Page 13 of Wrong Mate

“Leah feels with her whole soul. I know you don’t understand what that means. She has not beenaround someone like you, and she’s young. She only knows what she feels and while you continue to reject her, a part of her will want to be around you. That is the point of the mating bond.”

“Which I’m going to remove.”

Lucinda clicked her tongue. “Then the least you can do is help her now. You have a chance to enjoy the taste of a mate, something you have been wanting for decades and never been granted. Now that you have, look how you’re treating her. I imagine the fates are wishing all kinds of untold karma for you.”

With that, Lucinda was gone, but the thunder and lightning was not.

Getting to his feet, he stepped toward the bathroom. He had superb hearing and knew Leah was crying. He tried to ignore it, but with each passing second and the weather, he couldn’t do it.

“Leah, let me in. Let us talk.”

Another loud crash. The rain seemed to get heavier. He growled and tried the door handle. It was locked. Closing his eyes, he was tempted to leave her, but knew he couldn’t.

Snapping the lock was easy and hestepped into the bathroom. Leah was nowhere to be seen. Her clothes were on the floor, and he took a step toward the shower. She was standing beneath the water.

“Get out,” Leah said.

“You asked for the truth,” he said.

“And I gotit, now get out.”

“Youhave to get your shit together.”

She turned her head and he tried not to look down the long length of her back, but it was so fucking hard. Especially as her ass looked so damn inviting. Plump and juicy, designed to sit within his palm and for him to holdher as he fucked her hard, fast, and deep. This is why he wanted to avoid being near her. She was temptation. And each minute he spent with her, the harder it was becoming for him to want to sever their bond.

Lucinda was right. For decades he’d been hoping, praying for his mate. Now that he had her, he was going to give her up for the safety of his pack.

“Get out,” Leah said.

He stepped into the shower stall, not caring that his clothes were getting wet.

“I know I’m hurting you, but you have to see that it’s for your own good,” he said.

“Rejecting me is for my own good. What kind of bullshit is that?”

He noticed when she was hurting, she swore a lot more. It sounded cute.

“I’m old, Leah. You’re still young and I know that wolves and witches only mixwell in small doses. You and I would make each other unhappy in no time.”

“You don’t know that. There’s no way you could ever know that,” she said, sniffling. “You’ve not even given us a chance.”

He wrapped his arm around her after another ground-shaking rumble filled the air. The moment he touched her, he felt so fucking free. Pressing his face against her neck, he breathed her in. The wolf inside him calmed.

For three days his wolf refused to settle. Always tense, ready to strike. It was exhausting, and he knew it was part of his punishment for the journey they were taking.

“Why give us something we can’t have?” Killian said.

“Who says we can’t have it?” Leah asked. “Why not give us this chance?”

She spun around in his arms. Her tits pressed against his chest. His hands were now near the base of her back. A mere few inches would see him touching that precious ass, and he wanted to, so badly. He didn’t.

Cupping his face, she forced him to look at her.

He didn’t want to look away. Her eyes were red fromcrying and he hated himself for causing it. All he wanted to do was protect her and his pack. There was no way for him to have both.

“I don’t know how long we’re going to be on this mission but why not allow ourselves the luxury of being mates? You’re not around your pack. I’m not near my coven. It’s just the two of us, Killian. No one needs to know and when we’ve done what you need, we can go back to our lives. We would have at least given us a chance.”

Damn it, it was so tempting.

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