“And where is your home?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that right now. Sit. We have much to discuss.” Hugh sat behind the desk and waved to a green cushioned chair in front of him.
I frowned but obliged.
Once I was seated, Hugh leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. He watched me carefully as he asked, “How long have you known Wolfstan was your fated mate?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but Hugh waved his hand and said, “Do not bother lying to me. I saw the magic tendril linking your souls.”
I closed my mouth.
Shit.
“Since the Alpha Games when your rogue sorcerers nearly killed me.”
Hugh leaned back in his chair with an aggrieved groan. “Idiots.”
I lifted a brow, confused by his reaction.
Seeing my expression, Hugh scoffed. “Surely, you know you are not meant to have a fated mate.”
My heartbeat stuttered, and a pit grew in my stomach.
Calm down, Blair, I tried to reassure myself.Don’t freak out. Not yet.
I didn’t respond, but Hugh didn’t need me to.
He leaned against his chair again, staring at the top of the bookshelf behind me as he said, “You’re marked. You belong to the Graystone Coven. The Mother shouldn’t have bestowed a mate upon your soul. It simply isn’t done.”
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I didn’t know what to say.
Denial was pointless.
I wasn’t interested in openly discussing the cursed mark my mother unknowingly transferred to me at birth, but it didn’t seem like I had a choice.
“I don’t belong to the coven. I don’t belong to anyone.”
His eerie irises leveled on me. “Just like your mother,” he tsked. His lips lifted into a smirk, but it was devoid of any amusement. “The mark designates you as ours, whether you like it or not. It is as strong a claim as your ridiculous fated bond.”
I didn’t care if that was true, there was no way I’d let the coven try to enact any ownership of me, in any form.
“Think what you want,” I told him, lifting my chin. I returned his stare with a determined one of my own. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here until you retrieve the Moonstone, and then I will return to the Wilds Pack, just as you dictated when making the blood vow.”
“Ah, yes. The blood vow.” Hugh picked up a pen from the table and began twirling it in his fingers. “You are right. You must be returned once I have the Moonstone. Fortunately, I mentioned nothing aboutwhenI would retrieve the Moonstone. Until I do, you must remain with me, or I am freed from the terms of the blood vow.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
No.
“Yes,” Hugh replied to my silent protest. His lips curled. “For the foreseeable future, you are a guest of the Graystone Coven, Blair Hemmings, daughter of the Mother Goddess. I suggest you get used to it.”
To be continued.
