Page 99 of Owning His Mate

“Because you were involved in the blood magic they were performing.” This answer comes from Hester and has me tucking Apryle tighter against my side. “All the magic that runs through us comes from my mother. It’s how we shift, it’s how we find the power inside us, it’s how we recognize our mates. Overtime, that magic has dimmed; the more it was watered down over the years, the less potent it became.”

“The moment she was released, that power was renewed in all of you,” Erik spits the words like poison. “And she is going to use every single one of you as her personal army.”

“As long as she’s fighting you, count me in,” Jackson says.

Erik slides his gaze toward him, an ugly darkness spreading over his face. “Revna doesn’t care about any of you. She never did. All she wanted was to punish my father for rejecting her. She could never handle that he didn’t want her as much as she wanted him. She punished him, making it so that no one else would ever be able to hurt that way again. Does that sound like the actions of a good person?”

“That’s why we have fated mates,” Halle muses. “If you’re drawn to each other by a force out of your control, then you can never be hurt.” She glances at Cade, and I know what she’s thinking because the same thought is running through my head. Are any of our pairings real?

Cade collars her nape, pulling her into him. “This is real. I don’t give a shit what magic made it or what circumstances led to it. What I feel for you is real.” He presses their joined hands against his heart. “I love you, and not because of magic, Halle. I love you because you fill the darkness inside me with light.”

Tears prick her eyes, and I feel a lump in the back of my own throat. So much of our lives is nothing more than a manipulation of magic and power, and while I already knew on some level that everything we are is because of the magic that beats inside us, I had no idea it ran this deep.

“I guess it explains rejected mates.” This comes from Roux. “Revna hated Torsten for rejecting her, and so she made it so any fated mate who rejected the other would wither away and die. She made it so that there was literally no choice but to stay in our pairings.”

“It doesn’t matter why we are the way we are,” Dove says. “We love our mates, and that is what counts.”

Dove is right, but my stomach still knots. That is what’s important, but there is also a slither of doubt inside me that tells me Apryle would not have chosen me willingly.

Getthat thought right out of your head,she says in my mind.I might have been hesitant about mating in the first place, but that wasn’t because of you. That was because of hangups from my past. I would have fallen for you anyway, Kyson. You’re the part of me that was missing, and I don’t care how that came about or the reason for it. I’m never letting you go.

My heart soars—something I didn’t think it was capable of doing, and yet it’s been happening since Apryle and I mated.

I’m never lettingyou go either. Every breath I have in my body is for you.

I senseher amusement through the bond.

I didn’t knowyou had it in you to be sweet, but I like it.

The factshe likes it makes me want to do it more.

“So what’s the plan now?” Wyatt asks.

“I don’t know,” Sawyer answers. “I’ve always been partial to a little torture myself. I’m pretty sure good old Erik here will be squealing like a pig within thirty seconds.”

Cade huffs a breath at his brother. “I don’t usually agree with the things that come out of his mouth, but for once we’re on the same page.”

Halle glares at the man. “Oh, we’re going to torture him. He knows where my mother is. He knows where all the others that he has been keeping in his creepy little science experiment, forcing them to breed with each other, are too. And he’s going to tell us every sordid little detail.”

“Including where the children are,” Dove adds.

Erik snorts. “I’m not afraid of a little pain.”

Dove crouches down in front of him, grabbing his chin in her fingers and dragging his attention to her. “Oh, it’s not going to be just a little. You see, freeing Revna made me feel pretty strong. My powers are heightened in a way they never have been, and I intend to use them on you. Congratulations, you get to be test subject number one.”

Chapter 26

Apryle

The next two days pass in a blur of activity. Callum and the others shore up our defenses, making sure that, if we’re attacked again, no one is getting in. Everyone works together to try and use magic to unscramble the brains of the tau we captured. With Hester’s help, this is easier to do. It turns out she knew a lot more than she was letting on, and now that her brother—half-brother—is locked in the cells of our compound, her fighting spirit seems to have returned. She’s no longer talking about running and hiding, but about leading the revolution to free the rest of our hybrid brothers and sisters instead.

For the first time in a long time, I feel hope that we can win this, just as soon as we sort out the little problem of our homicidal creator.

Callum has feelers out, trying to discover where Revna and her band of witches have gone, but so far everything has been pretty quiet, and that doesn’t feel positive. What is she waiting for? And where is she?

Those thoughts are in the back of my mind as Kye and I sit with the others, watching a procession of cars and trucks passing through the gates of the compound. Callum reached out to allof our allies, other hybrid communities—vargr too—and invited everyone to join us. So far, six different groups have arrived, bringing the total number of people in our compound to more than a hundred.

The odds still aren’t great, but it’s better than what we initially had.

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