Page 288 of My Unexpected Mate

I scanned the forest again, looking for him. Was it possible that he didn’t come? Did he think his army would be enough to take Aria away? Was this some kind of a distraction?

My heart started beating faster and my grip on Aria tightened. I started looking around frantically, waiting for the trap he had obviously set.

It had to be a distraction. There was no other explanation.

“Well, well, well,” a voice coming from the forest startled me. “I guess the prophecy is true after all.”

Aria’s POV

The man from my nightmares was here.

He walked out into the clearing where my friends and I were standing.

Behind him was a woman who looked a lot like Petra, but she had more wrinkles on her face, and her hair was grayer than red. She was looking at me with a menacing smirk on her face.

Next to her was the man who grabbed me that day. He was short and his dark hair was greasy. It was falling on his forehead, covering his left eye. He was smiling. and I could see his yellow teeth all the way from here. I remembered what he smelt like that day, and I felt bile rising.

“It was amazing to watch both of you in action,” Victor said, bringing my attention back to him. “I can’t believe my men were so incompetent. They were watching my little witch for years, and they never noticed her twin.”

A shiver went down my spine. I pressed myself closer to Gabriel, and he tightened his arms around me. No matter what happens, he was not getting to him. I will protect him. I had to protect him.

“I came here to get my little witch and stumbled upon something I thought was a lie,” Victor continued, smirking. “I knew you were a special, little witch. But I never would have guessed you were only half of what I needed. I wonder why I didn't know about your brother? Why were you separated?”

Nick growled and stood in front of Gabriel and me.

Victor laughed. “Hello, wolf. You fought well.”

“Shut the fuck up, Victor,” Nick growled. “You are not getting them.”

Victor laughed again. “I am sorry, wolf. I need them and I will take them.”

Nick growled. Gabriel’s grip on me tightened even more. Jake, Blake, Mike, and Annie stood in a protective circle around us.

Patricia and Petra were somewhere behind us, hiding in the forest and waiting for the perfect time to strike.

“How about this?” Victor said with a smirk as he rubbed his chin. “You two come with me willingly, and I will leave your friends alone. Nobody else has to die.”

“No,” Gabriel said sternly. “We are not coming with you, and you will not touch our friends.”

Victor smiled. “Little witch, are you ready to watch your friends die for you, because of you? One of them is already dying. Well, he is probably dead already. Do you want to watch them all die?”

My heart started beating painfully. This was my worst fear. He knew, and he was using him against me. I felt ice spreading through my veins after he mentioned Zack. He was not dead. He couldn’t be dead.

“I don’t think your twin is ready to sacrifice her friends,” Victor laughed.

Nick growled, and Gabriel pulled me behind him, shielding me from Victor’s gaze.

“Don’t talk to her,” Gabriel said through his teeth. “Don’t look at her. Stay the fuck away from her.”

It was getting hard to breathe. Tears were running down my cheeks. Victor was right. I couldn’t let my friends get hurt. I would go with him if I had to. But he would have to promise me to leave Gabriel alone.

I guess Nick could tell what I was thinking because he was next to me a second later.

“Don’t even think about it,” he growled in my ear. “Nobody is getting hurt.”

I looked up at him and saw how angry he was. I knew that he wasn’t angry at me, but I still shivered. His eyes were black, and his grip on my arm was a little too tight.

“Come on, little witch,” Victor said, after a few moments of silence. “I know you want to save your friends. I know that you will do what’s right.”

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