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But I didn’t get the chance.
I opened my mouth to explain all of that, but with his back to me, he started talking.
“I’ll have to maintain control of a hostile wolf pack while branded with a witch’s mark. The mark of a woman who doesn’t even want me… How stupid of me to believe you might actually care as much about me as I care for you.”
His words twisted a knife in my gut and stole my breath away. I didn’t want to see from his perspective — he was the one who’d put us into this situation. He’d brought this on himself.
I didn’t deserve to feel guilty over what he’d done. But before I could remind him of that, he turned around, shutting himself away from me with crossed arms and a grim expression.
“Well, there’s no fixing this today. We’re stuck together now, each with each other’s mark.”
I was about to protest when he pointed at his face. The words died in my throat. Then he headed for the door.
“If you choose to reject my mate mark, it has to be done under the full moon,” he reminded me in a too-calm voice.
As far as I knew, there were only two ways to destroy a mate bond. Either one mate died. Or one mate rejected the other, which had to be done with the blessings of Grandmother Moon, like he said.
My entire being cringed away at the thought. I didn’t want to reject him. Not really. But to live the rest of my life without Flint? Without Heath? The thought destroyed me.
With his hand on the doorknob, Gage drew himself up. “As for the witch’s mark…”
I braced myself for whatever scathing remark he was about to make. Alphas hated being made to look like fools, and apparently that’s what he felt like with this strange mark on his face. Even though it wasn’t my fault that it had shown up on both of us.
Over his shoulder, he said, “As your pack alpha, I order you to find out how to sever a witch’s mate bond. If you choose to reject my mate mark, you must also remove your mark from me.”
I stared at his broad back in anger. So he was making this my problem now?
“Gage—” I growled, but before I could say more, he threw open the door and strode out.
I wanted to yell at him, to tell him this was all his fault for biting me to begin with, but I fell silent when he pushed past someone in the hallway.
Flint carried a stack of neat, folded clothing in his arms. His eyebrows rose as he looked from Gage to me.
The pack alpha stormed down the hallway without a backward glance, leaving me to deal with the fallout of his actions yet again.
His expression carefully neutral, Flint’s eyes fell to my shoulder and then to the mark below my collarbone. Then his steady gaze climbed up to meet mine.
“Flint…” I sighed out his name as sadness gripped my heart like a vise. “We need to talk.”
Chapter 31
Gage
It took every ounce of control not to leave the den and destroy things. Frost Fang wolves — my former packmates, now mine to command — fled from my rage as I strode toward the throne room.
Freya didn’t want me. She rejected me. I’d done everything in my power to protect her, and she’d thrown it all in my face.
She had no idea how hard it had been to resist biting her all the other times we’d been together. Especially during her heat. How much angrier would she have been if she’d slowly awakened from her lust-fueled haze with a bite mark on her shoulder?
I didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I needed to get away from our den. From the place that smelled so much like Freya’s delicious scent and the incredibly hot sex we had.
She’d enjoyed every minute of it. I knew she had. After I’d bitten her, I’d sensed pure ecstasy filling her as she came on my cock with my fangs buried in her shoulder. I’d loved feeling her come apart as I gave her the best orgasm of her life.
But as soon as she came back down… I shivered with the memory of her shock and horror. She’d been enjoying herself until she realized what I’d done. My bite hadrepulsedher. And I’d felt it… through our new mate bond.
Her disappointment, sadness, and fear made my wolf go insane with the desire to protect her from something he couldn’t save her from — being bonded to me.
With a roar, I slammed through the door of the pack house, splintering it straight down the center. I prided myself on never losing control, yet I’d surrendered to my need for her, letting my instincts take over. And now, her rejection made me lose control all over again.
