Page 4 of Wrong Mate

Glancingover toward her … mate, she had to wonder if he felt any pain or wished he could be holding her, if he felt anything for her at all.

His instant rejection had stung harder than she could have imagined. Each day and every single night, she would replay his rejection through her mind—the sneer, the glance up and down, and simply telling her no.

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This was supposed to be easy.

At least, Killian had assumed it would be easy but the past twenty-four hours had been the hardest he’d ever lived, and he’d lived through a lot. He looked over toward Leah, and she was curled up, her gaze not on him as she tried to get warm. He heard her teeth chattering from where he lay.

One of the perks of being a wolfwas he didn’t feel the cold, even when it was snowing. He tried to ignore her. This was not supposed to be a journey for him to care about her. The point of this mission was to sever whatever bond he and Leah had, due to the mysterious bonding that had occurred. Leah was his mate. She was young, immature, and above all else, a witch. There was no way he could ever be mated to a witch. They were constantly balancing on that precipice of good and bad. So easily swayed by bad magic.

He had a pack to protect, and he didn’t have the time or the energy to train her, orhelp her. So, terminating their connection would be painful, and he’d go through life knowing what he’d done, but in the end, it would be for the best.

That was what the seer, as well as an elder, had warned him about. What he sought could be found. Mates didn’t have to be for eternal life. Provided both parties were present in front of the witch, she could strip the bond, but it didn’t come without a price.

As he was the one who sought freedom, he would pay the ultimate price—he would only know emptiness. He would never find another mate. Leah, on the other hand, would find a different mate. There would be one created for her, as she didn’t have a clue what was happening.

Her parents knew what he planned, and they didn’t agree with him. Why would they? They didn’t believe the prophecy foretold to him many moons ago. The one where a witch would be his and his pack’s undoing. He would protect the pack at all costs, even if that meant sacrificing his happiness with his mate.

Leah was an interesting woman.In the last twenty-four hours, she had abided his command to not speak. He knew it would be easier to carry out this mission if he didn’t get to know her, but that didn’t stop him from being curious about her.

His gaze was constantly drawn to her, and asfor his wolf, he wanted her. No, not just his wolf, but he did as well. Leah’s scent was highly addictive, citrus, and yet sweet.

He wanted to strip her naked, spread her open, and fuck her until they both forgot what she was.Not that she’d shown any signs of being evil. Far from it.

He found Leah absolutely charming.

“For fuck’s sake,” he said, climbing out of this sleeping bag and stepping toward her.

“I’m f-f-f-fine,” she said. “T-t-t-tot-t-t-tallly warm.” She let out a little growl.

“Budge over,” he said.

She did some kind of wriggle. The sleeping bags he’dchosen were not exactly suited for two people.

He bent down, openedthe zip, slid in, and then opened his own sleeping bag and laid it around her. Wrapping his arms around Leah’s waist, he pulled her in close, and even inside the sleeping bag, she was freezing.

“Y-y-ou d-d-d-on’t h-h-h-have to do this,” she said, rushing out the last so she didn’t keep stumbling over her words.

“Shut up,” he said. His body was now molded to the curve of her back, and he held her against him.

Within a matter of minutes, she had stopped shivering.

“I guess being warm is another wolf perk.”

He smiled. “And I guess being cold is a witch’s perk.”

“No, it’s not.Just me. I get cold a lot. If someone let me light a fire, I would have been totally fine.”

And if she had lit a fire, he wouldn’t have gotten the chance to warm her with his body. Not that she should be enjoying this. In a few days, Leah would no longer be his fated mate. She would be nothing to him and he could go back to his pack without a care in the world, apart from the pit of loneliness and despair.

“And if I let you light that fire, everyone that wants you evil or dead would have known where we are.”

“If I’m such a high risk, why bring me?”

He neededher. That was another price. To sever the mating bond, the witch needed the couple who wished to remove it to be present. Killian didn’t know if Leah wanted this bond gone between them. He had a feeling she didn’t. Yes, she hated him and he was pretty sure she wanted to curse him, but he knew her gaze followed him. That she enjoyed being in his company, even when he was being a prick. Everything was better this way.

He would ignore how good it felt to finally hold her in his arms. To smell her so close. His wolf wanted to do a lot more, but he ignored him and instead focused on keeping her warm.

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