Page 46 of Beta Hybrid

This is where our plan ends.

We only planned to confirm Divina’s involvement, but now I understand her story so much better. I push the door open, black smoke pooling at my feet.

Divina, always so perfect-looking, wipes at her messy face with the sleeve of her dress. Her black hair is dishevelled where she’s run her hands through it. She balls her fists at her side, fingers twitching. She says nothing when she sees us, but her shoulders droop. Caught.

‘I knew you were keeping things from us,’ Jana says, ‘but I never would have guessed. So, let me get this straight. Gaia, the Origin and Mother of Witches, died. She was important to you, so you brought her back?’

Fresh tears spill down the Dark Witch’s pale cheeks. She nods.

‘And then Gaia asked you to look out for Zenna? Why?’ Jana asks.

‘She knew Zenna would be special. A hybrid. And she didn’t know where her parents were.’ Divina’s gaze falls on Andrea for the first time. ‘It’s not like they looked out for her. As a lone, part-witch, Gaia knew she would need me.’

‘That night, when I found you. You were half out of your mind,’ Cai says.

‘I was so drained,’ Divina says, her voice cracking. ‘From raising the Origins. They were killed together, so they had to be raised together.’ Her gaze slides over us all. ‘I know what I did was… I just wanted my mother back. The only one who ever cared for me. I needed her back.’

At that moment, Andrea sniffs, covering her mouth. ‘I’m so sorry, Zenna. For… for leaving you.’ She takes a tentative step toward me.

I launch myself at my mother, wrapping my arms around her as tears flood from my eyes. I still have so many questions, but for now, they can wait. After several long moments, my mother’s arms wrapped tightly around me, we finally break apart. She smells like spice and incense, I notice.

My mother tucks my hair behind my ear. I freeze. It’s such a maternal gesture, but she’s smiling sweetly at me, eyes still wet with tears.

‘We can’t let Drusilla live,’ Cai says. ‘She’s a problem, Divina.’

‘Unfortunately, the pup is right,’ Aldrich says. The Origin gets to his feet with a groan. ‘We’ll leave in the morning, then.’

Everyone turns to stare at him. ‘Where?’ Divina asks. I’ve never seen her shocked before.

Aldrich sets a hand on her shoulder. ‘To see your mother. If anyone knows what to do, I’ve often found it’s her.’ He gives a little squeeze. ‘Andrea, please set up our guests with a bed and some supper. Tomorrow will be a long day.’

Chapter Nineteen

Mordecai

In a separate little cabin-room, I keep looking around and down at the ground uneasily. Zenna watches me and finally says, ‘What’s wrong?’

I tentatively sit down, wondering if I’m imagining the floorboards creaking. ‘This tree house thing is cool and all.’ I push on a board next to me, testing its weight. ‘But it’s not the ground. This’—I wave my hand about—‘is not nature. I sleep on the ground, not in a tree. I can’t get up in the middle of the night and go for a run.’ I peer out a small window of the cabin. ‘Unless I want to break my neck first.’

Zenna pushes out her bedroll. ‘Are you afraid of heights?’ She settles down onto the bedroll, looking tired, but not uncomfortable. She leans over and rolls mine out, tapping my hands away from pressing on the floorboards. ‘Sit down.’

Against my better instincts, I do as she asks. ‘I am not afraid of anything, but this is unnatural. I want to feel the ground beneath me.’

My mate looks at me with sympathy. She reaches out and takes my hand. ‘It’s only for one night.’ She squeezes my fingers.

‘If I have to sleep twenty feet off the ground, the least you could do is come and keep me safe.’ I wrap my hands around her waist and haul her over to me. She gives a surprised squeal and lands on top of me, smiling. Zenna rests her hands flat on my bare chest. I let my eyes flutter closed as she rubs her hands over me, trailing over my chest, down my stomach. It feels like an age since I’ve been alone with her.

To my delight, she reaches above her head, and then her shirt is gone. My eyes snap wide open. ‘Oh. I should haul you on top of me more often.’

Zenna smirks, lust bright in her eyes. ‘You should.’ And there goes her bra.

I grin up at her, a low growl pouring from my throat. My hands find her hips, gripping hard, then trail hungrily up her stomach, toward the underswell of her breasts. She tilts her head back, letting her silver hair fall behind her. I grip and pull her nipples, and she gasps in pleasure, her hips bucking against my groin.

As much as I would prefer to be on the floor of the woods, grounded, this is my home. Every moment with my mate.

I toss her onto the bed roll and roll on top of her. This time she doesn’t squeal. She pulls me closer, her nails dragging down my back.

Chapter Twenty

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