Page 69 of Gone Hunting

“Aric,” Dad begins.

“No,” I interrupt. “You said it yourself, Dad. Mates don’t do well being apart. Celia and I couldn’t sleep a few feet away without finding a way to be next to each other. And now, you’re not just talking about sending her to another state, you’re talking about banishing her to the future, somewhere I may never find her again.”

Something collides with the roof, rattling the house and creating a crack in the ceiling. It splinters down, all the way to floor, the motion so forceful the house shifts.

Dad gathers my mother against him, his cold stare briefly darting my way. “Make him forget about her,” he orders Mimi. “Make them both forget.”

“I don’t want to forget!” I holler.

“Ican’tforget Aric,” Celia says, her voice quivering with sadness. “It isn’t possible.”

“If it means your sanity, your heart, and your future, you both can and will.” Dad rises. “Do you think I want to ask this of you? I know what it means to have a mate—”

“Then you know you’re asking the unbearable,” I say, cutting him off.

Dad takes a breath, relaxing his shoulders, unlike mine which carry all the rage I feel. “This isn’t just about you and Celia, Aric. Did you not hear Mimi’s words? This spell, however good its intention, has disrupted life as we know it. For Celia to survive and take her place along those who protect the earth, she has to go back.”

Something else strikes the roof. It’s not as loud or as strong, but it doesn’t have to be. The damage is already done.

“You’re asking Mimi to send Celia back to the same witches trying to kill her,” I yell. “How is she supposed to help the world if she’s already dead?”

“That’s not what I’m asking Mimi to do,” Dad says. “Celia was in an alley, in a city, correct?”

I don’t want to answer, but I nod anyway.

He returns his full attention to Mimi. “Change the spell so that instead of sending her here, it sends Celia and her prey to a different part of the city.”

“So, the light witch’s spell never gets the chance to alter time,” Mimi deduces. She cackles. It’s faint, but there. “You ask a great deal, my Alpha. Especially from an old hag whose time has come.”

“Can you do it?” Dad asks, his attention frantically scanning her frail state.

“I can,” Mimi says.

“No,no.” I turn around, digging my fingers through my hair only for my gaze to fasten on Celia. My hands fall to my sides when I see her red swollen eyes.

“Baby,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. A knot forms in my throat, making it hard to speak. “We were supposed to be happy. You were supposed to live here with me. You, your family. You were never supposed to leave me.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Celia says, choking back a sob. “But you need to live, and you need to find me. Do you hear me? You and your wolf have to find a way back to me and my tigress.”

“No,” I insist. “I can’t risk letting you go. What if I can’t find you? What if you find someone else?”

“Iwon’t,” Celia says, crying so hard she can barely speak. “You’ll always be the one.”

Agony overtakes me, splitting my heart. I clutch her against me. Never have I felt so much pain.

“It’s not so easy,” Mimi mumbles as if my insides aren’t being ripped from me. “Magic comes at a price. Neither good nor evil can prevail without payment.”

Dad rises, his expression as dark as his voice. “And what is the price we must pay?”

Mimi lifts a weary finger in my direction. “A love like this can’t merely be forgotten. The sacrifice of one must be replaced by another.”

Dad doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll carry the burden of the memory,” he says. “And sacrifice what’s needed.”

“Aidan,” Mom cries.

“Wait, Dad—what are you doing?”

“I can handle the extent of your memories, feelings, all of it,” Dad interrupts. “And whatever else is needed for Celia’s safe return.”

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