Page 2 of Fae Divided
“Noah’s reached his majority. He’s hardly a pup.”
“Desert my pack.”
“Temporarily.”
“Defy my Alpha and betray my queen.”
“They’ll be told the truth.” Prince Myles waved his manicured fingers. “Eventually.”
“Abandon my Ca’anam.” James’ voice broke. “Knowingly cause Sarah pain.”
“She’ll forgive you.” The vampire popped his jacket’s collar to cover the bare skin on his nape before slipping on mirrored aviators and turning to leave the small vestibule.
James opened the mating bond; the connection with Sarah strummed with peace and contentment. The pull of their tie told him she was west of the chapel. Still asleep in their bed. He’d left a note, explaining he had to run an errand for the Guard. The first of many lies to come if he accepted the assignment.
He couldn’t do it. Couldn’t hurt Sarah.
“Milord, I can’t…”
“Mr. Reed,” Prince Myles interrupted without turning around. He opened the exit door, and sunlight spilled into the room, washing over the Dádhe’s exposed skin. “I wouldn’t ask for this sacrifice if it wasn’t necessary. My gut tells me the freedom of our people…your family…could be at stake if we do nothing.”
The vampire dug his hands into his pockets again and stepped into the blazing sunshine.
James stared at the closed door, clutching the pew so tightly the wood creaked. “Your gut better be right.”
Chapter 1
Sarah Walker Reed’smate looked the same. His athletic build, long legs, well-defined arms, and trim waistline were unaltered since the day they met. The subtle creases fanning out from the corners of his light brown eyes were unchanged, the tiny laugh lines enhancing his devastating attractiveness. His jaw-length, dark blond hair remained stubbornly silver-free as did the sexy scruff on his chin; the short bristles pleasantly abraded her skin whenever he kissed her throat. The soft-spoken voice, so unusual for a dominant Ferwyn male in his prime, was identical, the quiet timbre never failing to send shivers up Sarah’s spine whenever he whispered in her ear.
But James wasn’t the same. Not even close.
“Wait!” She flew down the steps of the front porch. “James, please wait.”
Her truemate’s back stiffened, but he halted. He turned to face her, car keys dangling from his fingertips. “I’m in a hurry.”
“You’re always in a hurry lately,” she said, crossing her arms underneath her small breasts and taking a deep calming breath. In the past few days, James had taken to leaving the house before Sarah awoke and wasn’t home until she was already in bed. “Are you ever going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” His jaw clenched. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Then why are you shutting me out?” Sarah reached for the mating bond and slammed against an impenetrable wall that didn’t do bodily harm, but thoroughly pulverized her emotions. Standing mere feet from James—her Ca’anam—and she couldn’tfeelhim.
“I’m not.”
A pack Alpha was the only Ferwyn with the ability to give and receive the emotions of other clanmates—with the exception of the private bond that existed between a truemated male and his chosen.
At first, Sarah thought James was blocking the link to spare her worrying over troubling issues at work; all shifter males were unwilling to cause pain to a mate, no matter how small the discomfort. And as a member of the Guard, their species’ version of law enforcement, James was exposed more than most Fae Touched to the uglier side of human and nonhuman nature.
He’d obstructed their bond in the past, usually after sustaining an injury of some kind. But the bond had been stifled on and off for two weeks now, the open periods growing shorter each day. Sarah had foolishly let it go, assuming whatever was upsetting James would eventually pass. It hadn’t.
James was the typical male alpha of their species: dominant outside and inside the bedroom. And Sarah loved it. Sex had always been intense between them. Wonderfully intense. But lately, her mate’s need held a frantic note. Words of devotion spoken while deep inside her harbored an almost desperate quality. He’d taken her again that morning with a tenderness and reverence scaring her more than the recent frenzied lovemaking ever had. It smacked of…goodbye.
If they were a human couple, Sarah would suspect an affair. Thank God it wasn’t possible with truemates. That kind of betrayal would kill her faster than if he used a knife to carve out her heart.
“Have I done something to make you angry with me?” she asked, eyes stinging with unshed tears. They couldn’t go on like this. It wasn’t right. Truemates grew closer the longer they were together. Not farther apart.
James’ gaze lowered to meet hers, and then Sarah was in his arms, smashed against his chest.
“No, baby,” he murmured into the top of her head, chin rolling her scent into his rough stubble. “I’m not mad at you. Never at you.”
