Page 87 of Rejecting his Mate

“It means somebody purposefully hid your magic so that everyone would assume you are a wolf.”

Halle’s mouth pulls into a tight line. “Adeline.” I’m not surprised she comes to the same conclusion as I did. She tries to pull away from me, needing space, I guess, but I don’t allow it. I don’t want her to think this changes anything for me.

“So, if we find a witch, we can unbind my powers?”

“I can unbind your powers,” Hester tells her. “But it is not without risk. I don’t know how the original spell was performed and what might happen if I pull it free.”

“I understand,” Halle says. “But I want you to try. I think whatever was done to me also modified my memories. I can’t remember anything before I came into my aunt’s care. Though I’ve been seeing snapshots of the past—at least I think it's the past. They feel so real I don’t know how they can’t be.”

“Your magic is trying to break through,” Hester says. “I sensed that when I looked into your mind. You’ve managed to access part of it already?”

“I healed Cade and another of our pack.”

“Can you do it here?” Tessa asks.

“I’d prefer to do it in the sanctuary. I don’t know what will happen when I break through those bindings.”

I almost roll my eyes. Of course, they want Halle to go somewhere more private. “No offense, but I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you. You’re not taking Halle anywhere. If you’re going to undo it, then you do it here.”

“Can you stop trying to fix everything?” Halle snaps at me. Her brows are drawn together, leaving a cute little dimple between her eyes that I want to kiss. I must linger too long there because she reaches up and covers the area I’m staring at.

“This is what I mean when I say your wolves are connected,” Hester interrupts.

“What does that mean?” I finally snap. “All this talking in fucking riddles is annoying. Just spit out what the hell you’re trying to say.”

“The link between you is faint because of the other mating bond, but there is a mating link between you both as well.”

Halle jolts, her entire body moving as if she has received an electric shock. I feel the same thing go through me. There is a mating link between us? Is that even possible when she has a chosen mate?

“How?” Halle demands. “We went through a mating ceremony. Dalton and I are joined as chosen mates.”

I suddenly don’t care how. It makes sense to me. I have always felt this pull to Halle. Even when we were back in the woods, and I watched her every day, Iwanted to be near her and with her from the moment I caught her scent. I have always felt as if I was the one she should have been with, not fucking Dalton. I thought it was jealousy, that my wolf was envious of a bond I thought I would never have. Seeing her in the shower, touching herself like that, awoke something primal in me, a need to have her completely.

My life, though good, is cursed. I never wanted or thought it would be possible to have a mate and, perhaps one day, pups. How could I force that on wolves I care about?

But looking at Halle now, even with the fear dancing in her eyes, I know what Hester is saying is true. There’s always been this link between us. There’s never been a moment, even when she was bound to that bastard, that I have not wanted her.

Hester shifts her shoulders, and I want to shake the answers out of her. “I just know what I sense.”

“A witch can remove a mating bond, right?” I ask.

I don’t look at Halle, not wanting to see whether this is something she desires or not. “In theory.”

“When you remove the block from her mind, can you also remove the mating bond to that fucker?”

“Again, in theory, but I’ve never tried it. I have no idea what will happen, and I’m not doing it here in case something does.”

It’s an ultimatum, and I hate it. Keeping Halle safe is my priority, and riding off into the sunset with a group of witch-wolf hybrids doesn’t seem particularly smart.

Tessa steps forward, and I see her mate tense, ready to protect her from me if necessary. I have never hurt afemale before, but if any of these women come for Halle, I will unleash my wolf.

I watch carefully as Tessa takes Halle’s hands in hers. “I know you’re scared. I felt the same when I first met Hester. I was running for my life through the woods, hunters on my tail, with no way of escaping. They had killed members of my pack who tried to protect me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before more died. You have magic, Halle, and because of what you are, the Order will not stop hunting you. We have a place that is protected and concealed from them. A place where you can be who you were always meant to be. You just have to take that step.”

It’s a nice little speech, but it doesn’t offer anything in the way of trust.

“We took a risk leaving the safety of the sanctuary to come and find you,” Hester says, speaking to us both. “Don’t make that for nothing. Don’t die out here because you are too stubborn to trust someone who wants to help you.”

Halle glances over at me, and I see the question in her eyes. If she goes with them, will I follow? “The only way I will come is if the guys can come too. They are being hunted as well because of me.”

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