Page 104 of Challenged Mate
“Dad?” I croaked. “What is it?”Tell me what’s wrong.
Head still hanging, my father muttered, “You’re your mother’s heir.”
“What?”
He looked up. For the second time, his tears shook me to the core. “You are your mother’s heir, Blair. You are the next Mother Goddess.”
Thirty-Three
“That’s not possible,”the objection flew from my mouth without a moment of hesitation. I ignored the small voice in my head, telling me I should have known this all along.
“The Mother Goddess is the most powerful sorceress of her kind,” I continued. “I’m half shifter. I can’t be her.”
“There is no time for denial,” my father chastised. He wiped away all evidence of his tears. The familiar face of my pack’s stoic alpha returned. “You must mate the alpha. Immediately.” He rose from the ground and stalked towards the house.
I staggered to my feet. “Why? What will happen if I don’t?”
I wished I didn’t see the shudder of fear travel over my father’s back and shoulders as I followed behind him. “Then your power will be ripe for the taking, and Jocelyn’s fears will be realized.”
My racing heart kicked up a notch, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. Panic and uncertainty washed over me. There was no escape.
I stumbled. I barely felt my hands scrape painfully against the ground.
“Blair?” My father’s voice was garbled.
I tried to look at him, but I didn’t have strength.
My heart pounded against my sternum in a bruising rhythm. I gasped for breath, but my lungs had seized again. This time, they refused to reopen.
My palms pressed against the grass, and my nails dug in, willing myself to calm down. I didn’t have a history of panic attacks. I didn’t know what this was.
“Blair!” My father shouted into my ears. I managed a slight turn of my head. He knelt at my side. His fear was palpable.
I continued to struggle for breath.
“HELP!” He shouted across the meadow. “Someone. HELP!” My grip on the ground disappeared as I was lifted up into my father’s arms. He held me to his chest and raced across the meadow, still shouting for anyone around to hear.
I didn’t know if anyone responded.
The lack of oxygen finally took its toll, and I blacked out.
Swirling black mist gathered around my ankles, reminding me of the smothering cloud the sorcerers had used when attacking The Daily Bean.
I turned in a circle. All around me, the sky was dark. Not even the light of the stars could be seen through the black. I tried to figure out where I was, but the landscape was empty. There wasn’t a single identifiable landmark. No trees or shrubbery. The world around me was devoid of everything except that curling mist.
“By the Mother… I can’t believe that bastard was right.” The words floated across the darkness. I turned as their owner stepped out of a glowing shadow. It looked like the portal my most recent attackers had used to escape Wilds territory.
A man with white-blond hair walked towards me. His face looked like it was cut from marble with smooth skin and smooth edges. He was beautiful. He didn’t look much older than me.
I was taking in his fitted blue jeans and loose t-shirt when I heard him say, “You are more remarkable than I could have ever imagined. Your power blazes with strength.”
I glanced at my hands but saw no sign of my golden power.
When I lifted my eyes, I saw the stranger had stopped his approach. He gazed at me with a mix of awe and triumph.
Both heightened my unease.
I wanted to believe this was some sort of dream, but I’d become familiar with how magic felt. And, right now, every inch of my body was coated with the tingling sensation.
