Page 26 of The Worst Mate Ever

Clarity rushed over me, and I stared back at him, both hating and loving him in the same breath. I couldn’t blame him for what had happened. He had given me more than once to stop what was happening, but instead I pulled him in. I begged for him, and gods help me, I still wanted him just as badly as before.

And that was the most terrifying of all.

Brady slowly pulled away from me, his head tilted in confusion as he looked at me. I could feel his confusion and worry in my own head and the realization of that sent my fear spiking even more.

If I could feel him, that could only mean that he could feel everything I was feeling in return.

I looked back at him and slowly slid off the table and reached for my jeans. I felt a tinge of sadness roll off of him and my breath caught in my throat as I realized it was sadness over me. My emotions were hurting him and that alone sent me running from the room with what was left of my clothes clutched in my hands.

I didn’t pay attention to anyone as I ran by. The rooms and halls all flew past me as I made my way for the back door.

I could still feel Brady’s emotions. His own fears and worries crashing into me like a tidal wave in a storm. I tried my best to shut down the bond’s link, to block him out from feeling me. I didn’t want to hurt him anymore than I already had.

My body shifted the moment I broke through the back doors and my feet touched the grass. My clothes dropped to the ground, abandoned as I raced towards the forest under the fading daylight.

All the while I was running, I struggled with what I should do. I realized I had no idea how to answer the question of what I wanted to do. If anything, I needed the advice of someone on the outside. I needed the advice of the only person who might understand my perspective in all of this.

I needed to talk to Paige.

With that final decision, I turned back towards the house. Alma stood on the backdoor steps, a stack of clean folded clothes in her arms. She gave me a knowing smile as I shifted back and handed me the clothes to change into, all without a single word of what clearly had happened in the library.

“I’ll send your dinner up to your room. Don’t worry about having to come down if you don’t want to. You just rest.”

Chapter Twelve

Brady

The bond was complete now, yet my little mate had taken two steps back in the process.

I smirked, feeling the ripple of her emotions slipping through the bond. She was just around the corner, doing her best to block me out as she attempted to hide from me yet again.

I turned and went in the opposite direction, a rush of relief slipping through the bond. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go to her and promise her that everything would be alright. It wasn’t even that I was hurt by her running away and hiding from me ever since we fulfilled the bond, not that I wasn’t hurt.

As much as it all hurt me, I recognized what happened to us. Really, it was my own damn fault if she never spoke to me again after what had happened. I should have known better.

“Fuck,” I sighed to myself as I left the packhouse and made my way to my car parked outside.

No one paid attention to me leaving. Although I was the only member of the alpha family in town at the moment, the pack didn’t see me as their leader. To them, I was simply the alpha’s son and the heir to the Crete Coven. No matter how many times my father commanded the pack to recognize me as their leader, they couldn’t see me in that role.

I gave the packhouse one last glance and scanned the surrounding area for possible magic or unfamiliar scents before getting into my car. With the coast seemingly clear, I could go to The Brew with a clear conscience.

Edwardo, I mindlinked the beta. He and his family were the only ones who would answer my mindlink. The rest of the pack had closed themselves off from me. I’m going to The Brew. Keep an eye on things while I’m gone.

No problem, Brady. He responded.

I turned the engine on with a deep roar and left the packhouse. There was a hint of curiosity now in the bond, but reluctantly, I closed the link off from her. I needed to clear my head and seek advice, and there was only one sanctuary that offered both.

I sped through the city towards the city limits, the buildings and parks around me passing by in a blur. As I passed the sign bidding farewell, I thought about the stories my mother had told me about the city before she and my dad took the pack back from the Chios Alpha. How the city had once had a border patrol and that the witches were not permitted to leave the city except once a month.

My thoughts wandered to how that must have looked to the humans in the city. It was astonishing how unaware they were of the people held hostage within the city limits. My mother alone was never permitted to leave without an escort.

Sheila had been her main escort during that time. And now, Sheila was Mom’s personal guard as the Luna of the pack. Mom had chosen her herself because Sheila had held true to the laws of nature despite being under the Chios’ command.

Now, there wasn’t a single checkpoint along the city. The pack skillfully concealed their activities from the humans, disguising their patrols as casual strolls or playful chases of a lost pet.

I wondered if the humans had even noticed the change back then. Or were they completely oblivious to the fact that creatures of their nightmares run their city and not their elected officials?

The sun began to set on my back as I thought about these questions; I had often asked my uncle as a child. And here I was again, coming to him with more questions that he likely wouldn’t have an answer to, but I knew he would certainly try his best.

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