Page 11 of Broken Mate

“Don’t you fucking dare finish that damn sentence!” he roared, cutting off her words. “You will never think them again, do you hear me?”

“I’m trying to save you!”

“By rejecting me? You do know that if you utter those words, you’ll condemn both of us to an unhappy future.”

“You can still find a woman to love,” she argued. “Still have children.”

“I would never subjugate a woman to a marriage built on lies. And that’s what I’d be living, Anais. A lie. I would never love her. I would never condemn her to a loveless marriage. So, you will not reject me, do you hear?”

At that moment, Ruby walked back into the room. “Anais, listen to him.”

Two against one. How could she possibly win the argument? So, she nodded, accepting his claim.

At least, for now.

Chapter Four

Later that night, Ledger went to the home of young Silas. For close to an hour, he helped as much as he could, which mainly consisted of him making coffee and ordering Chinese food for the family. When the teenager fell into an exhausted sleep, he walked over to Jericho.

“Hey, got a minute?” he asked in a low voice.

“Of course,” Jericho replied, running a hand down his face. “What’s up?”

Ledger looked around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “Anais.”

One eyebrow went up. “What about her?”

Ledger rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s my moon-fated mate.”

“What the…? I did not see that coming! Congrats.”

“Yeah, I’m pleased but she, uh, seems less enthused. Called herself broken.” He sighed. “Almost rejected me.”

“Well, how do you feel about her problem?”

“You mean her legs? I don’t give a fuck about that. She’s my mate, Jericho.”

Jericho held up his hands. “I get it, but I can also understand why she said that. Wolfsbane poisoning really messes with your mind. Makes you feel vulnerable. Small. Now she’s not only dealing with that, but with the truth her own family didn’t value her. That her sister wanted her dead. And in her mind, her mate, which is you, has seen her at her worst.”

Ledger shifted through his knowledge of wolfsbane, trying to remember what Jericho did to overcome his bout with it. “How does she get better?”

“She has to reconnect with her wolf,” Jericho answered. “Meditation. Exercise. Focus training. You know that.”

“I want to work with her.”

“You’re more than welcome to sit in with the sessions—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I mean,Iwant to be the one to help her.”

“Are you sure?”

“She is who I’ve been waiting for, so no one else can help her but me.” He leaned forward. “My wolf doesn’t want any other male’s hands on her.”

“All right,” Jericho said. “I’ll draw up a schedule that’ll best help her. But if you need me, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks,” Ledger murmured as he stood.

“Hopefully, it’ll give you time to get to know each other.”

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