Page 25 of Enchanting Her Mate

“Many apologies,” I mutter through gritted teeth.

“What?” she asks, leaning closer and waiting for me to elaborate.

Suddenly, the stress of the last several days hits me from every direction. I am tired of Tibik’s judgmental gaze every time he sees me. I am tired of apologizing for Mek’s awful behavior. I am tired of Alu making reckless choices and leaving a mess in her wake. Mostly, I am just tired. “Many apologies?” I repeat, this time in a shout. “Look at what you have done to our food hall!”

Alu jerks back as if struck. “It was not intentional, Jobaki. I shall help repair it.”

That is not enough. “What will the clan do for food until it is repaired? How will Waldric and Krahn feed us without the fire pits? We are in the cold season, Alu. We cannot rely on our crops to keep us fed. If the frost comes, we will need to survive on the preserved jerky and stale bread that we keep for the hunters. If we run out of that, we could starve!”

She takes a step closer and reaches for me, but I hold up a hand, stopping her where she stands. Her shoulders slump forward as she lowers her gaze to the ground. “I would not let you or your people starve, Jo. You must know that.”

Her visible pain threatens to send me to my knees. I do not wish to hurt her, but I cannot allow this recklessness to continue. Not here in the village. Not in the coven house where I am responsible for the success of the younger Hexrins. If I hope to ever summon the courage to confront Tibik and take the role of Prime, I must be able to make tough decisions like this. It is for the good of the coven, and I am a Hexrin before all else.

“I cannot do this anymore,” I say, my voice barely a whisper as the words leave my mouth. I regret them instantly, but I do not take them back. As much as it will hurt me to let Alu go, I must. It is what is best for all of us.

“Do what?” she asks, confused as she searches my face. Realization hits just a moment later, and tears sting my eyes as she nods, defeated. “Very well.”

She starts to walk away, but then freezes in place, and whips around with fury tightening her features. “Enjoy another two centuries of misery, Jobaki.”

“I am not miserable. I am…happy,” I bark out. It is not true. I am the opposite of happy, but I am not prepared to admit that publicly.

“No, you are not,” she shouts. “And you never will be until you find a way to face what frightens you.”

“Well,” I shout back, “you will need to realize that fear or no fear, you cannot make reckless decisions if you hope to share your life with another. It is selfish.”

She swipes angrily at her cheeks, trying to hide her tears. “Then this goodbye could not come at a better time.” Kayt and Nee-roh approach slowly and wrap their arms around Alu as they guide her away from me, toward the clearing outside the forest.

Then I remember the dark energy cluster near her cottage, and my palms begin to sweat at the idea of her returning home unprotected.

Kayt shoots me an empathetic glance over her shoulder, and it tells me she is not angry at me for what just happened, which is a relief, but it does not make me feel any less devastated or afraid for Alu’s safety. I close my eyes to focus on the open portal inside Kayt’s mind. It is often wide open for anyone to communicate with her as her power has yet to reach the point where she can close it.

I find her power receptive, as I had hoped, and plant a thought in her mind that I hope she assumes came to her naturally.Take Alu to the caves. She should not be alone.And I silently pray Kayt will do just that.

Members of the clan slowly gather around the food hall and begin clearing away the debris. I sense movement to my right and hold back a sound of disgust when I realize it is Tibik. His lips are curved up in a smile that he is not even trying to hide from me. “That was the right decision,” he says, placing a hand on my arm.

I jerk out of his grasp and curl my lips back in a snarl when I turn to face him. “Lay a hand on me again and I will slice your throat while you sleep.”

His eyes widen in horror, and it fills me with intense, consuming euphoria. If I do not get to spend my life with Alu, then Iwillbe Prime Hexrin of this coven, and Tibik needs to watch his back.

CHAPTER 15

ALU

Icannot sleep. Food tastes like bitter sludge in my mouth. Even Mek is more agitated than normal, but that could be due to the low light in Niro and Kate’s caves. He has been flying in circles in the room I used to occupy when we first settled here after being banished from Sufoi. It is the same room I stay in whenever I visit Niro, but after living in the jungle for so long, this room no longer feels like mine. It is a spare room that just happens to have my old blankets in it.

Mek is perched on the iron bed frame at the foot of the bed, letting out an occasional shrill caw as he stares at me.

“What is it you want?” I ask impatiently. “We cannot go back to the jungle just yet, so you will need to get used to the caves. I am not ready to be alone out there.”

Mek tilts his head as if to say, “So I suppose I am invisible then?”

“No,” I quickly add. “It is not that your company is lacking, there is just…too many memories in that cottage. Memories I am not prepared to face yet.”

He squawks in response, the sound laced with a whiny edge. He misses Jo. He is not alone in that.

“She does not want me anymore,” I tell him, my voice cracking on the final word. My vision blurs with tears, and soon I am sobbing into the pillow clutched against my chest. I have cried several times since Kate and Niro brought me back to the caves yesterday, and I am surprised my tear ducts have not run dry.

“Knock, knock,” Niro says as he raps his knuckles against the door.

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