Page 40 of Witch Bound and Down

The bond between them was screaming with shared pain, but Hazel's disgust was stronger than her love now. Bullseye could feel her already pulling away, mentally and emotionally preparing to sever their connection.

"Don't," he said desperately. "Please don't cut the bond."

"Why not?" Hazel asked. "Give me one good reason why I should stay magically connected to someone who's willing to help destroy bonds just like mine and Hopper's."

"Because I love you," Bullseye said, the words torn from his chest.

"No, you don't," Hazel replied with devastating certainty. "You love the idea of me. You love having someone who accepts your choices without judgment. But you don't love me enough to choose innocent lives over dragon gold."

"That's not fair—"

"Fair?" Hazel laughed bitterly. "You want to talk about fair? Is it fair that thousands of witches are about to lose their familiars because you need to prove you can complete any delivery? Is it fair that Hopper might lose his intelligence and personality because you can't walk away from a paycheck?"

"I..." Bullseye struggled to find words that didn't make him sound like a monster. "I don't know how to be different."

"Then learn," Hazel said simply. "Choose to be better."

"I can't," he said finally. "I'm sorry, Hazel, but I can't walk away from this. Not even for you."

The silence that followed was deafening. Through the bond, Bullseye felt something break inside Hazel's chest—not the magical connection, but something deeper. Her faith in him, her love for him, her hope that he might choose her over his reputation.

"Then we're done," she said quietly.

"Hazel, wait—"

"No." She held up a hand to stop him. "You've made your choice. Now I'm making mine."

She turned toward the Trans Am, but Bullseye caught her arm, the bond between them flaring at the contact.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here. Away from you." She looked at him one last time, and he could feel her memorizing his face through the bond. "I won't be part of this, Bullseye. I won't help you destroy other people's bonds while pretending ours doesn't matter."

"You can't just leave," he said desperately, the bond making it physically painful to let her go. "What about the mating bond? What about us?"

"What about us?" Hazel gently but firmly removed his hand from her arm. "You just told me the man I bonded with doesn't exist."

"That's not what I meant—"

"Yes, it is," Hazel said sadly. "And maybe you're right. Maybe I fell in love with someone who was never really there."

"Don't say that," Bullseye said, though the bond was flooding him with her sadness and his own growing panic.

But Hazel was already walking away, Hopper hopping along beside her with unusual solemnity.

"Where exactly are we going?" the frog asked quietly. "Because in case you forgot, we're still fugitives."

"Anywhere is better than here," Hazel replied, not looking back.

Bullseye stood frozen beside the trailer, the bond between them stretching like a rubber band with every step she took. The pain was incredible—not just emotional, but physical. His magic was screaming at him to go after her, to fix whatever he'd broken, to protect his mate.

"Bull," Snowman said quietly, "you're making a mistake. That woman loves you, and you're throwing it away for what? Dragon gold and bragging rights?"

"The job comes first," Bullseye said, though his voice sounded hollow even to his own ears. "It always has."

"Even when the job is helping dragons break apart families like yours?"

"We're not a family," Bullseye protested. "We barely know each other."

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