Page 94 of Binding His Fated Mates

And apparently, I was wrong. That was foolish of me.

But my sister took a step back, her expression going wide-eyed and stricken. She shot a horrified look at me. “No, I didn’t! I swear. Daniel, you know me. I wouldn’t—”

“Give us a break, Rowan.” Micah’s eyes narrowed as he regarded Rowan with open disdain. “When you took off, you didn’t think we knew exactly where you were going and why?” He rolled his eyes. “We let you go.”

Rowan let out a sharp, shocked breath.

Outrage swept through me. “This stops now!” I thundered. “This is my spell. You have no right to cast it!”

“Don’t be dramatic, dear,” my mother replied, never losing her smile. “We have every right. We’re your family. You’ve made a mistake.” She shot a bemused glance at Hunter and Lee before turning back to me. “A rather large one, I’m afraid—”

“Gee, if only someone could’ve seen something like this coming,” Micah cut in, sneering at me. “Oh, wait. We did.”

My mother’s expression tightened at that, but it was our father who shook his head at Micah, his jaw hard and his eyes cold. “Silence.”

“Daniel, we’re your family,” my mother continued, as if Micah hadn’t interrupted her. “You did the right thing in creating this spell. You knew what you did was wrong and you wanted to fix it. Of course we want to help you do that.”

“I don’t want your help!” Power started to crackle in the air around me, conjured by my fury. “This doesn’t concern you!”

My father’s eyes widened and he even looked vaguely impressed, his gaze lingering on the halo of power around me, drinking it in hungrily. “Well, now. You’ve become far more capable in your absence, haven’t you?” A small smile curved across his lips. “Yes, I do believe you’re a true Henbane, after all.”

“We all understand if your emotions are clouding your judgment,” my mother said. From the way her eyes danced with delight, she looked every bit as pleased as her husband by this new development. “It happens to the very best of us. But this boy deserves a normal life. You took that away from him. We’re going to help you correct your mistakes.”

“And then you’re going to use your power in service of our goals,” my father added. He gestured at the trees we’d emerged from, in the direction of the commune. “Not these… abominations of nature you’ve been living with.”

“No. This should be their choice. Have you even asked them what they want?” I demanded.

My gaze traveled to Hunter and Lee. They were both watching me intently.

I expected to see anger or horror in their expressions. After all, they had every right to be angry and even more right to be horrified by what was happening.

But what I saw instead caused conviction to settle deep within me, driving away the last of my self-doubt: trust. Complete and total trust in me, their mate.

“They can’t choose. They’re broken. They’re two halves of one person,” my father said disdainfully, shaking his head. “What they want is inconsequential.”

“No. I won’t let you do this.”

My mother and father traded a dark look.

“That’s… very unfortunate,” my mother said sadly. And then, without any further warning than that, she began to speak the spell I had written.

My father joined in effortlessly, his voice and power blending with hers. And then Micah, too.

Horror swept through me.

I couldn’t counter their spell—I was just me.

And I was alone.

But I understood the spell I’d written way better than they did. They needed power from the elements they’d conjured at the cardinal points. And, even more importantly, the power they were drawing upon from the light of the moon overhead.

No one witch or warlock could cast a spell of this magnitude without first channeling the powers of nature. Not even a full circle could, not without burning themselves out. And definitely not even my family, powerful though they were.

Crackling streams of raw magic began to flow out of the elements they’d conjured, flowing into Hunter and Lee.

Both of my mates’ eyes went wide with shock.

Hunter’s mouth opened and he let out a cry of pain. Lee sucked in a gasp, his eyes locked on mine. And even now, I could feel, through the bond, how much he trusted me to stop this. How much they both did. Even Hunter.