Page 80 of Wolf Mate

“It’s been over a month. Why didn’t you tell me before now?” We’d gotten close, and he knew things about me. It didn’t seem right that he’d hidden that his mother worked here.

This time, he met my gaze. “I didn’t know how to tell you, and our friendship was founded on how well we got along together. It had no bearing on who my mother is.”

I wasn’t letting this go. He’d skipped around the truth when we’d talked about family. “You wanted to go out with me yet didn’t want to tell me who your mother is?”

He hung his head. “I was trying to figure out how, but every time I thought about telling you, we were having a good time, and I didn’t want to ruin it. But you’re right. I should have told you. Gods, I’ve fucked up so many times.”

At least he was admitting he was wrong. Some of my anger melted away, and my blood returned to normal. I understood not wanting to ruin something, and I wasn’t an asshole who would drop a friend over something like that. “I wouldn’t have gotten upset, and I would’ve understood if I hadn’t learned it from someone else. I need a friend who’s honest with me, respects me, and doesn’t hide things, which is the opposite of how you’ve behaved.”

“You’re right. Let me make it up to you. Let me talk to my mom and see if I can get you access to the library. Then we can look through the books together, at least for a night, and you can get an understanding of our coven and how it works. You’ll see that what I’m telling you is true, especially since you feel like you can’t trust me anymore.” He touched my shoulder. “I want to restore what we lost, and I vow to tell you everything I can.”

That hecould. Not everything he knew. The wordsmithing was purposeful, and I knew he wasn’t being completely honest with me.

The thing was, I wanted to get into that damn library, which meant I had to play along. “Okay, I’d—”

Something vibrated over my skin, stealing my breath. My blood responded with a loud hum as Slade’s attention homed in behind me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ispun around, searching for a threat. I hadn’t realized I’d stepped over the spell perimeter last time because I’d been more focused on the meeting. This felt as if two different magical signatures were warring with one another.

“Shit,” Slade hissed, and my blood leaped into a hum.

I was going to blow soon.

I shouldn’t have come here. The woods by this school were not my friend, even if it was my solace.

Squinting, I looked harder. One of the magical signatures vanished, but now that I could sense the magic, I focused on the new magical presence.

It vanished, and the air around me returned to normal. But the sense of impending doom weighed on my shoulders. Something was coming.

And Raffe was out there.

What if something happened to him? The thought sent me over the edge, and the trees several feet in front of me shook in tandem with my blood.

I could only hope Raffe had sensed the threat before it arrived. I wanted to text him, but with the way my body shook, I couldn’t. All I’d wind up doing was to mess up my phone.

A woman with long, light-blond hair and wearing a hunter-green dress suit stepped into view.

A residual hint of the unfamiliar magic wafted from her. I read anger and speculation from her as she tilted her head and stared at the shaking fir trees.

I couldn’t let her hurt Slade and me. I crouched, pressing my hands into the mulchy earth. Instead of concentrating on the feel of it to calm myself, I felt my blood funnel into my hands.

The ground shook in sync with the trees and my blood. It surged from my hands to where the woman stood. The trees cracked, and she looked up and raised her hands.

“Sky!” Slade exclaimed as the tops of the two trees fell toward the newcomer. His voice was cut off by a loud grunt and a thud.

Wind blew from the woman’s hands, tossing the tree limbs several feet away from us.

Shit. I’d have to do something else to keep her from reaching us. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my eyes open. I focused on my fear, needing my blood to do more to protect us. I didn’t know how to fucking control it. My chest heaved, and I bent another tree, hoping to crack it in half. Then the ground underneath her feet split open.

Her eyes bulged as she lifted her hands.

My body sagged, and my breathing turned ragged as fatigue hit me. I’d never channeled power like this before.

“I’m not here to harm you,” the woman called, keeping her arms raised as if I had a gun trained on her.

I wanted to laugh. That was exactly what somebody who wanted to harm me would say. I’d been dumb enough for one day, and I wouldn’t be made a fool of again.

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