Page 97 of Binding His Fated Mates

It wasn’t as powerful as it would’ve been if another witch or warlock had joined us, but the thin thread of magic they contributed was enough to cause the power raised by my family’s spell to sputter.

Then Hunter and Lee pushed themselves up onto their knees. They were both pale and furious. They traded a fierce look. And then Lee began speaking the counterspell as well. Hunter followed his lead, taking his twin’s hand.

Then the rest of the pack joined us, coming out of the forest, joining hands with us in an unbroken line of power, and adding their voices to our spell—to our flat refusal to allow my family to take Hunter and Lee’s choices away from them.

Not again.

Never again.

The thin thread of power gathered in strength as all of us joined together and spoke as one. As a pack.

All at once, my family’s spell shattered.

The elemental powers they’d summoned winked out of existence. And the magic they’d conjured sank into the earth, spent and useless.

Micah sagged to his knees, pale and shaken, breathing hard, his hand on his chest.

The fight went out of my father next. He tried to speak the spell one last time, but even the illumination spell hovering above my journal vanished, plunging the clearing into darkness, save for the silver light of the moon.

My mother alone—who was the most powerful spellcaster in our family—stood ramrod-straight, glaring at us with open fury. But she’d ceased her chanting of the spell. And she didn’t try to stop them when Hunter and Lee lurched up from the ground and staggered across the clearing.

I broke ranks at the same time.

We collapsed to the ground together, the three of us clinging to each other.

My tears broke free again, hot and steady down my cheeks, twin tracks of burning emotion on my cold skin. But, for once, I didn’t care. The men I loved were still here, they were still okay—or, at least, they would be. They were still themselves.

It was over. We had won.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO || LEE

Afew minutes later, Daniel’s mother muttered a spell under her breath and pressed her hands flat against the backs of the two Henbane men, who were both on their knees side by side, looking halfway to passing out. Her palms glowed briefly with an angry reddish-purple light. It looked hungry and alien. Nothing at all like Daniel’s magic.

The effect was immediate. Her husband and her son both sucked in deep breaths and some of the color returned to their faces.

Micah straightened first, pushing himself to his feet and looking visibly steadier. He held out a hand and, when his father took it, Micah helped him stand. Ash Henbane, however, had clearly pushed himself to the edge of his capacity. When he swayed on his feet, Micah slid his father’s arm over his shoulder, half-supporting his weight.

“You did this,” Micah said, his gaze locked onto Daniel’s accusingly. “You ungrateful little piece of—”

“Micah,” Carmellia said, her gaze cutting over to him. Pursing her lips, she shook her head. Scowling, Daniel’s brother fell silent. “It’s time to leave,” she added, turning back to Daniel and studying him intently, as though seeing him for the first time. “I’m not angry with you. None of us are. We’re impressed. Come home with us, Daniel.”

Micah shot her a mutinous look but said nothing to contradict her.

“Daniel isn’t going anywhere with you,” Hunter growled.

My twin was standing on the opposite side of our mate, his fingers interlaced with Daniel’s. I held our mate’s other hand.

Daniel stared at his family, the expression on his face hollow and strange, as if seeing them for the first time. But he was okay—physically, at least.

Hunter and I were both okay, too.

With the help of the pack, our mate had saved us.

“He isn’t going anywhere he doesn’t want to,” I said. “We aren’t going to let that happen.”

Carmellia’s lips pressed into a thin frown as she peered at me, as if trying to puzzle me out. “You can’t possibly want this life,” she said at last, sounding almost exasperated with me. “You’ve been split into two people and then turned into this thing. Your entire existence is violence and secrecy! I am entirely certain you didn’t ask for this.”

“We didn’t,” Hunter agreed. He glanced over at Daniel and then me. “But we wouldn’t trade it. Neither of us would. We’re happy—for the first time in our entire lives, we’re actually happy. And you damn near took that away from us.”