Page 21 of Moonlight & Mayhem

“I don’t hate it,” she said.

“Then why do you flinch every time I say it?” he asked.

She swallowed. Everything in her wanted to lie to him. Instead, maybe because the night had already gone to hell, she told him the truth. “I don’t trust it.”

Mayhem went still. “The bond?” Moon nodded. “Why?”

She walked away from him and picked up her grandmother’s journal again, running her fingers over the worn leather. “My mother had a mate.” Mayhem didn’t speak, and Moon appreciated that. “He was everything to her.” Her voice sounded distant, even to herself. “She believed the bond meant he would protect her, love her, and choose her.”

Mayhem’s wolf stirred, and Moon felt it. “What happened?” he asked.

“He chose his pack instead of my mother,” she said.

Mayhem’s expression hardened. “He left?”

“Worse.” Moon looked down. “When his Alpha decided my mother’s healing abilities were too valuable to belong to one household, her mate handed her over to the pack.” Mayhem growled. The sound vibrated through the room. Moon continued before she lost her nerve. “They used her.”

“For healing?” he asked.

“For everything,” she admitted. His eyes flashed with his wolf. Moon’s own animal pressed closer, responding to his anger. “She spent years being told the mate bond made her special while the man who was supposed to cherish it stood by and let them drain her dry.”

Mayhem looked murderous. “What happened to him?”

“She killed him.” That silenced him. Moon gave a humorless laugh. “Then she ran.”

“And you?” he asked.

“I ran with her,” she admitted.

“How old were you?” he asked.

“Eleven.” Mayhem closed his eyes briefly, and Moon immediately regretted telling him about her parents. Pity was coming, and she hated pity.

Instead, he said, “Good for her.”

Moon blinked over at him. “What?”

“Good for her, for killing him,” he said. A startled laugh escaped her, and Mayhem shrugged. “Sounds like the bastard earned it.”

Moon stared at him. “You’re not horrified?”

“Oh, I’m horrified.” His expression turned deadly. “Just not by your mother.” Something shifted inside Moon. It was something small and dangerous enough to make her hopeful, and she hated that most of all.

Mayhem stepped closer again, but this time he stopped before invading her space. “So that’s why you keep pushing me away?” he asked.

“That’s part of it,” she admitted.

“You think being my mate means losing yourself,” he said. Moon didn’t answer. “You believe that I’ll expect you to leave Dark Chaos.”

“No,” she breathed.

“Take my patch instead of yours,” he continued.

“No,” she insisted.

“You think I’ll make you put Silverfang before your sisters,” he said.

She looked at him, and Mayhem nodded slowly. Moon crossed her arms. “You’re Vice President of Silverfang.”