Page 21 of Forsaking His Mate

Hester shifts her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not. Fate brought you to me, just as it brought her. You’re both meant to be here together.”

“You know I can’t take her as my mate. Wasn’t your magic supposed to prevent this?”

I sound angry. I am. This shouldn’t be happening.

“There is no magic in existence that can stop you from wanting a mate that is fated.”

“What about my own desire to reject her?”

“Not even that! You’ll always be fighting against yourself.”

“Then I’ll fight.”

“She’ll fade away if you don’t claim her. You know what happens to rejected mates.”

I flinch at her words. I do. It is a tale we are told from a young age. Most fated mates can’t resist each other anyway, but there have been instances in the past where wolves have denied their mate.

I shake my head, as if to help clear it. I can’t think about my little wolf at this moment. “She’s one of you, right?”

“She’s tau, yes.”

“Her witch half will protect her from that.”

Hester glares at me and I can feel the waves of rage coming off her. “You don’t know that. We’ve never had a mated tau at the sanctuary. I have no idea what will happen. But I do know what happens to full-blooded wolves who don’t complete the mating bond. It isn’t pretty, Abel. She’s going to suffer in agony before withering away to a shell of who she is.”

That should be enough to make me go to her and save her. I know what it feels like to live under a cloud, waiting to lose your mind. I have dealt with that since I was a pup. Every generation of males in my family has had moon sickness.

She grabs my arm, forcing me to look at her. I hate seeing the disappointment in her eyes. “You have to go to her.”

“I shouldn’t have stayed in the sanctuary. Thesewomen are still part wolf. This was always a risk.” I curse myself for that, for putting myself in this position.

“So, what? You’re done? You’re just going to run, you coward?”

I snarl at her. She might as well have slapped me across the face. I feel her judgment weighing down my shoulders. “I never said I was done.”

“You go out there without anyone treating your moon sickness, and you know what will happen,” she says, her voice filled with anger. “You can’t just walk away.”

“I don’t want to walk away.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Hester’s question brings me out of my thoughts.

“I don’t know.” Avoid her. “I can’t leave without risking myself. I can’t stay without risking her. I’m out of options, Hester.”

Hester seizes my arm, her grip tight. “You’re controlled. As long as we redo the spell every ten days, you’ll stay that way. But this? There’s no magic that can stop it. She’s your true mate. You’re not going to be able to be around her without wanting her.”

She’s right. I can’t. I can sense Tessa, even from this distance. I know she’s still in the main house, which relaxes my wolf, but I can feel a hint of her emotional state too, her anger and grief warring with pain. I can stop all of it, and my feet want to move, but I force them to keep still.

Hester stares at me as I mentally fight myself. “I don’t know how you’re resisting,” Hester says.

Sheer force of will. It’s easier when I’m not around her, but I can still feel that pull, as if we are connected to each other by a string. “Because mating isn’t my destiny, Hester. I don’t deserve to be happy or content.”

Hester’s face softens, as does her anger.

“I understand why you think that, but you’re wrong.”

“I won’t destroy her.” This is my hill to die on. I can’t get close to anyone, let alone a mate. “I won’t be my father.”

“This is not the same—”

---