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“You’re better off without him as a mate.”
“What’s going to happen to me?” Brinnah asked, looking between both women. “What does it mean if a moon-fated mate is rejected?”
“I don’t know,” Kadie replied. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. I didn’t even know that could happen.”
“I didn’t know we could get a moon-fated mate ten years after transitioning,” Maggie muttered.
“The alpha said we only get one.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I won’t be able to have pups, will I? Or a home. Because it’s all tied to him. Which means I’ll be washing the pack’s clothes for the rest of my life. Cleaning their homes. Vacuuming their cabins. Always for them and nothing for me, except their pity.”
Just then a soft knock rapped on their front door. Maggie frowned and hurried to answer. Elder Agnes stood in the doorway, her old eyes looking rheumy with age. Immediately, Maggie and Kadie fell to their knees, showing the back of their necks. Although Brinnah didn’t kneel, she did present her neck.
“Please,” Elder Agnes said with a raised hand. “Stand. I’m here to talk to Brinnah.”
Kadie rose and left the bathroom as Elder Agnes came into their small cabin. Brinnah rose to meet her in the living room.
“How may I be of service, Elder?”
“It is I who have come to serve you.”
“Um … okay?”
Elder Agnes gave a ghost of a smile. “I’ve seen one other person rejected by their moon-fated mate.”
Once more, pain and humiliation slammed into her chest. Brinnah rubbed the spot where ribs met, trying to relieve the symptoms. “What happened?”
“Something similar,” Elder Agnes replied. “She ended up hanging herself because she couldn’t stand the pain.”
Her roommates gasped loudly, and they put their arms around each other. Fear joined the other two emotions building in her.
Elder Agnes took a deep breath. “That wolf was my sister.”
Sadness chased away the rolling panic threatening to take her under.
“I’m so sorry,” Brinnah whispered, wishing she could comfort the older woman.
“That’s why I had to come.”
“What can I do?” she asked, a little whimper breaking through. “I don’t want to die.”
Elder Agnes reached out and took one of her hands. “After my sister died, I vowed if anything like that happened again, I wouldn’t hesitate to help.”
“So, there’s hope?”
“Only if you’re brave.”
Brinnah nodded. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
“You must break the mating bond.”
Brinnah frowned. “I didn’t know such a thing existed.”
“The only people who can break such a bond, is an Other.”
“Other?” Brinnah glanced at her roommates who gave a confused shrug.
“Shifters are only one part on the pantheon of magical creatures,” Elder Agnes replied. “What you need is to find an enchantress. She can break the mating bond.”
Relief slammed into Brinnah. There was hope. There was a cure.
