Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 224

Chapter 224

ARIA

Finished

The pain had become my entire world. Not just the stabbing agony from my wound anymore-that had somehow transcended into something worse. A hot, wet sensation spreading across my abdomen that I recognized with distant horror as fresh bleeding.

The wound had reopened.

Ivory’s careful stitching, her field surgery, her desperate attempts to keep me alive-all of it was failing. I could feel the warmth soaking through the bandages, could feel my strength draining away with every step, could feel my body shutting down in ways that my stubborn determination couldn’t override.

“Keep moving,” Ivory said through gritted teeth, her arm around my waist supporting most of my weight. “We’re close. Just a little further.”

But we weren’t close. The checkpoint was still miles away. I could see the marker in the distance, taunting us with how far we still had to go. At this pace, with me barely able to put one foot in front of the other, we’d never make it before the time limit.

That’s when I smelled them.

Blood. My blood. The scent was strong enough that even my inadequate human nose could detect it. Which meant enhanced predators would find us irresistible.

The wolves appeared from the trees like shadows given form. Six of them. Maybe more-my vision was blurring from blood loss, making it hard to count accurately. They were massive, easily twice the size of normal wolves, their fur that same shimmer of unnatural colors that marked everything the Ghost Council had enhanced.

And they were circling us. Slowly. Deliberately. Their glowing eyes fixed on me specifically. On the source of the blood scent that was driving them into predatory frenzy.

“Fuck,” Ivory breathed, her arm tightening around my waist. “Aria, I need you to stand on your own. Just for a minute. Can you do that?”

I wanted to say yes. Wanted to be strong enough, capable enough, to support my own weight while she fought. But my legs were trembling, my vision darkening at the edges, my entire body screaming that it was done. That it had nothing left to give.

“I don’t think so,” I admitted, hating how weak my voice sounded.

“Try,” Ivory commanded, already shifting her grip to lean me against a nearby tree. “Just lean here. Don’t move. I’ll handle the wolves.”

She stepped away from me and I immediately felt the absence of her support. Felt gravity trying to pull me down. Felt my legs wanting to give out completely. But I locked my knees, pressed my back against the tree bark, and somehow stayed upright through sheer bloody-minded refusal to collapse.

The wolves attacked.

14:50 Mon, Jan 19

Chapter 224

Finished

Not all at once-they were too smart for that. They came in coordinated waves, testing Ivory’s defenses, looking for openings. And she met them with the kind of deadly grace I’d only seen glimpses of before. Her knives flashed in the filtered sunlight, finding throats and eyes and vulnerable spots with precision that spoke to years of combat experience.

But there were too many of them. And she was already tired from carrying me, from the morning’s exertions, from the enhanced bear she’d mentioned fighting during her own placement challenge.

I saw one of the wolves break from the pack, circling around behind her while she was occupied with two others. Saw it preparing to lunge at her unprotected back.

“Behind you!” I tried to shout, but my voice came out as barely a whisper. Too quiet. She wouldn’t hear it. Wouldn’t know until teeth were already tearing into her.

Then I saw them. Two figures in the distance, standing on higher ground. Watching. Not helping.

Kael and Jason.

Understanding hit me with crystalline clarity. They couldn’t help. Helping would disqualify both teams. They were forced to stand there watching, unable to intervene, trapped by rules that prioritized competition over survival.

Kael was watching me die. Watching his mate bleed out while enhanced wolves attacked. Watching Ivory- ,woman he’d spent three years with, the woman who’d been his partner, the woman he probably still loved-fight desperately to keep us both alive.

And he couldn’t do anything. The anguish in his posture, even from this distance, was evident. The way he was frozen, clearly wanting to rush to help but held back by rules and regulations and the knowledge that intervention would doom us all.

I made my decision.

“Ivory,” I called, putting as much strength into my voice as I could manage. “Ivory, stop.”

She didn’t stop. Didn’t even glance my direction. Just kept fighting kept moving, kept trying to hold off six enhanced wolves while also positioning herself between them and me.

“Leave me,” I said, louder now. Desperate. “Just leave me behind. Go to the checkpoint alone. You can still make it if you’re not carrying dead weight.”

That got her attention. She risked a glance over her shoulder, her expression furious in ways I didn’t

understand.

“No,” she said flatly.

“I’m dying anyway,” I pressed. “The wound reopened. I’m bleeding out. I’ll be dead in an hour whether you help me or not. So just go. Save yourself. Don’t let my inadequacy take you down too.”

“I said no!” Ivory snarled, and there was something vicious in her voice. Something deeply personal that went beyond strategic partnership or Hunt competition. “I didn’t drag your half-dead body this far just to abandon you now. So shut up and let me work.”

She killed another wolf, her knife finding its throat with brutal efficiency. But she was slowing down. Tiring.

213

14:50 Mon, Jan 19 G.

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