Chapter 5: The Enemy Mate

Jaxon stood frozen.

His sword rested on the ground where it had slipped from his hand.

The woman lying before him was unconscious.

Blood continued to spread beneath her body.

'Mate...,' Drax whispered again, his voice filled with disbelief.

'There has to be a mistake,' Jaxon replied.

'The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes.'

'She already did once.'

His words carried years of bitterness.

Five years ago, he had trusted fate.

Five years ago, fate had given him Giselle.

Look how that had ended.

He refused to believe destiny again.

Jaxon slowly knelt beside the injured woman.

Her breathing was shallow.

A deep slash stretched across her ribs, and blood soaked through her dark leather armor.

She couldn't have survived much longer.

He studied her face.

She looked no older than twenty-four.

Long chestnut hair was tangled with dirt and dried leaves.

Despite the battle, there was a strange calmness about her features.

She didn't look like someone who enjoyed war.

'Finish her,' Drax growled.

Jaxon frowned.

'A moment ago you called her our mate.'

'Exactly.'

'If she's our enemy now, she'll become our weakness later.'

Jaxon understood what his wolf meant.

One command.

One clean strike.

Everything would end before it even began.

No emotions.

No complications.

No second chance for fate to betray him.

His fingers tightened around the handle of his sword.

The blade rose slowly.

Then...

The woman coughed weakly.

"Please..." she whispered without opening her eyes.

"Don't... let them find me..."

Her voice was barely audible.

It wasn't a warrior begging for mercy.

It sounded like someone who had already accepted death.

Jaxon's arm refused to move.

'Why can't I do it?' he asked.

'Because she's our mate.'

'No.'

'Because you're still a good man.'

Before Jaxon could answer, distant horns echoed through the forest.

"Alpha!" Ethan shouted somewhere behind the trees.

"Where are you?"

Jaxon looked toward the battlefield.

The fighting was getting closer.

If Ash Fang warriors reached this clearing, they would kill the unconscious woman immediately.

He looked back at her.

His jaw tightened.

"Damn it."

He slid one arm beneath her shoulders and another beneath her knees.

She was lighter than he expected.

Even unconscious, her face twisted in pain as he lifted her.

"Forgive me," he muttered.

"This is the last thing I ever wanted."

Moments later, Ethan burst into the clearing with several warriors.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Alpha... what are you doing?"

Jaxon looked directly at him.

"She was caught in the fighting."

"She's Ash Fang," Ethan replied immediately.

"Look at her armor."

"I know."

"Then why are you carrying her?"

For several long seconds, Jaxon said nothing.

Finally he answered quietly.

"Because she's dying."

Ethan stared at him.

"She could be a spy."

"Or an assassin."

"Maybe."

"But she's also wounded."

"Winter Moon doesn't execute helpless people."

The warriors exchanged uncertain glances.

No one questioned their Alpha further.

"We're retreating," Jaxon ordered.

"The battle?" Ethan asked.

"The enemy has already fallen back."

"We've defended the border."

"Our mission is complete."

The soldiers nodded.

As they returned toward Winter Moon, Jaxon felt the woman shiver slightly in his arms.

Her body was burning with fever.

'She's losing too much blood,' Drax warned.

'We'll get her to the healer.'

'And then what?'

Jaxon had no answer.

An hour later, they arrived at the Alpha House.

Pack members immediately noticed the unconscious stranger.

Whispers spread through the courtyard.

"Who is she?"

"Isn't that Ash Fang armor?"

"Why would the Alpha bring home an enemy?"

Jaxon ignored every question.

"Someone summon Healer Naomi immediately!"

The elderly healer hurried from the infirmary carrying a leather satchel.

The moment she saw the injured woman, she frowned.

"This isn't one of ours."

"I know."

"She still needs treatment."

Naomi carefully examined the wound.

"The cut is deep."

"She lost a dangerous amount of blood."

"If she'd arrived thirty minutes later, she would already be dead."

"Can you save her?"

The healer nodded slowly.

"If the Moon Goddess allows it."

"Do whatever you need."

"No matter the cost."

Naomi glanced at him curiously.

"This woman must be important."

Jaxon looked away.

"She is."

"More than anyone realizes."

Several hours passed.

Night covered Winter Moon.

Jaxon remained outside the infirmary without moving.

Ethan approached carrying two cups of hot coffee.

"You haven't left once."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

He handed one cup to his Alpha.

"Tell me the truth."

Jaxon stared at the steam rising from the cup.

His next words were barely louder than the wind.

"She's my mate."

The cup slipped from Ethan's hand and shattered across the stone floor.

"What did you just say?"

"She's my second-chance mate."

Ethan could only stare.

"An... Ash Fang warrior?"

"Yes."

"Does she know?"

"No."

"What are you going to do?"

Jaxon looked toward the infirmary door.

The answer should have been simple.

Reject her.

Send her away.

Forget she ever existed.

But when he imagined her dying inside that room...

His chest tightened again.

Five years after losing everything...

His heart had started beating differently.

And that terrified him more than any battlefield ever could.