Page 113 of Destined Mate

In the following silence,the world tilted under my feet. Stevie had been helping the queen? How?Why? None of this made sense.

Bitterness filled my mouth as anger stabbed my chest.

Dina continued, “The ritual includes the Snake River, which wields magic.” She circled her hands, making the ink in the bowl. Her eyes continued to flicker around us as if she were seeking something. “To prepare, we went to the sacred site in each of the five states to gather the magic required for this ink.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Stevie gestured to Dina. “We need to go.”

“The ritual can’t be stopped once it’s started,” Michael replied.

Baby, you need to leave,Bodey linked, then included his parents,along with other pack members I wasn’t familiar with.Everyone who can, go. We’re under attack.

I’m not leaving you.My gaze went to the ink, and I stared, transfixed. It truly was a ritual…a rite of nature, magic, and our bodies.

Theo inched toward me, our arms brushing. He whispered, “We should get you out of here.”

Bodey, we see wolves,a woman pack member linked.A lot of them.

The world froze. The parents around Stella and I tensed. Everyone had received the same message.

How is that possible?Janet asked.No one knew where we were heading this morning except for the alpha advisers and Dina. We were so careful to tell only the alphas patrolling the area a short time before coming here.

No one responded as a male linked,We’re under attack!

“Providing the mark is my coven’s promise to protect the new royal family.” Dina waved a hand over the cauldron. “The royal’s acceptance of it is their vow to protect us from our enemies in return. This is the natural balance between our species. And now the marking will begin.” Dina threw the ink from the bowl in the air in front of her. “Goddess, mark the shifter who is to lead us until they depart from earth and move on to their next life.”

The liquid hovered, suspended, as it rolled within itself. Then something shifted.

A warning buzzed in my neck and throat.

“Something’s wrong,” I whispered, unsure how I knew. A tetheryanked inside me.

“Yeah, we’re under attack,” Stella whispered. “Your sister must have told them the location.”

“I didn’t. I tracked Callie’s phone to get here.” Stevie crossed her arms. “The queen called me thirty minutes ago to tell me things would be taken care of.”

Howls echoed around us way too close, the sound of many wolves…more than had attacked us last night. We needed to get Samuel inked and out of here.

“You begged me not to come here.” I remembered her pleading voice. This was too convenient.

Stevie winced. “Callie, I swear I knew nothing. I was scared the queen planned to disrupt the ceremony—that’s why I followed up.”

I wanted to believe her, but I couldn’t, despite the missing scent of a lie.

I turned my attention back to the ink, which still hovered over Dina, and time stood still. I fidgeted, willing the ink to move. Salt-N-Pepa’s song “Push It” started playing in my head. I was tempted to rush out there and blow the ink toward Samuel if it didn’t get its act together.

The voice of the man from earlier popped into my head.We’re greatly outnumbered. You need to move and protect Samuel.

My heart pounded. The spell wasn’t complete, and worse, the advisers had to participate in the ritual.I’ll go fight,I linked, hating to miss the moment, but it wouldn’t last if the wolves got here and killed Samuel.

No,Bodey linked.Don’t run into battle.

A familiar hand clutched my arm, and Theo murmured, “Come on.”

“Yeah, we need to fight.” I nodded, glad Theo was on the same page as me.

He tugged me toward the vehicles and growled, “We aren’t fighting. I’m getting you and Stevie out of here.”

I shook my head. “I’m not leaving Bodey andrunning.”

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