Page 12 of Forsaking His Mate

“I can’t,” I whisper, unable to hide the pain in my voice.

“You can. You must. No one else needs to die.”

Her statement makes me realize I have no choice.

I close my eyes and my wolf whines as I tear apart the bond I shared with my pack. It makes me groan and fold over, holding my chest as pain slices through me. Fuck. I can’t breathe.

“Easy, Tessa,” Hester soothes me as I remove all links to my past.

I gasp. “I didn’t know that would hurt.”

“I’m sorry. I hate that you had to do that. Most of us here don’t have family or a pack, so I didn’t consider it might hurt you to do that.”

“It’s okay,” I say, rubbing my sternum, trying to disperse the pain. “I know it had to be done.”

Hester sighs. “You’re a strong bitch, Tessa Williams.” She tucks her hair behind her ear as the front door to the main house opens, and a girl about my age steps out, pulling her cardigan around her body as if to ward off the cold. “You want to meet some tau wolves?”

My brows draw together. “There are more of us?”

“A few.” She points through the windshield. “That’s Apryle. She’s been here for six months.”

My lips tug into a grin. “Then let’s go and meet her.”

Chapter 3

Tessa

Iget out of the car and wait for Hester to do the same. The woman she called Apryle is watching me with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

I don’t blame her for that. I am a stranger to her, one with hunters on her tail to boot.

Discretely, I sniff the air. I can smell her from here. Her magic isn’t as strong as Hester’s, but it’s there, tingling beneath the surface.

My wolf’s ears are up, her body stiff and on alert, which makes me nervous, even though I’m not sure I have anything to fear.

Hester wouldn’t have brought me here if there was danger, right?

I urge my wolf to calm down as I force my smile to remain painted on my lips.

“You found her,” Apryle says.

“Let’s get inside.” Hester moves up the steps to the porch and I follow her, my eyes crawling up the front of the house as I do.

Everything I know is gone. My father, my pack, my friends.

I was loved and I loved them, too. I guess this is home now, or at least for as long as Hester will let me stay.

The urge to seek comfort from my pack has me reaching for the bond, but it’s no longer there. There’s an emptiness instead, a hollow sensation that sits heavily in my gut.

I swallow down the pain it brings, and the sense of loneliness too.

Neither myself nor my wolf has ever been alone like this, which is why she’s whimpering and circling inside my mind, desperately wanting to be set free.

Apryle steps aside to let me into the house and comes in behind me, closing the door.

My gaze is everywhere as I’m ushered into the hallway. It looks like any normal home.

There’s a large living room to the right with a sectional couch, plush cushions sitting against the backrest, a big screen TV, and a solid wood coffee table.

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