Page 66 of Dawn Unearthed

Magic shook around us, lashed at my skin, pulled at my hair as it dug into me. Ash let out a few words, a soft spell, and I witnessed him pulling the dagger slowly out of Sage’s body. She began to convulse, and I pushed more energy through the bond to her.

She had to be okay. She had to stay alive. We were bonded. She was my mate. She was my future.

And she would hate me.

The others began to murmur, putting their hands on the wound to stop the bleeding. I held her and threw my head back, roaring again. Whatever glass was left in the place shattered, but Rowen used her wind magic to stop it from hurting anyone. They all gave me pitying looks, but I ignored it.

“I need to help save her,” Rowen said as she knelt in front of me. “There are spells, Rome… I need to hold her.”

I looked down at Penelope, the one we couldn’t save, and my bear knew I needed to let go. Because my bear and I weren’t in control, and I didn’t want to hurt her. I couldn’t hurt anyone. I handed Sage over to Rowen and staggered back, coming to my feet as my hands shook, my body now covered in blood.

I didn’t say anything. I simply left. I left my mate, my family, everyone.

I needed to leave.

My bear had taken her pain, but I had to go before I saw the regret on her face. The others could stay. They could save her. I needed to go. Because I had done the one thing I’d promised I would never do, the one thing a shifter should never do.

I had taken her as my mate without her permission.

It might’ve been to save her, but I had crossed a line. And I deserved whatever consequences came because of it. I staggered out of the bakery, knowing the others were there, ready to hear something from me, but I couldn’t say anything.

Instead, I threw back my head and roared again. The town shook, and I knew that whatever wards Rowen had in place, had to be working double-time to keep the secrets of our town.

I rolled my shoulders back and then shifted, my bones snapping into place, fur sprouting all over my body. I dropped to all fours, roared again, and then ran into the forest. I needed to breathe. I needed to push out the pain and the energy the bonding had brought.

Sage would be safe for now. I needed her to be. Because there was nothing else I could do. I had a mate.

She would hate me.

But I deserved it.

Chapter Nineteen

Sage

Icould hear others around me mumbling words over and over. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, and it hurt too much to focus hard enough to figure it out. There were hands on my body, soft, healing touches, but I wasn’t tuned in to the outside.

I was focusing on what was inside. What clawed at me. Was it claws? Or was it something else? I wasn’t sure. I had never felt this before. It was as if a thread connected me to another. What was this?

I reached out almost internally, trying to understand what was going on, and dug my fingers into its spindly yet sure grip.

It was a thread.

A bond. Something I didn’t understand. What was it? What could it be?

Then I heard a soft growl. And fur slid along my skin.

It was a bear

Rome’s bear.

I knew this bear. He wasmine, creeping along the bond, reaching for me. And then it reached out to the power within me. My magic. It pushed towards the bear, and he butted his head against my side. I smiled.

“You’re here,” I murmured. “Or am I here?” It didn’t make sense.

Where was I? I didn’t think I was awake. This had to be all in my head. If this was in my head… Where was Rome?

His bear butted my hand. Again, I smiled. This was definitely his bear. His anchor. He was here. And if there was a bond… That meant we were mated.

---