Page 9 of The Lunatics

Sarah must have been the name of his brother’s mate. “It’s fine. We can go to my truck. Besides, before we can talk, I have to tell my parents. I can’t let them find out what happened from someone else.” My stomach sank at the thought. “You don’t have to come with me. I can swing back here and pick you up after.”

He glanced at the unfamiliar forest around him. “I believe I would prefer to accompany you.” A small, humorless smile tugged at the corners of his full lips. “I didn’t think to bring security with us on this little venture, and the Kolbeck name is one that often inspires animosity and antagonism in our kind.”

“Then maybe Ishouldleave you here. I might get lucky and someone will break our bond for me.”

Michael’s gaze latched onto mine. Suspicion and distrust filled my mind. The only way out of a bond was death, and it looked like he knew that.

I sighed. “It was a joke.”

The feeling of distrust eased. Just a little. He looked away and began setting himself to rights, smoothing a hand over his hair, tightening his tie. Outward calm returned to him with every gesture.

What had the Goddess done to me? Why had She forcibly bonded me to a man who had no sense of humor? I couldn’t think of anything more uncomfortable than cracking a joke and having the person it was aimed atnotlaugh.

I glanced over at Michael. His spine was stiff, and he stepped carefully, as though the thought of dirtying his Italian loafers was loathsome. The man spoke like he was raised in a different century. He must average four syllables a word. Hell, he probably even texted in complete sentences, and here I was, struggling just to string a coherent one together.

I wanted to rage. I wanted to scream about the unfairness of it. All this reserved politeness on his part was unsettling. Especially when I could still feel the distant echoes of his more volatile feelings threatening to boil over. The dichotomy of someone who looked and smelled perfectly calm but felt like they were barely keeping it together was going to drive me crazy. I wanted to reach out and shake him until cracks appeared in his façade and he let out the scream I felt building inside of him.

“Why are you even here?” I asked. If he hadn’t shown up, I wouldn’t be in this mess. “I thought your pack forms political alliances instead of taking part in bonding ceremonies.”

“We do,” he said. “Nathaniel is the lone believer among my clan. He feared it would anger your Goddess if he allowed himself to be matched in our typical fashion.”

She’s your Goddess, too, I wanted to say, but didn’t. No good had ever come from trying to push religion on nonbelievers.

“You came to support him?” I asked.

“I did. Our mother was quite upset at discovering the whereabouts of her two errant children.” He paused for so long that I thought he was done speaking. “Imagine her outrage when I inform her that both of us were mated, and my prior engagement is over, thereby spoiling the multimillion-dollar business deal my parents brokered with my fiancée’s family.”

He was engaged?

I missed a step and stumbled over a tree root I had dodged a thousand times before. Michael’s hand shot out. He grabbed my bare arm above the elbow and steadied me. Metaphysical heat sparked between us, centered around our contact, and then flared into a full-blown conflagration.

We leapt apart.

Michael flexed his fingers and shook his hand as though trying to rid himself of the lingering sensation. I rubbed my own hand over skin that felt like it had blistered. The bond had made us so hypersensitive to each other that a casual touch felt like being struck by lightning. Great. Just wonderful. I couldn’twaitto find out what other nasty surprises were in store for us.

I kept a wide berth of him as we continued walking. “You don’t have to break up with your fiancée,” I said. “There are all sorts of mated bonds. A lot are romantic in nature, but some end up being mostly political, much like the way your family is used to doing things. Others can be as simple as friendship or companionship, like my grandmother and her mate, Hank. They were widowed before joining the ceremony a few years back. There’s nothing tosay we won’t settle into a role like that. It wouldn’t prevent you from marrying her.”

Michael shook his head. “Marlena is… particular. Though she falls short of being a true believer, she does put stock in signs. When I inform her of my bond to you, she’ll take it to mean that she and I aren’t destined to be together after all. I will, of course, leave the decision to her, but I believe that I know her well enough to be certain of the outcome.”

What a fucking mess. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I, for what it’s worth,” he said. “You elected to abstain from the ritual, therefore I assume it’s safe to say that this development is less than welcome to you as well?”

“Yeah. You could say that.”

His phone rang from somewhere around his middle. He fished it out of an inner pocket and glanced at the screen. “I have to take this.”

“No problem.”

“Hello, Mother,” he said.

Werewolf hearing meant her response came through crystal clear. “Tell me your brother isn’t mated to some backwoods hillbilly hayseed.”

Well. She seemed nice.

“I assure you, Mother, Sarah is a perfectly civilized young lady. She even has most of her teeth.” If not for the small flare of amusement that came through the bond, I would have thought he was serious.

“Now isn’t the time for your macabre sense of humor,” his mother growled. “Honestly, Michael, how could you go along with this insanity?”