Savage Fate (Den of Shadows #5)

Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

“Where are we going?” Saint asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. “I think we’re far enough away to speak privately.”

“We’re not talking about this.” When I realized my fingers still clutched his arm, I released my tight grip. “We’re going to fix it.”

Lines developed across his forehead. “Fix it? What do you mean?”

“We’re almost there.”

After Fane and I had discovered our bond, we visited Cirilla, the old wolf with fae blood, to sever it. Breaking it was impossible, but our bond was unusual. She should know all about fated mate bonds. They could be broken if they weren’t solidified.

I wanted this thing dissolved before it had a chance to affect either one of us.

Cirilla’s cabin appeared like a fairy-tale cottage nestled in the forest. As I stomped up the stairs, my heart pounding, Saint followed with tense movements. Was she even home?

When I lifted my fist to pound on the door, it swung open.

As her perceptive gaze took us in, her mouth parted. “Oh dear.”

“Yeah,” I said, slipping under her thin arm to enter her home. “We have a problem.” She obviously sensed the fated mate bond that had unexpectedly made itself known.

She released the door and angled her head toward me, frowning. “Please, do come in, Tate.” Sarcasm coated her words.

“Not in the mood, Cirilla. I’m sure you can understand why.”

The old wolf sighed and turned to Saint, offering a sympathetic smile as he politely waited on the porch. “Please come in, Alpha Saint.”

As he entered and she shut the door, I paced the open area in front of the fireplace. It felt like just yesterday Fane and I had sat on the floor while she did some kind of magic crap to analyze our bond.

“How can this happen?” I asked, tugging on the ends of my long hair. “I’m already mated to someone else. Shouldn’t that make any other bond null and void?”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.” Cirilla grabbed a mug from the bar in the kitchen and sipped the steaming liquid. “You’re fated mates. It was going to reveal itself sooner or later.”

I studied the young alpha as he casually leaned against a worn wooden bookshelf, his arms crossed over his broad chest and shoulders relaxed, but it was just a mask. Nervous energy and unease twisted through him. Dark curls fell across his forehead, and shadows intensified the recesses beneath his sharp cheekbones.

There was no doubt about it. Saint Grimstone was hauntingly beautiful, like a lake drenched in stars and moonlight.

But what secrets did those deep waters hold beneath the placid surface?

If Fane and I hadn’t already claimed each other, would I be more willing to indulge the thought of being with Saint?

I shook the question off. Fane was my heart and soul—no matter how much I denied it in the beginning—and we’d been through hell and back. Nothing, not even a fated mate, would rip us apart.

“How can we get rid of this bond?” I asked Cirilla, ignoring Saint’s flinch. “Fane and Marissa broke theirs. I know it can be done.”

Lines developed across Cirilla’s forehead, and she swept her long silver hair behind her shoulder. “Of course it can be done. It’s just frowned upon.” She set the mug on the bar. “You’ll have to formally reject each other.”

Saint pushed off the bookshelf, his mouth opening and closing. “L-let’s just calm down for a minute. We don’t want to do anything rash. I-I haven’t even had time to process this.”

“What’s there to process or wait for?” I flicked my hand between us. “This can’t happen. I’m with someone else.”

He jammed his fingers through his hair, breathing rapidly. “I understand this means nothing to you, but I can’t just throw it away so quickly. Give me time, please .”

Heartbreaking sorrow filled the last word. Saint’s panic clogged the small cabin, and I wasn’t sure if I could sense it because I was a shifter or if it was the bond already giving me a direct line to his emotions.

I swallowed hard, resisting the urge to flee from the room and his emotions.

The door suddenly flew open, and Avery bolted inside, his blond hair a mess around his flushed face.

“You can’t just force him to reject the bond, Tate. You have no idea what you’re asking him to do.”

“Calm down, Avery.” Saint rubbed the center of his forehead and groaned. “Just leave it alone.”

“To hell with that.” The beta marched in my direction, but Saint caught his muscular arm and hauled him back. “Saint has been waiting for his fated since he was a kid. You can’t take that away from him like this.”

Cracks spiderwebbed over my heart at the desperation beneath Avery’s anger. “I already have a mate. Waiting will only postpone the inevitable.”

“You don’t know that,” Avery hissed.

Did he think that if I got to know Saint, spent more time with him, I’d realize I wanted to give our bond a chance?

Was that what I feared? Why I was in such a rush? If we didn’t sever this thing right now, would it grow on me?

Cirilla’s cabin suddenly vanished, and I stood inside a rustic bedroom that smelled of pine and felt like a warm embrace. Saint hunched over a small table, dark circles bruising the skin under his sad, tired eyes.

