AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I learned some interesting things with Teresa today,” Amelia said.
Teresa’s gaze swiveled toward her, sharp and curious. But even more interestingly, Rose’s head rose suddenly, panic flashing across her face. It was gone again in a second, Rose’s lips pressing together in a faint, pleasant smile.
“Tell me.” Stone’s voice was irritated. I glanced at him, wishing I could warn him off. Even Liam winced as if he knew how Amelia would react.
Her chin rose, her pleasant humor dropping away instantly. God, Stone. Not for the first time since Amelia came, I had a vivid fantasy of strangling him. He was lucky enough that she wanted him—it was clear in the way she looked at him—but he was fucking their relationship up. It was painful to watch.
Maybe I’d bitch about Stone’s failings at the village pub tonight. I’d never made a habit of hanging out at Revelry, not until Joshua began his little rebellion and everything changed. At first, the villagers who hung out there had been curious, even wary, about my presence. But now they accepted me, more or less. I drank my beer and minded my own business. It was more fun than I had expected; I would watch men and women reel across the dance floor, the old-fashioned juke box playing behind them. I always thought about what it would be like to have Amelia there. Or even better yet, to be able to dance with her at the season’s ball, to hold her in my arms as she smiled up at me.
Amelia cast a glance at Dylan, who was scooping macaroni and cheese into his mouth at a steady rate, like his fork was a backhoe. “I think perhaps we’ve been too focused on the stories of life and death changing the mating bond. But the magic might be in the mating mark itself.”
She swept her hair back from her shoulder, revealing the dark mark on her pale skin. Brennan’s mark. There was no other one quite like it; the place where he had bit her had turned into an abstract design the size of a quarter. Each mark was as different as a snowflake. The other side of her throat was unmarked, waiting. My cock stiffened, and the desire to crush my face into her throat and bite my own mark into her was so powerful that I gripped the edge of the table.
“What about the mark?” Stone asked impatiently.
“I think we might have Nathan to thank for the bond none of us will even admit exists,” she said lightly. She was using the high, careless tone that she only did when she cared very much. “He destroyed the mark. Over and over. He—”
Her gaze flickered to Dylan again, and I understood why she’d cut herself off. She couldn’t say the words out loud with him around, still cheerfully eating. He had seen enough of her pain.
“What are you saying?” Stone’s voice sounded hard and angry. He just wanted to protect her; his fury was for Nathan.
But her shoulders rose, as if her first inclination was to make herself small when he was angry, before she mastered herself. “He destroyed Brennan’s mark. Each time it came back. But perhaps each time he destroyed it, a new… mating link… opened.”
“You think you can bond to all of us because each time the mark was removed, your ability to mate reset, and you were linked with another fated mate.” Stone nodded slowly. “And the bonds were specifically with those of us who were closest to your mate. That makes sense.”
The King brothers. When Brennan died, of course the mating bond would’ve found the unattached male closest to his bloodline.
I tried to steel myself to the thought that Amelia would never be mine, that fate had not meant her to be mine.
The room seemed hushed to me now, but then I realized the others were still speaking, lifting glasses, scraping forks over plates. The sounds had just receded.
“What happened to the tattoo?” Karissa demanded.
“He tried to have me tattooed with a fake mating mark, to make it his own.” Amelia held up her glass delicately, as if she were about to make a toast. “To makemehis own. Such a fool.”
It was impossible to force a mating bond where it did not exist.
Even if—unlike Nathan and Amelia—there was genuine love and affection.
“But the tattoo faded?”
Amelia nodded. “It was as if the mark just…absorbed it. As the skin healed, the tattoo faded, and Brennan’s mark was as dark and perfect as ever.”
Her fingers lightly touched her skin.
“And… he tried again?” Karissa was speaking delicately, but everyone around the table still looked horrified. Rage emanated from Stone in waves.
It was Liam who spoke now, without paying any attention to Dylan’s presence.
Realizing what was about to happen, I ducked my head to speak quietly to Dylan. “So, I was thinking we could go fishing next weekend, but you need a real rod of your own, don’t you think?”
Dylan’s face brightened. He was always ready to talk about fishing.
I tried to eavesdrop, desperately needing to know what Liam was saying. I caught fragments of his words–he burned–that I felt ripple through my body like an icy river, but protecting Dylan was my priority.
When Liam was done, and I straightened, Amelia shot me a grateful look.
Stone rose abruptly. Dark emotion was written across his face. His desire to protect Amelia was impossible to hide, but he just barked, “I’m going to meet Shaw tonight. I need to go prepare.”
