Mated by Midnight (Moonlight Mates #3)

Chapter 15

15

E lijah tore through the woods, his wolf form moving with the grace and power of a creature born for this wild freedom. The air was crisp in the middle of the night. The cool wind whipped through his fur. Every muscle in his body thrummed with energy, each stride pushing him farther, faster, away from the cabin and the tangled mess of emotions that had been threatening to pull him under. But no matter how fast he ran, the bond between him and Celine remained, pulling taut, humming in the air like a silent promise.

And then he heard it—the unmistakable sound of her paws hitting the ground, close behind him. She was chasing him.

His wolf snarled with a mix of pride and exhilaration. A thrill ran down his spine. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her. If she wanted him, if they were going to figure this out together, then she’d have to catch him.

Elijah pushed harder, weaving between the trees, the forest a blur of shadows and moonlight. His thoughts raced alongside him, his mind spinning with everything he’d been trying to avoid for days. He had been prepared to leave—to take the job, to give her space, to make himself better for her. To become the man she needed. But now, with her chasing him, the reality of it hit him like a punch to the gut.

If he left, if he pushed her away any further, he would lose the best thing that had ever happened to him.

His playboy lifestyle, the ambitions he had clung to for so long—they all were meaningless without her. He had been chasing status, recognition, believing that’s what would make him worthy of her. But the truth was staring him in the face now, clearer than ever. It wasn’t about the pack. It wasn’t about proving himself to the world. It was about her. The bond they shared, the love that would grow between them, even when they didn’t fully understand it.

She was all that mattered.

He dodged around a tree. His wolf’s instincts were sharp as he tried to outpace her. Celine was faster than he anticipated. Her wolf was relentless, determined.

Elijah admired the fire in his mate. She wasn’t just chasing him for the thrill. She was chasing him because she wasn’t going to let him go.

A flash of movement to his right, and suddenly she was there, closing in. He barely had time to react before her weight crashed into him, knocking them both to the ground in a tangle of fur and limbs. They rolled through the underbrush, and as they came to a stop, the shift back into their human forms happened almost instinctively.

Elijah lay on his back, his chest heaving, his skin tingling from the shift. The cool night air brushed against his bare skin, but all he felt was the warmth of Celine’s body pressed against his. Her hair was wild and tangled. Her eyes were bright with determination and something deeper—something that mirrored the emotions raging inside him.

The forest was still around them. The only sound was their ragged breaths mingling the quiet calls of night prowlers. Finally, Celine broke the silence.

“I understand now,” she said, her eyes searching his. “I’ve been running too. Running from the fear that I’m not enough. That I’m not what you need.”

Elijah reached up, his hand trembling slightly as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

She shook her head, her gaze intense, her emotions raw and exposed. “I deserve to be loved for who I am. This is who I am, Elijah. I’m messy, I’m vulnerable, and sometimes I change my mind. I’m wounded from rejection, and it might take a lot of time and patience to believe that what we have is real. But I want this. I want us.”

Her words cut through him, raw and honest. She was baring herself to him, in all her complexity, and it hit him just how much he had been holding back. How much he had been trying to fix himself, trying to be perfect, when all she wanted was for him to stay. To be there with her as they figured it out together.

“I’m not asking you to give up your dreams,” she continued, her voice steady even though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’m asking you to include me in them. Can you do that? Can you handle this?”

Elijah felt the bond between them pulse stronger than it had ever been. He understood her perfectly. She wasn’t asking for perfection. She wasn’t asking for him to be someone he wasn’t. She was asking for him. All of him, flaws and all.

His chest swelled with the weight of his feelings, with the realization that he didn’t have to run anymore. He didn’t have to leave to prove anything. What he wanted, what he needed, was right here, in front of him.

“I can handle it.” He reached up, cupping her face in his hands, his thumb brushing across her cheek. “I want this, Celine. I want you. I’m not running anymore.”

Before she could respond, he pulled her down, capturing her lips in a kiss that was filled with everything he had been holding back. The tension, the fear, the desire—it all melted away as their lips moved together, soft and slow at first, then more urgent, more desperate. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, pulling him closer. Elijah kissed her like it was the only thing that mattered in the world.

Because it was. She was.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads resting together, their breath mingling in the cool night air, Elijah felt a sense of peace settle over him for the first time in what felt like forever.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said against her lips. “We’re going to figure this out. Together.”

Celine smiled, her eyes bright with hope, and in that moment, Elijah knew they had taken the first step toward something real. Something lasting. And this time, they wouldn’t run from it.