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“Why are your ears like that?” he asked.
Brinnah let her hair fall back down. “We’re taught as cubs to keep the pricking of our ears for better hearing. Although, I’m not allowed to shift at the full moon runs, so I never understood what I was supposed to be hearing.”
“What do you mean you weren’t allowed to run?” Everett asked, completely shocked. “What about your wolf?”
“I ran more on the trip here than I have in the past ten years.”
Jericho and Payton shared a look, before his attention turned back to Brinnah. “Why don’t you start from the beginning.”
Brinnah took a deep breath. “I came into my wolf at eighteen, and for ten years I never found my mate. My alpha put us unmated females together, and between us we cleaned and washed clothes. Served the food for the pack in the lodge.”
“You were slaves,” Payton said. “Free fucking labor.”
“About a week ago, I suddenly had this pull, and this sickly-sweet scent. I started following it and it led to a male named Vadin.” She shivered, and Everett realized it was in fear. “He’s a sentinel, and was completely enraged by realizing we were mates.”
Jericho frowned. “It’s very unusual to find a moon-fated mate years after the first transition. Especially in the same pack.”
“You don’t think it’s a coincidence?” Payton asked.
“No, I don’t, but I also don’t know what it means. Continue, Brinnah.”
“Vadin dragged me to the alpha and demanded that the bond be broken.”
“He rejected you.”
She nodded. “The alpha said he couldn’t do it and told me to leave, and although I think he only meant the pack lodge, I took it as being free to leave. One of the elders told me to find Esmeralda. Said she knew where to find an enchantress.”
Everett frowned. “A what?”
Jericho leaned back. “An Other. Like us. We’re something other than human.”
Everett looked around. “Did all of you know about Others? Or did all of you keep it from me?”
Esmeralda smirked. “We all kept it from you.”
He flipped her off and her laughter peeled around the diner, grabbing some attention.
“Shush,” Payton warned. It took a moment for people’s attention to wander away. “Let me make a round with coffee.”
She kissed Jericho on the cheek and headed for the coffee carafe to fill people’s mugs.
Jericho stared after his mate for a moment, until Esmeralda cleared her throat. She patted his shoulder and made a shooing motion with her hand. He scooted over and she sat down.
“You’re safe here. We’re going to help you. Isn’t that right, Alpha?”
Jericho settled his gaze on Brinnah. “Of course we will.”
“Until I can contact the enchantress, you’ll need a place to stay,” Esmeralda said.
“She stays with me,” Everett declared.
Brinnah’s eyes widened. “Oh, but I couldn’t impose.”
“Baby, you will never impose on me. I want you with me.”
“I want that too, but it’s not right. I’m another man’s mate.”
“Listen to me,” he said, cupping her face. “I know, with absolute certainty, that this Vadin dickhead is not your mate. A mate cherishes his woman. He protects her and loves her unconditionally. I won’t stop until we figure out how to break that fucking bond, enchantress help or not.”
