Page 2 of Starlight Mates

The priest’s gravelly, deep male voice washes over me. He has a friendly voice that makes me want to listen to him. “Welcome, Gwenieve. Today is your mating ceremony. When you cut your palm and give yourself to the Gods, they will fortify your bond between you and the five others that have been chosen as your Nexus mates. Your starlight will be mixedeternally, and where you go, they will follow. Only the Gods themselves will ever be able to part you.”

He clears his throat and I look up, wishing I could see who he is under the mask. Priests don’t ever take their masks off or let an inch of them be seen. Not even among their mates. Doing so breaks all the rules of being a priest, and I’ve heard the punishments are barbaric. He moves slightly and I spot a blade clipped to his leg, a shiny purple Nex dagger. “Your power will mix with your mates’ powers, and you will become a conduit for all five of their powers as you grow closer, and you will use the powers you gain to protect the people of the Nexus.”

My hand shakes and I clamp it down at my side. I swear he looks right at my hand, and I feel him frowning. I won’t be getting their powers, because to do that, I’d need to accept the Nexus mate bond. Let it, that horrible monster, get more powers?

Hell fucking no.

I’m doing the right thing. I’m doing the only thing I can. Even if it breaks my heart into pieces. The priest is still talking, unaware of the battle going on in my heart. “Since the dawn of our people, we have come here and offered our blood to the Gods. Your mates have all given their blood. It is already in this water.” I look down at the water filled with blood. This is the closest I’m ever going to get to them. It’s the closest I can ever let myself come to them. “Do you accept your Nexus mate bond, Gwenieve?”

Every part of my heart wants to scream yes, wants to meet them, wants to know who the Gods chose for me. But those aren’t the words that come out of my mouth. I remember the horror in my father’s face as he picked me up, surrounded by all those bodies time and time again, and covered for me. My parents sacrificedeverythingto protect me, and I only have to do this one thing. Just this one thing.

My heart breaks completely as the words leave my mouth. “I reject the bond.”

The moment the words come out of my mouth, I feel sharp pain spike through my chest asit, the monster, feels the rejection. It reels in my soul, thrashing and snapping at me. It hates me as much as I hate it right back. The priest goes deadly still, as does the room, like the world pauses in horror. His words are raspy, and he steps forward. “Are you certain? This cannot be undone.”

“I know my fate and I have made my choice.” I turn before he can say another word, and run. Tears stream down my face as my heart actually hurts in my chest, but I keep my feet moving. I run straight back out through the door I came through, the doors opening for me like they want me gone too. As I pass Rochelle, her mouth is gaping open as she watches me run. I throw off the stupid red cloak, letting it fall away in the wind. I don’t dare stop until I get into my parents’ car. They drive off through the empty roads as I cry in the back seat, unable to even breathe through the pain.

I swear, just as we leave the border of the pack, I hear a wolf howling in the distance. A howl full of pain, of anguish, and of a cruel promise of revenge.

Chapter

One

There’s a wolf watching me from the tree line.

I can spot him in the corner of my eye, even with his mud brown fur almost the same shade as the bark of the surrounding trees. I wait, seeing whether he’ll pounce first. He usually does. He always attacks my left side, never the right. Clearly, he has a preference, but he’s always too slow. Just as he jumps at me, I easily step to the side, missing his claw, making him skid across the ground. Hard dirt kicks around me as I grin, turning around to face the wolf. I’m on him in a second. Two steps, my glowing dagger pressed an inch away from his eye, and the wolf freezes.

He whines slightly as I pull my Nex dagger back, tilting my head to the side, my long hair falling down around my waist. I should have braided it back this morning, but I was being a bit lazy and enjoying a lie-in instead. The wolf’s body shimmers, like looking through cloudy glass for a second. It always amazes me what a Nexus shift looks like. I can just about make out his features spilling from wolf to man before Harry is kneeling in front of me—completely naked. He’s good-looking, muscular in all the right places… I have to admit it sometimes.

While he’s on his knees for me, we stare at each other, and I wonder if crossing the line is a good idea. It’s almost tempting to return the feelings that he has made no effort to hide from the moment we met. Just to know what it’s like to kiss someone. Just to know what it’s like to escape in pleasure, like the books I’ve read. I’m almost tempted.

