Page 32 of Rejected Pregnant Mate

Shit. She was missing now? Could this night get any worse?

I pulled at the top button of my shirt, planning to shift and track her down, but Kiera put a hand on my shoulder. I looked down at her, and her stare was intense, significant. Gwen didn't know about the spell, but Kiera did, and she was trying to tell me something without spilling the secret.

"Think, Scott. If she wanted to get away from you, I mean really get away from you, where would she go?"

The puzzle pieces clicked together in my head all at once. The fucking treehouse.

I turned without even telling them goodbye, knowing that I had to reach her before she did something rash. Nayeli still didn't know how to break the bond, but what I’d just done might have traumatized her enough to make her try something beyond her ability.

I was a fucking idiot. I'd lost control at the party, and now Nayeli was trying to do something stupid to get away from me. I broke out into a sprint, my chest tight with fear.

"Nayeli," I breathed out when I got closer. I could feel her, the bond thrumming between us, and I tried to pour my regret into it. "I'm sorry, Nayeli."

I ran over roots, pushing past a low-hanging branch just as the treehouse came into view. Candlelight flickered in the windows, and I climbed the ladder so fast that I barely processed doing it. She didn't notice me at first, drawing a chalk circle on her table, but then she sensed that she wasn't alone.

Was I too late? No. The bond was still there, messed up as it was.

Her blue eyes snapped up, meeting mine. Her lips parted, but she didn't speak. Instead, she reached for a thick spell book that lay open in front of her.

I put my hands up in surrender. "Nayeli, don't—"

"Why?" She snapped, voice thick. Fuck, she'd been crying. "Just let me do this."

"Do what?" I didn't move forward, not wanting to spook her. She was already on edge.

"I'm going to reverse it. The bond. The fact that we're mated. All of it. I don't care if it burns out my magic altogether, I just want it done. We can't keep pretending that this is working."

My throat felt tight. "You think this is pretending?"

She raised her hands over the spellbook, and they began to glow faintly, just like last time. "We're making each other miserable, Scott. Every time we're near each other, someone gets hurt or humiliated. Fights almost break out. I'm your wife, sure, but neither of us would have ever chosen this if we hadn't been forced into it. Maybe...maybe once it's done, I'll be able to breathe again."

I'd never wanted to take her in my arms more than I did at that moment. The pain in her voice was enough to make my heart hurt. "I'm sorry, Nayeli. I'm sorry for everything. But I don't want you to burn out your magic for me."

"It's mine," she growled. "I'll do whatever the fuck I want with it."

"I know it's yours. I get it. I really do." I stepped closer, but she cut her hand through the air, and I felt the heat of her power wash across my face. I stopped, shocked.

"No, you don't," she hissed. "You've never been able to understand what this is like. You're not the one who has to live with the shame of a rejected mate right after losing your parents. You're not the one who's been bullied and mocked since they were a child. And you're definitely not the one who has to constantly deal with everyone's fucking pity."

I blinked, stunned, as she stared me down with wild eyes. "I...no. I don't know what that feels like. I'm sorry, Nayeli. I never realized how much you've been hurting."

She let out a strangled laugh, but I could see how wet her eyes were. "Of course you didn't. I made sure of it. But now I'm going to fix it all. I just need to get rid of this damned bond."

My mouth was too dry to talk. Like a coward I just stood, waiting, as she started chanting, her voice rising. Light pulsed at her fingertips, and the candle flames grew. I needed to stop her. I had to. But I couldn't move.

I couldn't take the choice away from her.

Dread hit me like a wave, heavy and suffocating as it pulled me under. The bond burned in my chest, the pain reaching unbearable levels. Christ, was she doing it? Was she actually going to break the bond?

Before I could finish the thought, a burst of energy exploded away from her, knocking me against the wall. Nayeli screamed, voice raw, as the light around her flared like a miniature sun. The breath had been knocked out of me, but I still tried to crawl to her as her body arched, pain etched into the lines of her beautiful face, and the light haloing her turned dark as pitch.

The magic was eating her alive. The bone-deep fear that thought caused was enough to get me on my feet, and I pushed forward, ignoring the dark sparks that burned my skin. With aswipe of my hand, I broke the chalk circle, and Nayeli collapsed forward, the scream dying in her throat.

I caught her before she hit the floor.

"Nayeli?" I brushed her hair out of her face, and her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't open them. "Are you okay? Hey—" I shook her shoulder when she didn't respond, but she just let out a soft moan, gripping her stomach in misery.

Fuck, she wasn't okay. I could feel it down the bond we shared—she was hurt. I didn't know exactly how, but the way she was curled into a fetal position told me all I needed to know. She was in pain, and I had to get her to someone who knew how to help.

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