Page 11 of Binding His Fated Mates

“Why? Why can’t we just—”

“Because if you confront Daniel while you’re angry, you’ll say something you regret. You know that as well as I do. And besides, what are you planning on leading with?”

That stopped me cold. Because I had no idea. But I still wanted to argue, even though Lee was right. He was almost always right, which was one of the most infuriating things about him.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “A shower. Then at breakfast. But I’m not going to be happy about it.”

“You’re not happy about anything when it comes to Daniel.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Lee gave me a long, steady look.

It was like he could see straight through my anger to the terrified, confused person underneath all the fury. He was the stronger one. The more steadfast one. The one who could see things clearly.

I’d adjusted to the physicality of being a werewolf easier than he had, but he’d run laps around me when it came to adjusting to the stark reality of it.

I looked away first.

“Hunter,” he said, quieter now.

“What?”

“If what you’re saying is true—”

“It is.”

“Right. Then if Daniel’s magic is manifesting in you, it might be manifesting in the rest of the pack, too.”

I hadn’t thought of that.

“Well, shit.”

“Yeah. This might be bigger than us.” Lee returned his gaze to the phone in his hand, but I could tell he wasn’t really paying any attention to it. “Wait for breakfast. We’ll figure it out then. And we’ll warn everyone else, too.”

I dropped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. My hands were still trembling. I pressed them flat against the mattress and willed them to stop.

Magic. I’d done magic.

It should have been impossible. Wolves were wolves, and warlocks were warlocks, and the two didn’t overlap. Except, apparently, when a warlock wormed his way into a wolf pack, it blew all the rules wide open.

And I’d accepted him with open arms, deciding—at Lee’s encouragement—to put my anger aside for one day, so that the pack would be stronger.

And so that I could see Daniel be happy, even if that was something I’d never admit to Lee. Because I still wanted that, even under everything else. I couldn’t let myself trust him and I sure as shit wouldn’t allow myself to love him again, but I didn’t actually hate him. Not really.

But maybe that had been a mistake.

Daniel Henbane had lied to us for twelve years, destroyed the person we used to be, and now here he was, rewriting the fundamental nature of the pack itself.

And the most infuriating thing—the thing I could barely stand to think about—was that when I’d thrown up that shield, when the golden light had flared around me in the forest, the first instinctive emotion I’d felt hadn’t been fear or anger, the way it ought to have been.

It had been awe. If it was Daniel’s magic I’d somehow channeled, it’d been beautiful.

With a groan, I pressed my face into the pillow. That thought could go straight to hell, back to where it belonged.

CHAPTER THREE || LEE

Hunter was vibrating with barely contained fury as we reached the mess hall, which meant breakfast was going to be a delightful treat for everyone involved.