But there are five reasons why I won’t.

I turn away first and wait for him to grab his clothes he left out earlier before he used his Nexus to shift into a wolf. He runs a hand through his blond hair as he turns me around, resting his hand on my shoulder with a grin that shows off his dimples and white teeth. His eyes are the same shade as his wolf, and when I look into them, I can see his wolf staring right back. His Nexus likes me too. Which is odd because most of them can sense what I am and immediately hate me. “You’re so fast, Gwen. Am I ever going to beat you?”

“No.” I arch an eyebrow. “Where would the fun in that be? Let’s go home, I’m hungry.”

“Good thing I went shopping with dad this morning while you were still snoring.” He bumps my shoulder, and I stick my tongue out at him. His eyes linger on my lips for a heartbeat before he meets my eyes. Doll-like eyes, as my mother used to say. Too big, too knowing. Harry is a year older than me, and he is a good person. Rare in this world.Especiallyfor Nexus. He shouldn’t be my friend, but he is. I got lucky with him and his family.

We live in a nearly deserted town in the middle of Spain. It’s quiet here, and no one comes this way. Perfect for a monster like me to hide from the world. After what happened two years ago, I desperately needed somewhere to hide. Harry’s dad knew my father before he died, and my father always told me to come here if anything happened. That it would be safe. After I lost myparents, I turned up on their doorstep injured, covered in blood, and with at least ten bones broken. Harry’s mum screamed.

My heart drops to my stomach as I let myself think of the day I lost my parents, knowing absolutely that I don’t want to think about it again. I can’t go back there. There are two memories I don’t let myself dwell on—the rejection and my parents’ death.

Harry’s house is right on the outskirts of the pack, nestled within a human village in Spain. Most of the humans speak Spanish and don’t like the English, and they stay well away from us, which works out pretty well for me.

Harry’s parents took a massive risk taking me in, and I owe them a debt. But not enough to have a relationship with their son, like I think his dad is hoping will happen. Harry never found a Nexus mate bond, and while it’s rare, it happens. Some just don’t. He has already had bad luck, and I know I should run away and not be selfish. I’m selfish because I need to be around him, be around someone. Because when I’m left alone…when it’s just me andit—the monster—that’s when I go mad. That’s when I really believe I’m going to completely lose my mind and be the villain forever.

Harry picks up a tiny orange lizard off a tree, holding it in his hands as I take several steps away. I really, really don’t like bugs or things that crawl. He shakes his head at me and puts it down. “There’s been some Vian spotted near the pack yesterday.” My lungs freeze in fear. He pulls me to him, completely unaware of the struggle in my mind right now. The struggle to hold it back when it knows enemies are nearby. “It’s okay, I’ll keep you?—”

I shove him away, gasping in the warm air. “I told you, you don’t touch me when—” I stop in my warning before I say too much. Harry isn’t stupid. He knows something is wrong with me, but he doesn’t know the truth. He doesn’t know what lurks under my skin, and he would hate me if he knew.

He holds his hands up. “Sorry, sorry. You just, you looked really scared.” He rubs the back of his neck. “You never really told us what happened with your parents, but we put two and two together. That it was the Vian who killed them, and you escaped.”

“Yes.” I lie so easily now. That’s not what happened at all. If I told him, if I told anybody, they would hate me. Gods, they would hate me so much. I wonder if my parents hate me too for what I did.

He searches my eyes and thankfully changes the subject. “Anyway, the rangers and alpha gave the order for us to stay in after eight. No going out. You know they’re more powerful at night, and at least in the day, we can fight them off.” No, he can’t. He doesn’t have a clue what they are really like.

I glance at the sun setting in the sky, how close it is to disappearing. It must be at least six already. I nod before turning and going to the house. “How did they even find us out here? Normally, they go after the bigger packs, not us. There are few Nexus here that make it worth attracting the attention of the Nexus capital city.” Starlight City and the Vian. Both threats to me. Every time I hear Harry talk about Starlight, my stomach drops. It’s the very place I’ve avoided for years because my mates live there. They practically rule it from what I’ve heard. The city usually sends teams of rangers to investigate any Nexus deaths, and if they sent one of them out here…

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