Page 65 of Forced Knocked-Up Mate

“I’m sorry to tell you this,” Amanda says, shaking her head. “Both of you. But the ceremony worked. You aren’ttethered. The reason the wedding works is because the binding under the witness of nature surpasses the spell. The vows you made ensure that no matter how far away you travel, you will always return to each other, which means the magical tether becomes obsolete.”

“Are you telling me I could have walked away anytime?” Peter yells, looking outraged.

“Why didn’t you?” Amanda asks, giving him a shrewd look.

“Because I was afraid of getting a nasty electric shock and being dissolved by freaky magic,” Peter snaps.

“Wait,” I say, interrupting them. Part of what Amanda said has stuck in my brain. To me, it’s the most important element. “When you said the vows surpass other bonds, and we’d always return to each other, what did you mean?”

“I mean that your marriage is binding,” Amanda answers. “Not just by law, but by nature. So long as you remain a witch and he remains a wolf, you will return to each other eventually, and always yearn for each other.”

“What if we get a divorce?” Peter demands.

Amanda laughs. “Unfortunately, the gods of nature don’t care about the laws of men,” she says. “According to the mountain, you’re still connected, and you always will be.”

“This is a fucking nightmare!” Peter groans. “Are you telling me I still can’t leave?”

My heart sinks, right down into my churning, ice-cold guts. I feel completely lost, bruised, beaten.

He really, really can’t stand me.

For fuck’s sake. Just go, Peter.

“Of course you can,” Amanda says patiently. “But like I said, I think you should ask yourself why you didn’t leave earlier.”

“Because I thought I couldn’t!”

“Really?” she asks pointedly, trying to hide her grin.

“Peter,” I say, stepping forward so I can take his hand, “just a week ago, we were happy. Well… I thought you were happy. I know I was, but I was scared my feelings were a result of the spell. This means it was real, all along.”

“No,” he gasps, stepping back and wrenching his hand from mine. “That’s not possible. I was being manipulated, and I dealt with it as best I could.”

“I’m afraid that’s just not true,” Amanda counters. “Anything you felt since the wedding is completely genuine, young man. You might want to just own it.”

He looks at me, and his green eyes are wide and full of panic. Even as my heart rips in two in my chest, I feel bad for him. I know how hard his life has been, how strong his walls had to be just to protect him enough to survive.

But it was real, my love. You were truly mine, and you let me into your heart. Just accept it. Please don’t shut yourself down again.

He takes another step back, glaring at me, then at Amanda. “You’re both witches,” he snarls, shaking his head. “I can’t trust you—either of you. I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but this isn’t me. None of this is what I want.”

“Peter, no—” I reach out for him, but he leaps away before I can touch him. He gives me one last wide-eyed look of panic before he shifts into his wolf form and disappears into the forest.

Tears pour down my cheeks as my chest heaves with painful sobs. I wrap my arms around myself and sink down to my knees as the sorrow rips through me.

He’s gone… he’s really gone! He left me!

“Oh, Lucy,” Amanda says gently. She kneels down next to me, wrapping an arm around me and stroking my hair. “My poor girl. I’m so sorry.”

“I thought he really wanted to be with me!” I cry, forcing the words out through my tears. “For a while there, it was so beautiful. We were happy together—I know we were!”

“He is a wild wolf, Lucy,” Amanda says, holding me. “His ways are not like other people’s. I can see deep hurt in him, so ragged and painful, it may never heal. But one thing I know for sure—he will be back. I don’t know how long it will take, but he will return to you.”

“Is that really a good thing?” I ask, trying to calm myself down but not having much luck. “Aren’t we just going to argue and split up again?”

“Lucy.” Amanda holds my shoulders and forces me to look at her. “The spell wouldn’t have worked if he wasn’t the one. Furthermore, the marriage vows wouldn’t have been binding if it wasn’t meant to be.”

“What are you saying?”

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