Page 80 of Midnight Moon
Then, I remembered the pressure on my lips when I regained consciousness.
SHIT.
“Th-that didn’t count. It was CPR! That doesn’t count,” I cried out, desperate for my words to be true even though I knew they were not.
“Apparently, it counts to the Mother.”
How could Asher be so calm?
Where was the beastly male from before?
“No.” I shook my head.
Then, more firmly, I repeated, “No. I won’t accept this.” I turned on my heel and broke into a run.
At least, I tried to. A blur marred my peripheral vision, then Asher appeared in front of me. I reared back to avoid colliding with him.
He reached out to help me balance, but I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”
Asher’s lips parted to speak, but then they closed. His gaze shifted to something over my shoulder, and his expression shuttered.
“Blair?”
I turned.
Hunter and Stephanie walked down the path by the swing set. It had been my best friend who’d called out to me.
Thank the Mother!
I went to approach my packmates when Asher, once again, stepped in the way.
Piercing blue eyes bore into mine, penetrating deep, as if he could reach my soul. “Say nothing, Blair. Promise me.”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the sorcerers or our alleged bond. He had no need to worry if it were the latter.
I moved to walk around him, but he simply shifted to block me again. “Blair, I’m serious. No one must know about the attack.”
Ah, so it was the former.
“I’m telling my dad,” I replied, “and you can’t stop me.”
Asher inhaled through his nose. His eyes flickered between mine. Seeing my determination, he said, “Fine, but just your dad. No one else can be trusted. Swear it.”
Hunter and Stephanie were nearly to us. I imagined Asher had put a sound barrier around us, considering no one had investigated our earlier shouting match. Not wishing for my packmates to get close enough to hear our argument, I muttered between clenched teeth, “Fine. Just my dad.”
Relief filled his gaze, and I hated myself for how happy that made me feel.
Seriously, Blair. Get a grip. You two are not mates.
“Chase,” Asher barked, “mask the scent.”
His friend began to murmur in a language I did not understand.
I stiffened as a delicate, tingling sensation flowed over me, and the implications of what Chase did hit me.
All mates shared a mutual scent. For most, it would overpower their individual scents within a week of their mating, but the mating scent for fated mates was so much more intense.
Once the mystical bond snapped into place, it would douse both mates in a powerful, cloying, and tantalizing aroma, and all nearby shifters would immediately know about the bond.
