Page 20 of Wrong Mate

“They can do that?”

“Not yet, but I won’t put anything past them. They’re murderers. It’s how they became banished.”

“You are a surprise, Leah.”

She winked at him. “I’m full of many different surprises.” She was exhausted.

Getting to her feet, Killian grabbed her hand, and they left the river, keeping it far behind. Leah couldn’t help but look backward and as she did, she saw the head of either the siren or the mermaid bobbing in the water.

Fucking freaky.

****

The forest floor was not the ideal place to make camp, butit was already dark and cold. They’d been walking for the past two days, and he’d hoped to find a human hotel or even a rundown cabin. Something that could have provided them shelter. Instead, he only had his body heat and some food scraps to keep them fed. He pulled Leah into his sleeping bag, placing hers over the two of them. She shivered a lot.

“I’ve got you,” he said.

“It’s so cold.” She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. You don’t feel it,” she groaned.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m not going to leave.”

“You better not,” she groaned. “I’m so cold.”

He chuckled.

“Why is this funny?”

“Because I’m hot.” He winked at her.

“That was a bad joke. A very bad joke.”

He chuckled again. He couldn’t help it. “So, tell me more about what you did growing up. Did you work with your coven?”

He heard Leah sigh. “My parents didn’t like it, but to be part of the coven, you have to accept the work. They wanted me to grow up, to have a normal life, but that wasn’t going to happen without all the trouble my pesky magic caused.”

“Did you want a normal life?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I have nothing to compare my life to.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m pretty sure normal doesn’t involve becoming friends with sirens.”

“And mermaids. I have a couple of those as well.”

He smiled.

“Tell me about your life as a kid,” she said. “I’ll try to see if my life was so different.”

“My lifewasn’t exactly normal as I had to train to take over as an alpha. My father knew his time was ending, and he didn’t want to spend all of it away from my mother.”

“Where are your parents?”

“They’re part of the elders now.”

“They passed?”

“Yes, they did. Itwas their time, and they had been around for a couple of hundred years, so they were ready to cross over.” That was what they did in his world. They aged slowly and had the ability to live forever, but some, like his parents, full of wisdom, chose the path to offer guidance to the young.

---