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As I pulled out of the parking lot, I looked at the rearview mirror. Jack was standing in the lot, arms crossed, his feet apart, watching me drive away. If not for his deception, I might have believed that he cared about me. That what he felt wasn’t simple concern for another being, but love.
But now I knew the truth. Everything we had done, he had done because it was what he thought I’d needed. All the doubts that I’d been pushing away were now tangible. And all the sweet things that had happened between us in the past two weeks now seemed tinged with ugliness.
As I drove away, my body railed against me. It lashed out, thinking that I had left my mate behind. I was in for an ugly few days ahead, because my witch’s body was now convinced that I’d been the one to do the rejecting.
Perhaps Jack was right. Because if he wasn’t feeling the same horrible ache I was at this moment, then I was the only one convinced that we were mates. I groaned as my stomach cramped. It clenched, and I fought the urge to pull over and lose what little lunch I’d eaten earlier. I didn’t want anyone driving by and seeing me vomiting on the side of the road.
I just wanted to go home, curl up in a ball and do my best to forget that Jack Beaumont had ever existed.
* * *
Over the next few days,Jack tried to call. He had stopped by the house. A phone call from Carlton told me he had even showed up at the paper, looking lost and devastated.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you two,” Carlton said over the phone. It had been two days since the blow-up at the station. I had called in sick both days with Carlton’s blessing. Carlton didn’t do drama, but he still had feelings. His voice held a hint of anxiety.
“You can’t be without your mate, Claire,” Carlton continued.
“Perhaps you should tell him that, then.” With a promise that I would be at work the next day, I ended the call. Then I began a mental list of the things I would have to do to get through the next days, weeks, months, and years. Because while Jack had concluded that we weren’t meant to be together, I knew my body would never come to that same conclusion. I had to stop myself from walking out the door and driving over to Jack’s cabin. I didn't know what I would do when I arrived. I suspected it had something to do with ripping off all my clothes and begging him to take me anyway he would have me.
I didn't want to do that.
The trouble with having a mate was that your body tried to trick you into doing the stupidest shit imaginable. Before that second incident at the cabin, I had become used to living with the pressure of always knowing my mate was nearby, but never being able to touch him, feel him, be with him. My life was a carousel of suppression spells and potions.
What was I going to do if he found another witch he believed to be his mate? The thought sent another wave of nausea through my body. I ran to the bathroom, dry heaving because I’d long since stopped eating after the fight with Jack.
“If you want to puke, you’re going to have to eat something first.”
I turned to see Maggie standing just inside the bathroom. She was fuzzy around the edges. Likely because my eyes were watering from my pathetic attempts to throw up.
“How did you get in here?” My voice wasn’t much more than a croak.
“You gave me a key years ago. Told me to use it if Mom was being overbearing.”
The sound that came from my mouth sounded more like a groan than a laugh.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to balance myself against the bathroom counter as I stood up. Maggie came to my side, wrapping an arm around my waist and moving me toward the bathroom. Right then, she seemed more grown-up than ever. The way she took charge made it hard to imagine that anyone would dare bully her at school.
“Sisters may not have the strong connection with each other like mothers and daughters, but I can still feel when you’re hurting or in pain.”
She lowered me to the bed. I winced as much from the discomfort in my joints as from the realization that I had been a source of worry for Maggie.
As I settled back against the pillows propped against the headboard, I looked up at Maggie. Worry clouded her face.
“What is it, little sister?”
“A couple of weeks back, there were times I thought I was losing my sister,” she said. Her lip trembled, but she schooled it. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn't find you. I knew that there was nothing I could do to save you. I didn’t know if you would be changed irreparably when I finally saw you again. I didn’t even know that you weren’t dead.”
My heart twisted at the thought of Maggie going to search for me and finding me in the situation where Jack had found me. I never wanted her to see me in such a situation.
I also never wanted her to be that close to danger. If there was one thing that I could do to make all of this worthwhile, it was to ensure that Maggie never went through anything like what I’d gone through. That she would never know that misery and heartbreak.
“Mom knew too,” Maggie went on. “She called me at school.”
Maggie laughed. Mom and Maggie had gone numerous rounds over the fact that Maggie refused to turn her phone off at school. Maggie had gone as far as casting spells on the teachers so she wouldn’t get caught. I doubted Mom would have any success with Maggie over the no phone at school rule now.
“Neither of us knew what to do,” she continued. “But then a little while later, I felt all that fear and hurt replaced by something sweeter. I didn’t know what had happened at that exact moment, but I knew you felt safe. I even knew that you felt loved.”
I closed my eyes, knowing the moment Maggie had felt. The moment that Jack had swept into the cabin like a knight in shining armor and told Sven that I was his mate. Right then, I’d still been afraid, but the joy and relief that I’d felt when I’d heard those words come out of his mouth replaced any hurt and fear.
