Page 49 of Owning His Mate

“Did they do this to you?” I growl immediately, lifting my head to look at her. My wolf is just as pissed seeing her skin marked like that.

“Shifters don’t like hybrids, Kye.” The pain in her voice is a pickaxe to my chest. She turns her head toward me, and the torment in her eyes gores me. I want to burn the world down for her. Rage swirls through my belly, and my wolf bares his teeth like the rabid beast he is. “They’ve been conditioned to despise our kind. My pack was devout to the Order. Many of the adolescent wolves joined their cause as they came of age. It was just… normal. I had no idea I was tau. I grew up thinking I was like everyone else around me.”

Her smile is sad as her fingers thread together nervously. From the shape and size of the scars, I’m guessing they were done by thin blades, almost like a hundred papercuts.

“The pain was unbearable,” she continues. “It felt like my skin was on fire the longer it went on. I wanted to die.” The dark tone of her words has me seeing red. She grabs my hand, as if she can sense my rage is about to explode and my anger calms a fraction. “I found my power at that moment. I was so scared and angry that it rushed out of me before I could stop it. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I just kept blasting them.”

She shudders and I want to burn the world to ashes. Her pain is mine, and I’ll take as much of it for her as I can, but I can’t undo the wounds of her past.

No one should have to suffer the things she has because of something she can’t control.

Apryle clings to me, burying her head into my chest as she allows me to see her vulnerability.

“I’m sorry that happened to you and I’m fucking grateful you felt enough trust in me to tell me that.”

“You saved my life, Kye. That binds us together forever.”

I press my forehead to hers. “Forever,” I repeat. “What happened after you blasted them?”

“I ran. I didn’t know where I was going. Nowhere felt safe anymore, so I hid among humans, passing as one of them. I stayed under the radar for about six months, and then an Order hunter walked into a bar I worked at.” My stomach knots at how scared she must have been. “It was shitty luck, but he instantly knew what I was.” She lets out a tremulous breath. “Hester saved me.”

“Hester?”

“She’s tau, like us. We were with her before we came here at a place called the Sanctuary, though it just a cage we couldn’t leave. She taught us so much about controlling our magic and she created our coven, but Hester was a liar like everyone else.” Apryle swallows hard, and I also add Hester to the list of people I’m going to end for daring to cause pain to my mate. “I don’t mean to push you away, Kye, or hurt you, but it’s hard for me to trust anyone. When you were on top of me?—”

“You don’t have to explain,” I assure her, grabbing her hand. “And just so you know I will kill every single person who tries to hurt you. Don’t doubt it. You’re mine to keep safe, and I take that very seriously, Apryle.”

Her fingers skim over my cheek, her eyes scanning every inch of my face.

“I know you do. I’m scared of trusting you, but I feel safe with you, and that terrifies me. Putting my faith in others never ends well for me.”

“Youaresafe with me. Trust that instinct.”

“I want to. Believe me, it would be easier to give in to the way I feel for you than to fight it, but you’re going to leave me when you know the truth.”

She pulls back from me, both physically, but also mentally. “What are you talking about?”

“The woman in that place today... She took my blood, Kye. She said it was special, that she’d been looking for someone like me for a long time. “She gazes at me through wet lashes. “I think there’s something in my blood—something bad that they need—and being different never leads to anything good.”

I grab her face between my hands and I hate the ways she flinches. “I don’t care if your blood can end the fucking world, Apryle. I’m not going anywhere but by your side.”

I see the hope dance in her eyes for just a split second. “You say that now, but it’ll change. It always does.”

She tries to stand, but I move with her, crushing her to my chest, alarmed that she might walk away from me for good to protect herself from something she doesn’t need protecting from. “I’m not going anywhere.”

For a moment she’s stiff in my arms then she relaxes as I open my emotions to her through our bond. I want her to feel the sincerity of my words.

“You mean it?”

“I do. What else did that bitch say?” I demand, my jaw tight.

“Other than we potentially have another enemy out there?”

Cold spreads through me. It’s bad enough that we have to deal with the Order, but knowing there could be other factions trying to hurt my mate sends waves of panic through me. How am I supposed to keep her safe from everyone?

“We’ll deal with whatever is coming our waytogether.”

“Please don’t promise that if you’re not going to keep it. I can’t let you in, only for you to abandon me down the line.”

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