Page 85 of Magic Hunted
“Whatever you have to say to Haera, you can say to us,” Dias said.
Jarom pressed his lips together. “Very well. There are no secrets between true mates.”
“I’m truly happy you’ve found your mate, Jarom. Believe me when I say if it wasn’t for Titan, I never would…”
Jarom lifted his hand again. “I didn’t mean anything against you, Haera.” He sighed, shifting his weight and running a hand through his hair. “This is coming out all wrong. If I had only known what pressure Titan had put you under, I would have understood. Hells, if you’d told me you pretended to be our mate to protect children, I would have tried to save them myself.”
A small smile touched my lips. The wolf alphas weren’t evil. Jarom had reacted badly but I’d expected it. He felt more than most, and took wrongs deeply. “Would you have saved all of them, Jarom? I would have told you all, but what if one child was missed? What if Titan found that child and killed him or her in front of their parents. Would that not have been one life too many to risk? It was best I pretend to work for him. At least during my time with you I managed to set up ways to help your people get back to you. And I was willing to accept my guilt as penance for my deception.”
“We still could have helped. They were our people. Our wolves,’ Jarom said.
“And let my secret out? What sort of a spy would I be if I told everyone what I did?” I asked.
“You were a better spy than us, it seems.” Jarom paused, his heavy gaze locking with mine. “I’m truly sorry, Haera. It wasn’t only your fault. I…we…will be burdened with the blame too. It wasn’t your deception. It was Titan’s.”
He truly was sorry. I’d never seen him look so remorseful. Or humble. Jarom was the most savage of the wolf alphas and it took a lot for him to show me this side of himself. That was more of an apology than his words.
“It’s forgiven. Titan has paid his price. If only he was cursed with death magic. The ways I could kill him over and over again. I’d make each death as slow and agonizing as I could, and even then it would be too small a price to pay for the atrocities he’s committed,” I said.
Jarom’s eye widened and then a slow smile spread over his lips. There was the vicious wolf I knew. “Maybe there’s a spell we can use to bring him back. Seems to me, Fae magic is very powerful.”
“How about we leave the fantasy for another time and get the grimoire out of you first?” Ashir said. “Not that I wouldn’t give anything to see the same thing happen to that bastard.”
Serafine appeared behind Jarom from a turn in the path, stealing our attention. Her sleek blonde brows were scrunched in concern. “Have you seen Gilda, Jarom?”
She approached Jarom, with Alerick and Eike close behind her, and put her arm around his waist. The huge tattooed wolf blushed, placed his arm around his mate’s shoulders and tugged her close to his side.
My magic flared, pleased to see Jarom happy with his bond mates. I put a hand over the fluttering under my breastbone.
“Are you all right, my heart?” Savvas said. He always noticed anything about me.
“I…” I frowned when the strange sensation disappeared. “I think so.”
“No. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her all day,” Jarom said, worry clouding his eyes.
“When did you see her last? Can you remember? She worked with Cook the day we went to the cave but no one has seen her since.” Her pale cheeks grew whiter as she clenched her fist in his coat. “We’ve discovered more people who have gone missing since the shockwave. I think…I think she was taken too.”
My heart raced.More people had gone missing than were in the cave?
“Are you sure? Have you checked everywhere?’ Jarom said.
Serafine nodded. “I went into the village and asked if anyone had seen her. I went to every place she felt safe and knew where to go.No onehas seen her. Jarom…she’s blind. Vulnerable. We have to find her.”
Ashir’s shock reverberated through our bond. We hadn’t been aware of anything apart from our sexual bliss for the past day. “No one advised us of this.”
“We didn’t want to interrupt. Not only is bonding a private affair, but we also need the grimoire.” Alerick had the grace to look sheepish, but he was right on both counts. It didn’t stop my horror from rising.
Serafine turned to me, steel in her gaze. “We have to release your part of the grimoire. We have to find where they were taken and bring them back. We have to find Gilda.”
“Yes. Of course,” I said.
My gaze locked with Ashir’s, a stone sinking in my chest at the repercussions in our own territory. “After this we’ll go back to panther territory and see if anyone has gone missing there.”
I couldn’t care less about the humans who had made my life a living hell, but they had family and friends they would be worried about. The faster we got back to panther territory, the better.
“Let’s get this done,” I said.
I had to focus on what I was here to do. I linked my fingers with Ashir’s as we turned to the large cabin situated at the end of the path. It was larger than any of the other wolf cabins but I wasn’t surprised when the alphas had given it to Anise. She was their adopted sister after all. Even in the depths of my deception, I’d admired the way they treated her. It said a lot to me about their character and had only made me more resolved to do what I could to help the wolf shifters Titan captured to get back to their home.
