Page 5 of Bullied Mate

I pursed my lips thoughtfully and rounded the bed, sitting lightly on the edge next to him. “Etta called and said you were attempting to use a…” I pulled out my phone to check my messages. “…Bee Bee Gun?”

“Evidently, those things are sensitive.”

“You’ve got a bruise under your eye. Couldn’t you heal it?”

He laughed sheepishly. “They were spelled.”

“With what?”

“Never mind that, Galanthia. Why do you keep picking at Xavier?”

What a question. If I had an answer, I’d grant him one. But the truth was that I wasn’t even sure from whence the feelings originated. “It’s a general sense of distrust.”

“He’s part of the pack.”

“Allow me to remind you, friend, of the soldiers in our troop who we said similar things about.”

He sighed wearily. “There’s no need to remind me.”

“My instinct says he’s tainted.”

“Is his aura different?”

Memory took hold as I thought about the encounter in the lobby. No, his aura hadn’t been different, but there was something about his aura that twisted my gut.

I closed my eyes. “I’m honestly not sure, Izzy. He scared me.”

“How did he scare you?”

“My muscles tensed up and I wanted to fight.” I lightly touched the front of my throat. “It felt like I was trying to swallow a handful of cloths.”

Izdor reached for my hand. I allowed him to touch me, to provide comfort. Our bonds were forged as such to grant the greatest sensation of assurance. Nothing could deny me the wondrous feeling supplied by my Elderling friends. Anyone else might have accused him of being sweet on me, but no, that interest had never come to fruition with Izdor. We’d always been such great friends.

“I wanted to cry,” I whispered. “I felt small in his presence.”

“I’m sure you don’t need me to point out the obvious joke there.”

Unruly as he was with his teasing, I grinned. “Sure.”

“He’s just a man, Galanthia. He’soneman. How could he possibly make you feel that way? It’s not like you’ve ever met him before.”

“No, I haven’t.”

Yet those words felt false on my tongue.

How?

Xavier England hadn’t been here when Izdor first brought Juriah and me to this place several months ago. His brothers had been away with him for a total of five years. And his child had been with him as well. Nobody had spoken of them until they appeared. If I hadn’t heard or seen him before, how could my statement be incorrect in any capacity?

Izdor squeezed my hand. “What did Raven have to say to you?”

“What?”

“Outside. I felt Raven nearby and I sensed that she stopped you.”

My eyes narrowed. “If you heard me in the lobby, then surely you heard the request our alpha made of me.”

“It was garbled by the stuff I heard in the other room.”

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