Page 99 of Binding His Fated Mates

The fight went out of Carmellia and she sagged, her expression cracking right down the middle. After staring at Daniel for a long moment with naked anguish on her face, she turned and ushered her remaining family out of the forest.

We watched them go. All of us together. As one. As pack.

* * *

We returned to the commune. Rowan cried without a sound, tears streaming down her face as we walked. Apparently that was a family trait she shared with our mate.

“You can stay with me tonight,” Daniel told her, shooting Hunter and me a furtive look, as if testing the waters. I couldn’t say I blamed him—we hadn’t actually talked anything out yet. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“No.” Rowan shook her head. “You should be with them. And, anyway, I’m not sad.”

Daniel’s brows slid together in confusion. “Are you crying happy tears?”

“It’s a mix, I think. I feel a little overwhelmed. I think I just want to be alone tonight.”

Our mate hesitated, but nodded. “Whatever you need, okay?”

She flashed him a watery smile. “Thanks.”

“We need to talk anyway,” Hunter said.

His voice was still a little rough, but I was surprised it wasn’t worse—for him or for me. The spell the Henbane family had attempted to cast on us had been extremely painful. Probably because we’d been resisting it so strongly, but that was just a guess.

Hunter’s eyes locked onto Daniel’s meaningfully.

Our mate went paler and he nodded. Then he turned back to his sister. “Use my cabin.” Then he paused and shot Reed and Harris a questioning look. “That is, if she’s welcome? At least to stay for a little while?”

“Of course she is,” Reed said immediately. His gaze slid from Daniel to Rowan, addressing her directly. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want to. You did the right thing tonight. I’m sorry it cost you so much.”

“It didn’t cost me anything,” Rowan said firmly, wiping away her tears. She sucked in a deep breath, defiance flashing in her eyes. “I’d do it again. It freed me.”

The alphas both looked vaguely impressed at her words.

Reed nodded at her slowly. “Yes. It did.”

Lacey, who was walking beside Rowan, perfectly in step with her, smiled at that. It was slow and filled with an odd amount of pride, given that she’d just met the witch tonight.

She shot Rowan a shy look but said nothing.

Rowan didn’t seem to notice. But I suspected she would notice Lacey soon enough, once the dust had fully settled.

She went into Daniel’s cabin and Hunter and I led the way to ours, with Daniel between us. I could hear his heart beating faster.

He was probably freaked. He probably thought he was about to walk into a fight.

Hunter could hear it too, I could tell. He gave me a knowing look, his green eyes filled with mischief.

When we were all over the threshold, Hunter kicked off his boots and set them neatly by the door. I did the same.

Then, without a word of discussion, we walked over to the bed and sat down at the edge of the mattress.

Daniel stood in the doorway, frozen and unsure.

“Your boots,” Hunter said, his expression perfectly neutral, giving nothing away. “You ought to take them off.” He cast me a bemused look and added, “Before you track mud into the cabin and Lee has a conniption fit.”

“I’ve never had a conniption fit,” I muttered sourly. “I just like things to be tidy.”

“Um. I can go stay in one of the empty cabins,” Daniel offered. “If it’s going to be weird that I’m here.”