“Another full moon and another pack’s celebration. And still no fated mate.” He let out a painful breath. “Do I not have one? Would I be alone forever?”

The cabin returned to focus as Avery and Saint argued, oblivious to my fleeting daze.

I licked my numb lips, knowing that short scene with Saint had been real. His fear of being alone twisted my insides into knots.

He’d finally found his fated, though, and it couldn’t have been worse.

The Infernal Sol really had given me a connection to fear. I could not only sense it but feel and see it.

Do you think the young alpha would want you if he knew the real you?

The taunting voice made me flinch, and Cirilla, who stood by the bar, calmly sipping from her mug, arched her eyebrow.

I didn’t need this added to the clusterfuck I was dealing with right now.

If Saint knew you still craved me and my terrible power, would he want you? If he knew you longed to suck down fears again and terrorize the masses, would he fight to keep this bond?

I rubbed my temples and gritted my teeth, attempting to drown out the Infernal Sol’s voice.

With me, you’d be powerful enough to sever your bond with him all on your own. You could just snap your little finger and get rid of him.

Or you could feed on all his juicy fear and then kill him.

“I can’t take this anymore.” I bolted for the door, shoving by Saint and Avery. The cold air slapped my heated cheeks as I stormed down the stairs.

“Tate, wait!” Saint called, his footsteps trailing mine. “Can we please talk about this?”

The Infernal Sol was right. Saint wouldn’t want me if he knew who and what I really was. And he was lucky I didn’t have the demon amulet, because I could actually kill him. That twisted version of me might think it was the only way to keep Fane and me together.

“I really need to be alone, Saint.” My footsteps quickened, almost at a sprint, but he remained right on my heels.

After practically running through the woods for five minutes, a hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me to a stop. My chest heaved, steam fogging from my mouth, and the forest brightened as my supernatural senses took over.

“What’s wrong?” Saint asked, wincing. “Besides the obvious.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” I muttered.

He shrugged and stepped closer, peering into my face. “Try me.”

This guy had no idea of the mess I was. He didn’t see the blood staining my hands, nor did he know the bad things I’d done. Fane understood. Fane and I were alike.

Saint was too good. I’d only tarnish him.

“I’m not who you think, Saint. You don’t know the real danger hiding inside me.” I gripped his shirt, spun us, and shoved him against a tree. “Fate couldn’t have picked a worse mate for you, and it’s not only because of Fane.”

He could have easily pushed me off, but he let me overpower him. “No one’s perfect, Tate. You don’t know me very well. I’m not always so considerate or polite. I do have darker sides.”

A manic laugh burst out, and I felt my irises thin into diamonds. “I’m part demon, Saint, and much worse than you think. Trust me when I say we aren’t even in the same wheelhouse.” I motioned to my slitted pupils. “Would your pack want someone like me as their alpha’s mate?”

“They’d accept you. I’d make sure.”

For shit’s sake. Did he not recognize danger when it was right in front of him?

“I’m not trying to force you to be my mate.” He snatched my hands and flipped us so that our positions were reversed and my back was against the tree. “I only need you to give me time to process this. And time to…”

His words trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish his thought. I read it loud and clear from his pained expression.

Saint needed time to mourn.

After waiting and hoping for so long, he finally realized he’d never have the future he expected. To him, this really was a death.

Before either of us could say anything else, an icy chill slinked down my nape at the same time Saint cocked his head to the side, listening.

Leaves rustled, but it wasn’t from the wind. Footsteps crunched over the ground, approaching from the left.

“Someone’s coming,” Saint whispered.

“Or something .” Were more sub-demons creeping through Mohan Wild?

His brow furrowed. “Demons?”

I nodded as three pale sub-demons emerged from the shadows, crawling toward us while baring their teeth.

“More skalaes.” I yanked the transformative hilt out of my pocket, turning it into a sword. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take those, then.” Three more crawled along the underbrush on our right.

Son of a bitch.

Worry bubbled through my gut as the hungry creatures approached. I was used to fighting them, but how much experience did Saint have?

He shucked his shirt as fur sprouted along his shredded, tattooed chest.

Of course he had to have the body of an Adonis.

“Don’t worry, Tate. I’m no stranger to fighting. I am an alpha, after all.” His grin revealed his sharpening canines. “I can take a few demons. Trust me.”

I’d have to.

He dropped onto all fours, continuing to fully shift into a black wolf with silver fur tipping his ears, tail, and a spot on his chest.

As the three skalae demons approaching me noticed my sword, two stood on their feet and lunged.