Page 58 of His Bonded Omega Mate
“Would they?”
I didn’t answer Hakeem as we had reached the portal that would take us to Abrocaelum; the world created by the elves and fae millennia ago when they abandoned the rest of the supernatural races to our fates.
We walked through, the tingle of magic brushing across my exposed skin. I was still naked, not that I cared, but I wasn’t sure where the elves stood on nudity. I didn’t know where Hakeem was leading me.
Feeling vulnerable as we walked through a bustling village, I tried to shift and found my lion subdued. He was still there, able to communicate. I just couldn’t change forms.
“I performed a geas on you.”
“A what?” My tone was sharp.
“A spell that prohibits you from changing forms. Your lion needs to learn that you are the one that controls where you go in life. His taking over nearly caused irreparable harm to others of your pack. The consequences of that would have been dire.”
That stopped me short. I hadn’t really thought about what would have happened if I’d hurt Roan. Would I have been expelled from the pack? Would I have lost Tate? I couldn’t even be sure that he would follow me if I left.
“Sorry, I just wanted to be in fur, since I’m naked.”
Hakeem’s steps stalled, and he chuckled. “I’ve been spending too much time with shifters. I hadn’t even noticed. My apologies, Asher.” He made a complicated motion with the fingers of both hands. I found myself clothed in elven materials. Soft loose pants and a tunic style top, both in a pale green color. “Better?”
“Much. Thanks.”
“Just a little farther and we will be at your home for the next few days.”
“What will we be doing here?”
He led me into a small house. It was basically three rooms, an open-plan kitchen-living room, a short hallway that looked like it led to a bedroom and bathroom.
“This is the home we built for shifters like you. This is a place of safety and comfort for you. No other elf will enter unless invited. I have it warded. You cannot leave without a guard.”
“So, a fancy jail cell?”
Hakeem frowned. “No. A haven. The therapy that you will undergo will be intensive. We will spend a lot of time in trances and deep meditation as you confront your lion and regain control. There is also the emotional impact that the last month has had on you.”
“What do you mean?” The words came out strangled. Were there deeper emotions that I needed to deal with?
“Asher.” Hakeem was patient as he explained. “You risked your heart to give Tate everything that he wanted. The fallout of that comes at great personal cost. Let’s start fresh tomorrow. I’ll have someone come by to stock the pantry with food. Get some rest.”
With that, he left me alone.
It was official. I hated Abrocaelum. Nothing about this world felt right to me or my lion. Day after day, we battled to gain the upper hand while also struggling with being in a strange place so far from our mate.
On our first day, elves had delivered food and fresh clothing for me to wear. I’d searched every inch of the little house for something to entertain myself and found nothing but a few books and jigsaw puzzles.
Teagan had dropped in to take many, many samples from me, including a humiliating request for a semen sample.
That I’d given, but I’d had to ask Teagan to wait outside of the house before I could even get hard.
Picturing Tate had me locked in a painful partial shift. Later, when I asked Hakeem about the claws that had punctured my skin, I was told that my lion wasn’t fully locked away. We needed an indicator that the therapy was working. A partial shift due to rage at the mere thought of my mate in an intimate position was a sign that it wasn’t going far enough.
By the end of the second day, it was apparent that I’d be here for a while. The pack planned to have my things sent to Abrocaelum so I could be more comfortable.
Even with my things surrounding me, the house felt like a jail cell. I wasn’t able to go anywhere unaccompanied, and they filled my hours with exercises that did absolutely nothing.
I was stuck in a pattern of anger and despair. Longing for Tate filled my sleepless nights, but I couldn’t stomach being around him.
The team that Hakeem had assembled to help with my therapy were concerned that being apart from Tate for too long would be dangerous, so with that in mind, they arranged visits.
Straight away, I knew returning home was a terrible idea. As soon as we had cleared the portal to find Tate waiting with a mixture of alpha and beta enforcers, my lion, free from the geas that only worked in Abrocaelum, had burst free and headed straight for Tate.
