Page 22 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“Yes,” I lied. “It sayshideaway.” A flimsy lie, but it would get us both inside without him arguing. I couldn’t yet tell him where we really were. If I did, he wouldn’t enter with me, and if I ended up alone, deep in the cliff, with only my thoughts and nightmares to keep me company, I would go insane. No matter how much I hated him, Zephyr would at least fill the silences.
Or he could kill you down here, and nobody would know, I thought.
But I couldn’t focus on that. Instead, I gathered myself, and we walked through the archway into another space where a proper door awaited us. I pushed it open, finding a small, homely room. It had been set up for any wanderers, stray witches, or witches purposefully looking for a place of restoration.
“Well,” he whistled. “This is… Neat.” He strode through the door, taking in the double bed to the right. Elegance and muted golden and burnished colors spread throughout the place. To the far left was another archway, sealed shut only witha shimmering shield. Reflective water glimmered through there, and I knew I had the place my grandmother always talked about.
A witch’s sanctuary.
“I’m home,” I whispered. My hand crossed over the doorway we had just entered through, sealing it closed with a spell to keep us safe.
“Home?” Zephyr asked, turning to me, suspicion in his eyes. “Adalyn.” He came towards me, his anger flaring. I raised my hands in surrender. “Adalyn, where the hell have you brought me?”
I backed up, moving far from him. The room wasn’t very tall, but it was wide enough for him to shift if he really wanted to. Candles scattered around the room. I clicked my fingers, willing them all to light. Magic poured from the walls, the place so close to our healing water properties that I finally felt at peace.
Safe.
Except for the shifter in front of me.
“We’re in a sanctuary,” I told him. “A witch’s sanctuary.”
“You tricked me,” he accused. “I told you this was a trick, and you deceived me.”
“I did what I had to do to get us to safety,” I argued.
“Oh my God,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Adalyn.Adalyn.”
“What?” I cried. “If you wanted to pick the place, then you should have!”
His green eyes flashed. “I’m going to kill you. Howdareyou bring me here.”
His voice rose to a yell, and I flinched, but instinctively threw my hands up, my palms facing him. Zephyr reeled back asif burnt.Good, I thought.Know that I am more powerful down here than ever.
He backed up a step.
“Just let me back out,” he said, his voice quieter. “That’s all. You can stay here if you want to if you’re safe. I’ll tell Alex we got separated. Just let me go somewhere else.”
His hands twitched, his jaw clenched. He was giving me a chance to let him out so my life would be spared. I laughed.
“You really can’t hold onto honor, Zephyr?” I taunted. “You need to get rid of me that much, you can’t resist killing me?”
The power was going to my head—I needed to stop, needed to not taunt him. We were all alone down there. Fear buried in my veins, and courage won out but it was a foolish sort of bravery.
I could disarm him and protect myself, but he could shift. One swipe of those claws, one gnash of his teeth, and I would be dead.
And yet… There was something about that goaded anger in his eyes that I craved more of.
“It must kill you,” I whispered. “To have to stay here. Forced to find safety in your enemy’s territory.”
“Shut up,” he warned.
“But then again,” I continued, “We did kiss, after all.Youkissedme, so maybe you hate that you want me, that you want your enemy more than you want to kill.”
“Adalyn.” His voice was a growl.
“How does that feel, Zephyr?” My eyes met his. His body trembled with holding himself back—with restraining such might and a need to end my life right then and there.
“Traitor,” he spat. “Bitch.”
