Page 27 of Bonded Beyond Trickery

It’s home.

“Find our mate,”my words would normally be a command, but right now, considering I’m the one who wasn’t willing to let go and fall into our mate completely, it’s a request.

“Gladly.”

Our feet are swift as I follow the scent trail left behind by my mate. My wolf will find her and then it will be up to me to close the distance between us.

I should have never made her feel like I didn’t trust her. And following her had nothing to do with fear for my pack. I was curious and it was difficult as hell to not be glued to my mate’s side all the time.

Sure, I had work to do for the pack, Alpha duties don’t stop just because I’m obsessed with my mate. But I couldn’t focus. Tilly was all I could think about.

Following her was the best I could do.

Because she was avoiding me as much as possible.

Yes, we slept next to each other at night, but that was the only time the air between us seemed to relax. If we were near each other while awake, which was mostly at breakfast and dinner, the tension between us was thick. I wasn’t sure how to ease it.

Because I knew I caused it.

I hurt my mate by wanting to put off her Luna ceremony. Even though the reason I gave her is true, that I wanted her to have a proper ceremony and not one thrown together, it sounded hollow.

“I think mate could have handled that reasoning if you had announced her as our Luna and let the pack know who she is,”my wolf grumbles, the scent of our mate growing stronger as we come to our favorite place in the pack.

Fuck. He’s not wrong.

“I just didn’t want to overwhelm her,”my excuse sounds flimsy even to me.

“You made her feel like a dirty little secret. Good enough to warm your bed, but not to be your Luna.”

My heart sinks because I hadn’t thought of it that way.“The only one to warm my bed, that has to mean something,”I try and defend myself to my wolf even though I know it’s pointless.

The huff he lets out tells me everything I need to know. There’s no more time to argue about how stupid I’ve been when we come to a stop at the edge of a large lake. There’s a willow tree nearby, the same tree I have hidden from the world in more times then I can count.

Tilly is sitting on the edge of the water with her legs pulled up to her chest and her forehead resting on her knees. She’s naked, her golden skin shining in the waning sunlight. Goddess, she’s gorgeous.

Even mad at me.

Even with tearstains on her cheeks which feel like a knife to the heart when she turns my way. I can see the hurt and anger in her eyes, but it’s the defeat and the hopelessness that cracks my chest open.

She croaks, “Why?”

She closes her eyes like she’s trying to get herself under control. But it’s the last thing I want. We need this, without facades, without anything between us. Raw. Open. Vulnerable.

Her voice is steadier, but not by much when she opens her eyes, “Why did you mark me?”

That…was not the question I was expecting. I shake my head, shaking away my shock before closing the distance between us. I sink down to the ground next to her, feeling something like peace wash over me.

Is it because of this place or because of her?

“Doesn’t matter,”my wolf grouses.“Make mate stop crying.”

“Because,” I find my mate’s gaze and hold it, hoping she can see the truth in my words, “I can’t live without you, Tilly. You’re mine. My mate. I need you in my life. I was just,” I shrug one shoulder, “scared.”

“That I would hurt you again?” She reaches for me, and I let her, taking solace in her touch. “That I would make another choice to lead me away from you and the pack?”

I swallow hard and nod once, hating that she’s so fucking right and how weak it makes me feel. I’m the Alpha, but this woman, my mate, can bring me to my knees.

It’s as it should be, I know. I watched my parents together. I watched the way they made choices for the pack and not themselves.

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