Page 91 of The Fearless Witch

“What the… fuck?” My mouth fell open in indignation. So he did something to her after all! “I’m going to find and kill that piece of shit!”

I tried to get up, but she dragged me back down.

“No, you won’t. You will calm down,” she laughed while I struggled to break her grip without hurting her. “Isaac, look at me!” It was my name on her lips that made me drop back into bed, but it was the strict gleam in her eyes that kept me there. “I’m back and I’m even more powerful than before, so all is well. You will not kill Beleth’s vessel.”

“He took you to Hell!” I snarled, trying to suppress my shift as the wolf pushed to take over.

“Where he kept me safe,” she insisted. I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was omitting something, but when I tried to peek into her mind, her mental wards snapped in place, leaving me snarling in frustration. “We need to talk about boundaries.” She hissed, poking a finger in my chest. “Just because you can get into my head doesn’t mean you can do it without asking! It’s not trust if you have to check!”

I slumped back into my pillow, locking my eyes on the ceiling. Sharing minds with other people was like second nature to me and doing so with my mate felt natural, but… she wasn’t a shifter. Moreover, our relationship had started with hate and suspicion, and even though things had changed, we had never built that trust.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, forcing myself to meet her gaze. When I found no anger there, I sighed with relief. “I won’t do it again.”

“Good,” she smiled. “But you are right. There are several things I still haven’t told you.”

I rolled over,so I was facing her, trying my best not to show my impatience.

“Roman told me about the ward around the city,” she continued. “I plan to take it down.”

My mouth fell open from the shock, but she looked entirely serious.

“H-H-How?”

“I had a lot of my power stored in a medallion I lost when I woke up a few months ago. Roman found it. He had it with him when Beleth brought him to me.” A light smile pulled on her lips. “I absorbed the magic in it and I’m close to my full power now. And the ward they put…” She grimaced, looking vastly disappointed. “It’s fragile. It relies on conduits set up across the city, so if I take one down, the whole thing will collapse on itself.”

“How… when did you learn all of that?” I frowned in confusion.

“That’s where we were when you arrived. I needed to get a closer look.”

I gawked at her, not sure if I should be relieved or terrified. It had taken an entire Coven to raise that thing. It had stayed active for weeks, with no one being able to even touch it. And she had just told me it was fragile.

“That’s… great,” I said, too late realizing my voice lacked the due enthusiasm. She noticed.

“You don’t want me to?”

“It’s not that…” I sighed, sitting up beside her. “Once you take down the ward, the witches will retaliate. I’m sure that if you can break their spell, you can handle an attack too, but you can’t fight this war by yourself.” She cocked her head, looking at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. “You are not alone anymore, Celeste. You don’t have to fight alone. This is our fight too, but…” My shoulders slumped and I felt the heaviness of the past few days press on them again. I might have convinced the Blacktooth Pack and the witches of the Coven of Eternal Light to help us, but I doubted that would be enough. “We are divided and weak. I’ve been trying to unite everyone, to make them see that we are…” My eyes found hers again and the warmth I saw there almost took my breath away. “...not so different from each other and we can do so much good together, but it hasn’t been going all that well.”

Her expression softened, and she cupped my cheek, sighing heavily.

“Making people forget their hate and see past what they have been taught is hard, Isaac.” She let her hand fall, turning on her back to stare at the ceiling. “It takes time, effort, and, well, proof. They need to see it’s possible with their own eyes.” She bit her lip, glancing at me as if to judge my reaction. “They need to be shown the ways we are the same to see past our differences. What is the thing that each of us—shifter, vampire, witch, or Fae—share?”

I stared at her in confusion, anxiously looking for the right answer while she waited. I was ready to snarl in frustration and say I didn’t know, when she slid her hand to my chest, gently tapping her finger on the left side.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

How could I have been such an idiot? This made perfect sense. The only thing we all had in common was love. We all had mates, we all believed in mates, and we cherished them above everything else. Even vampires felt the same, Roman was living proof of that.

We just had to show them that. Show them we weren’t that different and we could work together. That we could belong together. Like me and her.

“I want to claim you.” I breathed, my thoughts running too fast to form a coherent sentence. “Claim each other, I mean.”

Surprise flashed in her eyes, but it was gone much faster than I expected.

“A mating ceremony?” she muttered, and I nodded, relieved that she seemed to be thinking about it instead of outright refusing.

“The mating ceremony is very important for all shifters, regardless if it’s a fated or…” I licked my lips, glancing at her, but she didn’t react as I added, “...a chosen mate they are claiming. It brings people together like nothing else does.” I pushed myself up, running a hand through my hair while my thoughts still raced a hundred miles per hour. “I want them to see us together, a shifter and a witch. This…” Turning toward her, I caught her hand in mine and squeezed gently. “This will show them we don’t need to be enemies, and that despite our differences, love can overcome it all. I think it will—”

“Alright,” she said, and it was my turn to look at her with shock.

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