Page 44 of Tethered Magick

“I’m a mut.” I sniffled. “A mudblood. An abomination.”

“You’re none of those things.” Dason’s voice was velvet covered steel.

He pulled me away from his chest to peer down into my face, letting me witness his sincerity.

“It’s true you may be something the world has never seen, but that doesn’t make you less, Lorn. That makes you more.” One hand stroked over my hair soothingly. “You’re a witch, a shadow touched, and now a vampire. You hold unimaginable power. We just have to learn how to tap into it and wield it. It’s no different than what we were doing before.” His hand settled along my neck, and his thumb grazed the line of my jaw. “You’re the veil keeper, little mate. I can still sense your primal spirit. It may be quiet at the moment, but none of that has changed.”

“You think so?” My heart wanted it to be true. Every goddamn word.

Dason leaned down and kissed my forehead. “You’re still you, and you’re still my mate.”

I was moved by his conviction, and while there were a number of things I wanted to remark on, I couldn’t let go of the question that left my lips. “Am I your mate?”

“You’ve been my mate since the moment you crash landed in my territory, Lorn.”

“I know our primal spirits recognize each other. That’s not what I’m asking.”

Dason sighed. “I know.”

“What’s changed? One minute you claim I’m yours, and then you’re pushing me away again. You’re worried about our age difference, which you haven’t explained. I know you still have feelings for Mara—”

“Had,” Dason growled. “Ihadfeelings for Mara before I met you. I didn’t even know you existed. Since the moment you arrived, you’re all I can fucking think about. What I feel for you is levels above anything I ever felt for anyone else.”

“I thought you wanted her.” My brows pulled down in confusion.

“No,” Dason said. “There’s no denying that I fucked up, but it was never because I had stronger feelings for another woman. Dammit. You really think that’s why I hesitate when it comes to you?”

“Yes.” My voice rose. “What else was I supposed to think? Mara is gorgeous. She’s womanly, and she knows your world. From what I’ve gathered, you two were close growing up. She has a history with you that I’ll never be able to replace or compete with.”

“Don’t you understand? There is no competition. You’re it for me, Lorn. Mara, other women, they will never measure up to you in my eyes.”

I shook my head, trying to understand. “Then why do you keep pushing me away?”

“My hesitation was never because of Mara. Not truly. She was the safe, familiar option. Amenable enough to make a good mate, understanding of our world and the job we do daily, and more importantly, she wanted a place to belong. A family. A pack. We wanted companionship, a mate to have a future with, and Mara wanted the security.”

“She’s in love with you.”

Dason’s laugh was dry. “It’s clear that Mara holds no such affection. If she did, she would have let us be happy instead of almost taking away the one thing we could never replace.”

I flopped back onto the pillow, and my hand strayed to my belly. It stirred hungrily, but I ignored its request for blood.

“I kind of understand her motivation.”

A look of surprise passed over Dason’s face.

“Hear me out.” I chewed on my lip. “Mara doesn’t understand the mate bond. She views it like a love spell, an entity that took away your free will to choose who you wanted to be with. I know this because I’ve felt the same way at times. How do I know I’m not just shackling you all to me without a choice? How am I supposed to know that you actually want me, the girl behind the mate bond? Trust me, I’m not saying what Mara did was right. It was fucked up and I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive her for what she’s done to me and our pack, but I am saying I understand her motivation to break our bond. She thought she was freeing you.”

“I don’t need to be freed,” Dason growled in pure frustration.

“It’s a little late for that,” I sassed, but it fell flat. “As much as it scares me, maybe some good will come out of losing the bond.”

“None of this is good, Lorn. I lost my pack and my mate in one fell swoop. It’s been so long since I was alone like this. I can’t stand the silence in my own head, and I plan to remedy it as soon as possible.”

“But now we get to choose. You can walk away if that’s what you want, Dason. It’ll still hurt, but it won’t destroy me the way it would have if the mate bond was intact. Silver linings, I guess.”

Dason studied me. His expression was drawn, his eyebrows slashing downward as he stared. “You truly think I’m going to walk away from you?”

“I’m just saying it’s an option.”

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