“Because I used a spell to break the mate bond,” she said, as she looked at me.
Every one of us gasped.
She broke the bond?!
I thought that was impossible!
I was staring at her speechlessly. What the fuck?
“How?” Annie asked quietly. “That is impossible.”
“It isn’t,” Patricia shook her head. “There is an ancient spell that can break a mate bond. I had a hard time finding a witch who would help me, but eventually, I found one who hates Cora as much as I hate Victor.”
“Who?” Gabriel asked.
“Her sister, Petra,” Patricia said.
I furrowed my eyebrows. I had never heard of her. But it looked to me like Gabriel had. I will have to ask him about her later.
“Why does she hate Cora?” Cassie asked.
“That is not my story to tell,” Patricia sighed. “Maybe she will explain once she joins us.”
“She will join us?” Jacob asked, his eyebrows raising.
“She will do anything to stop Cora,” Patricia nodded.
“How did you survive breaking the bond?” I asked her.
“Barely,” she sighed. “I almost died. But I guess my hate for that man kept me alive.”
Her eyes darkened and I could see her wolf coming to the surface.
“How did your wolf survive it?” I asked her.
“She didn’t talk to me for years,” she said. “I could barely feel her. But after a while, she understood why I did it. That man took her pup away from her. He didn’t deserve to be our mate.”
I nodded and I could hear Annie sobbing quietly. I got up and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn’t have a mate, but she was a wolf. She had a better understanding than anyone here of what it was like to lose a mate.
“Can you help us find Aria?” Gabriel asked her after a few moments of silence.
I looked at her over Annie’s shoulder. My body stiffened and Annie stopped sobbing so she could hear her answer.
“We don’t need to find her,” she said, looking up at him. “I know where she is and we are bringing her home tonight.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE – Lost
Aria’s POV
I didn’t know how long I had been here.
The room was dark. There were no windows. I thought we were underground. I remembered walking into a cave when I woke up from my unconscious state. That was when I saw a glimpse of the plant that I learned so much about when I was a child.
The only light I got to see was when he came in to hit me. He said that if my body was weak, it would be easier for my magic to transfer to him.
When he first started hitting me, it wasn’t frequent. But ever since Cora told him that the spell to transfer my magic to him wouldn’t be ready for a little while longer, he became furious. He came here often. His beatings were getting worse. I was pretty sure my ribs were broken, and I was bleeding out severely. The only thing I could smell here was my blood.
I knew he wouldn't kill me. He needed me. He needed my magic. But every time he beat me, he left me on the brink of death. He really enjoyed hurting me, and that scared me the most.