It’s not just years and a life that I see with Thorne. It’s forever. Eons. It’s us being undone and remade, from the earth to stardust, from this lifetime to the next. It’s not just forever, it’s eternity that pours right into me. My mate dream becomes crystal clear. The faceless man I tried to see leans close and the sun shines down on him. I can see his face. Thorne smiles down at me, eyes gentle and sweet. The world moves, reality shifts just right and a bond snaps into place so strong that I see stars. This bond is different. I know it straight away when a wave of emotions hits me.
Joy. Love. Longing.
They’re not my emotions.
I look at Thorne.
They’re his.
“Thorne?” I’m in shock. It was him this whole time? The way that I wanted to be near him, the constant pull towards him and that first meeting in the meadows? It was all for a reason. It was him. He’s mine. My wolf is delighted. She howls with happiness.He’s ours. Wonder floods my system and I can’t tell if it’s his or mine. We grab onto each other and he pulls me right up against him.
“Sweetling.”
Again, that single world makes me practically feral. He’s my mate. My man. My wolf. I don’t know what’s happening around us. The meeting hall could be on fire for all I know. The light around us fades away and I get an earful of what the pack is doing.
They’re cheering. The sound is deafening. All around me I see the smiling faces of the pack members that have welcomed me. Piper and Clover are there cheering with tears streaming down their faces. The band stopped playing but they too join in the cheering.
The singer claps and lets out a whoop. “Let’s hear it for the fated mates, folks! That’s a moon goddess blessed pair if I ever saw one!” Behind him, the guitarist and drummer go crazy playing. Joy, happiness, awe. That awe that makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world washes over me again.
I don’t have to say a word. Neither does Thorne. We’re being fed a steady stream of our mate’s emotions. It’s like falling head first into the deepest part of the lake. Exhilarating and disorienting, too easy to drown in. I don’t care, though. I want to go under if it’s Thorne that I’m going with.
Thorne brushes his thumb along my cheek.“You are the most beautiful soul I’ve ever known. There’s been no one else but you for me.”
“I know,” I whisper, choked up because I wish I could say the same thing. I wish I had that gift to give him but I’m allowed half a second of guilt before Thorne presses his forehead to mine.
“You have nothing to be guilty for. Nothing.”
Tears well in my eyes. “Are you sure you want me?”
His smile is gentle. “Sweetling, you are-
“Traitor! She’s a traitor!”
Thorne and I freeze and look towards the dais where Cassidy is screaming. She struggles with an older woman that I guess is her mother from the resemblance.
“Cassidy, no!” She tries to grab her daughter but Cassidy’s quick, I’ll give her that. She rushes up to the front of the stage and shoves the lead singer out of the way.
“She’s mated to the heir of the Frostclaw Pack! She’s a dirty whore of a traitor who’s only here to ruin us.”
I feel like I’ve been gut-punched. Not so much because of Cassidy’s words but because of the pack’s reaction. All around me they start talking. I cling to Thorne and look around. Everyone is watching us, they’ve closed in a circle and it’s my worst nightmare happening all over again but this time it’s not like the pack meeting. This time it’s real. I see anger come to life in their eyes as Cassidy keeps talking.
“She’s a spy! Her mate was here last night. She saw him.”
I shake my head. “No! No, that's a lie.”
“Then you’re saying your mate wasn’t here?”
I hesitate. I don’t know what to do.Lie. My brain screams at me to lie but I can’t do it. Thorne knows the truth. He’ll know if I lie. I look up at him but I can’t tell what’s going on. He hasn’t pulled away from me but it’s like there’s a wall between us. I can’t feel his emotions the way I did before Cassidy started yelling.
“He was,” I say and the pack descends into chaos.
“What was a Frostclaw doing here!”
“Why would he be here?”
“You’re his mate?”
I shake my head and look around the room. “I was his mate but I’m not anymore. He rejected me.” I grab Thorne’s arm. “I’m Thorne’s mate. You all saw what happened!” The cheering is a ghost of a memory, that effervescent joy disintegrated into nothing with Cassidy’s accusations ringing through the room.
