Page 96 of Protected By Her Mate

She sighs heavily and pulls out a chair, sitting with a plunk and sending up a cloud of dust. “I’ve been fucking around with Destiny and now she’s pissed. Oracle sent me a message letting me know Destiny is on her way here and I can’t think my way out of this globular cluster of a situation.”

“Destiny is a person?” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Since Magdalene joined the family, I’ve learned many new things about our magical world and beyond.

Magdalene waves her hand dismissively. “Sure, if you want to call her that. I’d call her a…” She looks dramatically around to make sure no one is listening in as she points at the letters on her shirt.

“What does Destiny want with you?” I ask impatiently.

She jumps up from the chair and rings her hands as she paces. “It’s not me she wants.”

“Who does she want?”

Magdalene lets out a breath. “Charlie.”

I try to figure out what she’s trying to tell me, but I can’t. This is why wolves don’t usually fuck around with witches. It’s like pulling teeth getting anything out of them. “Tell me what you’re not saying, Magdalene, or I’m leaving you alone with whatever mess you seem to have gotten yourself into.”

She cringes. “The problem is I’ve also gotten Charlie into this mess.” When I give her a thunderous look, she says, “Okay, okay, I’ll say it as plainly as I can. According to Destiny, Charlie was meant to die when the bomb in the castle went off. I was tasked with watching over her to keep her safe until the big boom.”

“You were supposed to keep Charlie safe only to let her die?” I demand, furious, but not certain who to be furious with. “But you didn’t let her die.”

“No, I didn’t,” Magdalene says softly. “And now Destiny is pissed about it.”

I shake my head, trying to understand. “You interfered with Charlie’s destiny, am I getting this right? And now Destiny, the person, is coming to… what? Finish the job?” A chill goes through me. I can protect Charlie from a lot, but I don’t know how to fight Destiny.

Magdalene nods, her face pale. “Something like that.”

“What do we do?” I look at her blackened fingers, hands that hold so much power. “What are you going to do to save her?”

She shakes her head helplessly. “It’s impossible to fight Destiny. She always gets her way.”

I curl my hands into fists. “I’m not letting Destiny take Charlie.”

“And if you don’t have a choice?” The words, spoken by neither of us, whip through the room, sending cobwebs fluttering and giving the air a noticeable chill.

Magdalene and I look at each other, and I answer, “There’s always a choice.”

“Not always,” the faceless entity argues. “There is no choice in death. Eventually it comes to everyone, shifters included.”

“I won’t let it have Charlie,” I say fiercely as Magdalene hovers next to me. “Not yet.”

“What do you offer instead?” The voice holds no inflection.

“It’s best not to make deals with Destiny,” Magdalene warns me in a whisper.

“Hush, child! The adults are speaking now!”

The air in the room whirls and Magdalene spins on the spot before her bottom hits the chair with a thump as she’s forced to sit.

“You were saying, Prince Lennox Wolven-North? What do you offer in place of your beloved’s life?”

“Anything,” I say without hesitation. “Take my life instead.”

Magdalene makes a sound of protest.

“A noble sacrifice,” Destiny says, and I feel a slight breeze as something circles me. “But I can have any life I want with the snap of my fingers. I prefer something more… personal.”

What’s more personal than death? Though I suppose for a being like Destiny, death would no longer hold much interest.

Magdalene gasps and leaps to her feet. “I have an idea.” She looks at me with wide eyes, winking slowly, about as subtle as a flashing neon sign. If Destiny has eyes, she knows something’s up. “I know you don’t want to give it up, but I really think now is the time. You have to give Destiny something and it’s the most valuable thing you have.”

---