Page 94 of Wolf Mate

Nope. That was real. It truly had happened.

“It’s neat, isn’t it?” Slade smiled. “You should feel special. Not many people know about this, and we’re asking that you not share this with anyone.” He placed a hand on my back, guiding me forward.

His touch feltwrong, and I took a hurried step into the darkness to move away from it. My neck tingled more as if I could sense Raffe’s rage, but I didn’t want to argue with Slade while he was taking me somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go.

As I stepped through the doorway, magic brushed against my skin, and the darkness transformed.

I stepped into a hallway of books and hanging lanterns. The ceiling of the library was cement but buttressed by carved wooden arches with twinkle lights strung through them, addingto the glow. A strong musty odor hit my nose, which wasn’t surprising given how old these books were.

I scanned the books, each one bound in old leather with handwritten names on the spine, followed by what appeared to be a coven name. There had to be thousands—the hallway seemed to go on for miles.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Slade asked from close behind me.

I jumped and spun around. The door had closed, and we were almost chest to chest. I took a step back, needing more distance.

As I stepped deeper into the library, more vibrations brushed my skin from both sides. My breath caught, and I jerked my head from side to side. It felt like people were crowding me, but I couldn’t see anyone.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Slade extended his arm again, but when I flinched, he stopped. He frowned but lowered his hand. “The books contain spells, so what you’re feeling is the remnants of each person’s magic. It can’t do anything to you—it’s just their signatures that were left behind.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “A warning would’ve been nice.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you’d feel it. You don’t seem to feel the magic in us, but maybe that’s because our bodies are barriers, whereas the books don’t have one.”

I pursed my lips. “You can feel another coven’s magic?”

He nodded. “It’s how we identify ourselves without ever saying a word. It came in very handy during the Salem witch trials. We knew who to protect and who we could be ourselves with.”

My head tilted back. I’d never considered how much of the history I’d learned might not be accurate. Now I couldn’t help but question almost everything I knew. How much had the supernaturals influenced things without us humans ever realizing it? I hated to think about humans as their prey and howeasily we might be manipulated. I probably didn’t want to know the answer.

“Come on. Mom and a few others from our coven are waiting for us.” He pointed down the hallway to stairs that led to a second level.

Strange.

Turning around, I felt trapped. When Slade had mentioned there was a secret coven library, I’d assumed it was in the woods, somewhere Raffe could easily reach if I got into trouble. I wasn’t sure I could escape from here if something happened. I’d let my eagerness to learn about my heritage taint my judgment, and now I might have gotten myself into a world of trouble.

That sounded about right with how things went for me.

As I walked toward the stairs, a different sort of vibration brushed my skin, scraping like sandpaper. I gritted my teeth, feeling more raw with each step. I didn’t want Slade to know I was bothered since I wasn’t sure what they had in store for me. I didn’t trust him anymore, and his mom wasn’t much better. Unfortunately, they had the one thing no one else did.

Answers.

I reached the cement stairs and took them slowly, the vibrations becoming downright painful. Slade knew how desperate I was, and I didn’t want to validate that knowledge by hurrying. He already had enough control over me.

At the top of the stairs, I entered a sizable room. Two long rectangular tables ran parallel to one another, and a large lantern-style chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, lighting the room.

Three women and one man sat at the middle of the table on the left. Priestess Olwyn sat on the side nearest to the wall, facing me with the two women on either side of her. The priestess gestured at the seat across from her, next to the man.“Skylar, please join us.” She placed her hands on an old, worn book in front of her.

My head spun, and I wanted to run over and snatch the book from her grasp. But I’d learned a lot from Lizzy and other bullies I’d known throughout the years. If they knew they had something I wanted, they’d use it against me at every opportunity. The thing was, I suspected Slade and his mom were bullies, only better at hiding it to manipulate me.

The closer I got to the table, the more my skin felt as if it were being pulled away from muscle. And when I sat next to the middle-aged, blond-haired man, unease made my skin crawl and my blood jolt.

He looked at me and tugged at the black suit coat he wore, his slate eyes scanning me. “This is the arcane-born?” He quirked a brow.

My mouth went dry. Slade had told me not to tell anyone, and now I was sitting in a room with five people who knew about me. I swallowed and lifted my chin, trying like hell to appear confident and not terrified. “This is now public knowledge?” I looked at Slade as he sat next to me.

Slade winced, but Priestess Olwyn ran a hand over the closed leather book. “He didn’t share the information. I did. But there is a reason he recommended you keep silent. You see, the wolf shifters—in particular Prince Raffe and King Jovian—would want to use you to further their power. They shouldn’t even be ruling since all the decisions they make benefit them and not the rest of us. It’s essential to keep the knowledge of what you are limited to a handful who haveeveryone’sbest interests at heart.” I heard that tone of disgust in the priestess’s voice.

It was the same tone Slade sometimes had, especially when talking to Raffe.

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