Page 92 of Payne's Envy

“Why don’t you shift and fight? I could squash you like a fly as you are.”

Did she know I couldn’t shift on my own? How could she?

She taunted me. I wiped the sweat from my brow. I couldn’t think beyond attacking. So I kept fading and hitting her over and over. Her laughter bled all over my thoughts until I could no longer differentiate her mocking from my thinking.

“Joy,”Payne’s voice was a pleasant reprieve from Nadine’s. “Just fade to me. I’m almost finished with this one and I’ll take care of her.”

But I couldn’t. I refused to let her exist.

“You can. I sense your elevated emotions. Calm down. It’s the heat. She’s a female, and you’re reacting to a threat, but there’s no need—”

I couldn’t acknowledge my mate’s words. All I knew was I had to do that. I couldn't deny the pounding of my heart and the burning sensation in my flesh.

Fading a little ahead, I dropped into a clearing and calmed my breathing. I dematerialized my blade, closed my eyes, and begged for the gift I’d been given. I was Payne’s mate. He was trying his hardest to remember what he lost. He deserved a mate that tried her best, too. I wanted to be like him. To accept everything that was new to us. Only then could we start anew.

My shift came instantly. No pain. Or wings.

It didn’t matter. I raced up a tree. The flapping of Nadine’s wings drew closer. She slowed and glanced around before looking up. I jumped. My lithe body wrapped around her. I didn’t feel the drop.

All I could focus on was the desire to end her and be with my mate. So I squeezed and squeezed.

“What are you---” Nadine’s voice broke off. “You’re— Stop. It. Get off me.”

Her cries filled my head, but I still didn’t stop.

When she vanished from my hold, I roared and looked around. I sniffed the air. I didn’t smell her, so I ran forward a bit. I didn’t know how far I searched, but the longer it took, the more agitated I became. Where did she go? How could she leave before I—

“Joy.”

I whipped around at the sound of my mate’s voice. He was in his human form as he approached.

“My Joy.” He said my name again, softer this time. “My girl.”

My girl? He uttered it so tenderly that my soul ached.

“Where did she go?”

“You scared her away. She ran.”

No. No.

“Yes.”

“I need to kill her. I have to.”

Why was he protecting her?

“I’m not.”

“I’ve not been speaking…”

“You know what this is. It’s already happened before. It’s because I’m your marked mate and have been gifted your thoughts.”

I couldn’t hear the beauty in his words. The burning was too much. I shifted forms and stormed up to Payne. “You let her escape.”

“We will kill her another day. She’s no threat to you.”

Nothing he said made any sense. I couldn’t let her escape. She was a problem. She was like my mate. The male I hadn’t claimed properly yet. I looked at him as I approached. He was already dressed head to toe. He even materialized himself a cloak. His nostrils flared, and his eyes roamed over me.

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