I Am not His to Claim

Chapter Twelve

As Mason's words hung heavy in the air, my mind reeled with disbelief. A werewolf? It seemed like something out of a fantasy, a tale spun from the depths of imagination. But the gravity in his voice, the earnestness in his gaze, left little room for doubt.

A surge of fear mingled with fascination coursed through my veins as I struggled to process the revelation. Werewolves, mythical creatures said to roam the night with fangs and fur, were nothing more than bedtime stories, figments of imagination to frighten children.

But here was Mason, sitting before me, claiming to be one of them.

"You... you're joking, right?" I stammered, my voice betraying the uncertainty swirling inside me.

Mason's expression remained stoic, his eyes locking onto mine with unwavering intensity. "I wish I were," he replied solemnly. "But the truth is far stranger than fiction."

I shook my head in disbelief, my thoughts spinning in a whirlwind of confusion and fear. How could I reconcile this newfound knowledge with the reality I thought I knew? How could I trust Mason, knowing he harbored such a dangerous secret?

"You're lying," I insisted, desperation creeping into my voice. "This... this can't be real."

But as I searched Mason's face for any sign of deceit, all I found was sincerity, a truth so raw and undeniable that it sent a shiver down my spine.

But as I try to reconcile everything that had happened in the past few days, there is no doubt that what he is telling right now is real. Everything is making sense now, from the moment I saw Mason that night, from the moment I saw Tristan transformed, shift from a wolf to a human, from Mason’s eye glowing, from his bite on my neck, with fangs deepened on my throat… From Olivia and her friends reaction when I asks about werewolfs…

Wait…

Does that mean that Olivia knows that Mason is a werewolf? Is there a chance that she is a werewolf too? What if everyone is a werewolf in this town? Is that the secret that this town harbors?

If that is the case, then why are we here? Why is this the town where my mom grew up? Or I am just over reacting from the answer that I got from Mason? Well I hope I am just over reacting, because I don’t know what I would do, if everything that I am imagining right now, will come out true.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Mason said softly, his voice a soothing balm against the storm raging inside me. "But you need to understand, Elena. You're not safe. Not from them."

His words sent a chill down my spine, the implications sinking in with a sinking dread. If Mason spoke the truth, if werewolves were real, then what other horrors lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce?

But I chuckled. “So you are telling me that I am safe from you? With you? That I am not safe with Tristan, who did nothing but treat me nicely, than you? Who bite me? Mark me? Because from what happened, from what you did to me, it seems like the only danger that I am not safe from, is you. Mason Mones.” I blurted out. He held my hands and I tried to release my hands from me, but he held it tight, that made me give up fighting. “Do not get fooled by Tristan. That’s how he claim his victims.”

“Then how do you claim your victim? Randomly? Just biting someone’s neck?”

I don’t know what is wrong with me, but Mason’s aura, is something that I can deal with. Something about him, makes me hypnotized, that I want to believe everything that is coming out from his mouth, that I can trust him, like he instructed earlier.

"But why me?" I whispered, my voice barely above a whisper. "Why mark me?"

Mason's eyes softened with a mixture of regret and longing, his gaze locking onto mine with a depth of emotion I couldn't begin to fathom. "Because you're my fated mate," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "Because you're the one I've been searching for, across lifetimes and worlds."

Ridiculous. He has been telling me that I am his fated mate, ever since the night we met. How does he know about that? I am not going to believe it. I can believe that he is a werewolf, that there is danger lurking out there, but his claim that I am his fated mate? I am sorry, but I am not his to claim.

“Elena.. You have to understand, the responsibility of being my fated mate. And that, after today, everything will change.”

“i don’t want to have a responsibility because first of all, I am not your fated mate.”

“The other reason why I marked you, is to keep you safe from everyone who wants to put you in danger. That mark, will show that no one will dare to mess with a Mones mate.”

“Why would you think that everyone would want to put me in danger?”

“Because some of them will see you as-”

I didn’t let him finish his sentence, but I did finish his sentence. And I am right.

“Marissa.”

What did Marissa do for everyone to hate her? For everyone wants to put me in danger. Do I really look like her? Do I get her resemblance?

“Maybe Marissa is your fated mate? Not me?” I said to mason but he only smiled. But I can see the pain on his eyes that he is trying to hide from me. “I wish. But no.” He touches my cheeks and slick my baby hair behind my ear. “And I wish… I am right about you. That you are my fated mate.”

His words sent a jolt of electricity through my veins, igniting a spark of recognition deep within my soul. Fated mates, bound by destiny and woven together by the threads of fate, were a concept as old as time itself. And yet, here I was, faced with the undeniable truth of my own destiny.

But as I grappled with the magnitude of Mason's revelation, a flicker of doubt danced at the edges of my mind. Could I trust him? Could I trust myself to navigate this strange new world, where danger lurked around every corner?

Before I could find the answers I sought, a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me, pulling me into the embrace of sleep once more. And as darkness claimed me, I couldn't help but wonder what awaited me on the other side, in a world where werewolves roamed and destiny awaited.