Page 11 of Broken Forced Mate
“Who?” I demand, stepping closer to the table. “Who can’t see the danger?”
“Choices,” Ash gasps as her body begins to shake more violently. “Choices that will determine the fate of more than just one person. The wrong choice, made for the right reasons, but she doesn’t know what he really is.”
He. Every muscle in my body goes rigid.
“Ash, who are you seeing?” Dorian prompts, his voice pleading.
“Resigned,” she whispers, and there’s something heartbreaking about the word coming from her trembling lips. “She's told herself this is the right choice. Convinced herself it's practical. But underneath the rational justifications, there's emptiness. The foundation is built on lies she’s telling herself, and when it crumbles…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence, but the implication is left behind.
“Is this happening now?” Emaline asks. “Or is it a future possibility?”
“Soon,” Ash manages. “Very soon. Maybe already happening. The timelines are blurred, overlapping. Past choices create present dangers, creating future catastrophes.”
I can’t stand still anymore. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to act, to protect, to fight whatever threat is materializing in Ash’s vision. But I’m helpless against an enemy I can’t identify in a situation I don’t understand.
“Raegan,” Ash whispers, and my world tilts on its axis.
The name hits the room like a bomb. Nobody knows about my history with her, but for some reason, they all turn to look at me. They want me to protect her, I realize. To save her from whatever is coming. I force my face to remain neutral despite the panic clawing at my chest.
“What about Raegan?” I ask.
“Surrounded by shadows and deception,” Ash repeats. Her words become clearer as the vision stabilizes. “The danger is close to her, touching her, and she welcomes it because she doesn’t know what it really is.”
Touching her. The phrase makes my wolf snarl with territorial rage.
“She’s in Llewelyn territory,” Dorian reminds us all. “That’s one of the safest places in the region for an unmated omega.”
But Ash whispers, “Safety is an illusion. The threat came from within, wearing the mask of everything she thought she wanted.”
“Can you see what kind of threat?” Veva asks. “Physical violence? Kidnapping? Coercion?”
“Betrayal,” Ash says simply. “The deepest kind. Trust given to someone who was never worthy of it. Love offered to someone who views it as a tool to be used and discarded.”
Love. The word hits me like a punch to the gut, but I force myself to remain standing.
“The choice has been made,” Ash continues. “She said yes to the question, not knowing that saying yes was walking into a trap that’s been years in the making.”
“What question?” Oren demands.
But before Ash can answer, her body goes completely limp. The vision releases her all at once, leaving her gasping and disoriented in the chair. Oren moves to support her and help her sit upright while she recovers.
“I need details,” I demand with an unnaturally hoarse voice as I stand. “Everything you saw. Every impression, every fragment.”
Ash looks up at me with exhausted eyes. “That’s not how visions work, Wyn. I don’t get a complete story with clear explanations. I see pieces, feelings, impressions of possible futures.”
“Then give me the impressions,” I press, stepping closer to her. “You saw Raegan in danger. What kind of danger?”
“I saw her surrounded by deception so thick it was like physical darkness,” Ash explains, though her voice is still shaky from the vision. “But she's convinced herself about something. Rationalized it. Whatever choice she's made, she's trying to believe it's the right one even though her heart knows differently."
“And the threat?”
“Someone close to her. Someone she trusts. But underneath the surface, they show her, there’s something sinister. Something that wants to use her for purposes she can’t imagine.”
My mind races through possibilities. Raegan has been in Llewelyn territory for three years. She’s made friends, built relationships, and earned the respect of the matriarchal pack leadership.
What could possibly threaten her there?
