Page 2 of Shattered Mates

This is my path. I feel it deep in my soul, even if it makes me physically sick.

Not just because he’s right—I am the perfect person for this—but because of Lexi, Lykem’s new mate. She was one of the kidnapped, and before that, she was my second closest friend. I’d been too young to understand things then, but I’m not now.

While we’ve found several of the holding facilities where supernaturals have been kept over the decades, there are still more. More people missing who deserve to be brought home.

Even more so, I need the distraction.

I pick the vial back up and stare at its swirling purple contents. “Why do I need to take this?”

“That’s something Andie created specifically for you and your…situation,” Maciah replies, voice filled with compassion. “Taking consistent, small doses of this will absolve the pain of being without your mate while also giving you increased physical abilities.”

As my next words leave from between my lips, I make sure I’m staring right into my uncle’s eyes as I say them. “You’re going to make me a monster with this.”

His mouth twitches downward, and he has to look away before replying. “We’re going to give you the tools to do the job that needs to be done.”

“Say it, Maciah,” I demand, my wolf rising to the forefront of my consciousness. “You want me to be able to be like them without remorse, without worrying about the mate that I can’t have yet. You want me to be a monster, and that’s exactly what this vial will do.”

His eyes finally meet mine again, and they shimmer with emotions I’ve never seen from the normally stoic vampire. “It’s what those still missing need, not what I want. I promise you that, River.”

And that’s right when my decision is officially made. I might hate what he’s asking of me, but I understand it.

“How long do you expect me to be gone for?” I ask, though I know it won’t change my mind at this point.

“I’d like to say it might only be a few months, but I won’t lie to you, River. It could be years. We’re still not sure how deep this runs.”

A vice wraps around my chest, and before I can consider going back on my previous thought, I pop the cork from the vial, tipping it to my mouth. Years isn’t the end of the world, and maybe it will be just what my mate needs. That is, if she can see this situation as I am now.

I’m sorry, Jules. I hope you’ll forgive me for this, I think, even though we have no mental connection yet. Maybe she’ll at least feel my words one day.

“Tell me where I’m going first,” I say as I swallow the concoction, already feeling as if the bond to not only Jules, but everyone else I care about is slipping away.

You never asked how we come back from this, my wolf says solemnly.

We’ll find our way, I promise. When the time is right.

Chapter One

Jules

Six Years Later…

If one more person tells me how lucky I am to know my fated mate at such a young age, I’m going to unleash my wolf and lose my shit unapologetically. Nothing about my situation is lucky. Not having met my mate at seventeen or feeling him in my heart but having no clue where he is.

It really fucking sucks, actually.

When I first met River, I fell instantly in love. I was young. I’d had no stability in my life, no promises of safety. Until he showed up like my knight in shining armor.

My heart soared for weeks. It didn’t matter that he was thirteen years older than me or that nobody wanted us to be together. He was mine and I was his. End of story.

Until he disappeared.

River made me promises. He said he would always be there for me, but that we needed to be friends first. I didn’t love the idea, because what seventeen-year-old wants to be told no, but now, at twenty-three, I know he made the right decision.

Until he left me with no goodbyes to go undercover and no clue as to when he might return.

Now, I want his balls on a platter and to make him grovel for years to come. That is if I can find him.

I’ve waited for years, but that time is over. The threat to our community ceased over six months ago. I promised my sister I would be patient in waiting for River’s return, but she’s just going to have to understand.

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