming up in a defensive crouch. Blood streaked Sam’s forearm where Derek’s claws had caught him. Sam’s expression hardened, the last traces of hesitation vanishing.

I saw his lips move, whispering something. I wasn’t sure, but I thought he’d said, “I’m sorry, brother.”

When Derek lunged again, Sam dropped and rolled beneath him, a flash of silver slicing into Derek. As Sam came up on the other side, I glimpsed what he held—a combat knife I hadn’t even realized he was carrying. Derek howled, blood pouring from a deep gash in his underbelly.

Neither brother was holding back. They were going to keep at this until one or both of them were dead.

Derek spun with frightening speed. He didn’t retreat or try to protect his wound; he charged, more ferocious than before, driving Sam back with the sheer force of his fury.

Sam hurled himself to one side, his hand swiping upwards as he went, the blade slashing along Derek’s shoulder.

“No!” I scream. I would not let them do this. No matter who won, it would devastate the other, and I was sure, I knew it in my soul, that Derek could be saved.

Sam’s knife flashed again, catching the fading light as he narrowly avoided Derek’s jaws. Blood—too much blood—splattered across the concrete.

“Stop! Please, just stop!” I begged, tears now streaming down my face as I fought Jase.

The mate bond pulsed in my chest. Yes! Derek was still there. Still fighting to come back to us.

I went limp in Jase’s arms as if I had fainted.

“Shit, Sofia, are you—”

I drove my elbow into his solar plexus. The air left his lungs in a sharp whoosh. As he doubled over, I hooked my foot behind his ankle and shoved with all my strength. He toppled backward, and I tore away from him.

“STOP!” I screamed as I jumped between the brothers.

Sam’s eyes widened in horror, his body twisting mid-strike as he fought against his own momentum. The knife disappeared from his hand, his boots skidding across the concrete as he desperately tried to abort his attack.

Derek was already mid-leap. A sound I’d never heard before—half roar, half whine—came from his throat. He contorted unnaturally, his back legs scrambling to change direction while still airborne. Then he crashed down barely a foot from where I stood.

“Sofia, don’t make any sudden moves,” Sam panted, out of breath; his words were steady and low, but edged with panic. “I want you to back away slowly.”

I stood my ground, heart hammering violently in my chest. This had to work. It had to. Derek growled, his eyes flicking from me to Sam and back again, as if he couldn’t decide which of us to attack first.

“Sofia—”

“No, Sam. I know you think you’re protecting me, and I love you for it. But I’m not the one who needs protection right now.” I took a deliberate step toward Derek. “He does.”

Derek’s growl deepened, his ears flattening against his skull as I closed the gap between us. But he didn’t lunge. Didn’t attack. That had to mean something.

“Sofia, please,” Sam begged. “Don’t do this. This isn’t what Derek would have wanted.”

I ignored him, focusing entirely on Derek. On my mate.

“I know you’re in there,” I whispered, extending my hand slowly. “I know you can hear me.”

Derek’s lips peeled back, but he backed up a step, then two. His eyes—wild, feral, pupils blown wide—locked onto mine with predatory focus. There was no recognition there, just the calculating stare of a hunter.

“Fight it, Derek,” I urged, taking another cautious step. The mate bond in my chest fluttered painfully, like a bird trapped in a cage. I pushed against it mentally, trying to force my presence through whatever darkness had swallowed him.

Derek’s head snapped up, nostrils flaring. A low, threatening rumble built in his chest as his muscles bunched beneath his fur.

“Sofia, he’s going to attack,” Sam warned. I could hear him shifting his weight, ready to dive in front of me.

“Stay back!” I ordered, not daring to look away from Derek. “This is between me and my mate.”

I reached deeper into our bond, throwing everything I had into it—every memory, every touch, every moment that had forged us together. The first time he’d kissed me. How he made me feel when he touched me. The way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t watching. His smile in the morning light.

Derek’s snarl intensified, his front paw scraping at the concrete. He took a step toward me.

“Derek, I know you would never hurt me.”

He snapped at the air between us, a warning.

“I love you,” I said, the words raw and desperate. “Do you hear me? I won’t let you leave me again. You’re stuck with me, Derek Shaw. Now and forever. So snap the fuck out of this, and come back to me!”

He crouched, ready to spring, and time seemed to stop. Behind me, I heard Sam’s sharp intake of breath.

Fine.

I opened my arms wide and dropped to my knees. I was showing him my belly, showing submission. He could kill me with one swipe of his paw, and I was completely and utterly vulnerable. But I believed in Derek.

He darted forward fast, too fast for even Sam to reach us. His jaws opened, and teeth scraped against the skin on my stomach. There was no blood, though, no pain.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam leap high, knife out, about to plunge his knife into his brother’s neck.

“NO!”

Sam had a split second to decide, then he dropped the knife and crashed to the ground.

“Stay down, Sam,” I ordered, hoping I hadn’t just signed his death warrant.

Derek inhaled deeply. Scenting me.

“That’s it,” I whispered. “Remember me. Remember us.”

I placed my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at me.

“Come back to me, Derek. I need you.”

Derek’s body went rigid beneath my touch. The bond between us flared suddenly, a blazing connection that made me gasp at the intensity. His agony, his confusion, his desperate struggle against the bloodlust that had consumed him flooded into me. His entire frame shuddered violently. I held on, fingers digging into his fur, refusing to let go.

He whined. I watched as recognition seeped back into his eyes. He shuffled forward slowly, nostrils flaring. Then his tongue darted out, licking at the cuts on my arms.

Tears flowed down my face, and I did nothing to stop them. Derek was back. He was back, and he was mine.

He whined again, looking up at me. Then pain crashed along our mate bond.

Fuck! Derek was hurt. Really hurt. His eyes focused on me for a moment, so full of guilt and love, then they rolled back in his head as he passed out.