Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Lucas
Sienna is always full of life. Even when she is angry with me, or giving me the cold shoulder, there’s a certain feistiness to her. Today, though, as she looks out the window of my bedroom, it’s missing. Her arms are wrapped around her stomach, and her gaze is distant.
It bothers me. It bothers me greatly.
I don’t know how to fix things with her. Her unhappiness over the mate bond is painful for me. I know I messed things up and have hurt her pride deeply. It’s going to take time. But seeing her silently miserable is killing me.
“Sienna.”
She looks over her shoulder at me.
“We need to talk.”
She sighs and turns to face me. “What is it?”
I walk over to her, and when I put my hand on her shoulder, her first instinct is to move away. I lower my hand. “Come, sit.”
She takes a seat in one of the high-back chairs and looks at me.
I can feel her unhappiness through the bond, and I hate that she feels this way. But there’s nothing I can do right now. She’s not ready to stop blaming me yet, and I don’t blame her for that.
I sit on the edge of the bed and meet her gaze. “I want to know what you were doing out in the forest that night.”
Embarrassment crosses her face, and she looks away.
“I wanted to clear my mind. Lydia had just told me about the cove and how it was a perfect night to view it because the sky was clear, but she couldn’t take me.
She said she would bring me some other time.
But she had already told me exactly how to find it, so I went on my own. ”
My expression does not change, but I feel a sort of irritation. Why would Lydia tell her all that when she knew Sienna had been more than reckless with her safety lately? Telling anybody, not just Sienna, how to find the location was a stupid move.
“Why not just wait for her to go with you?”
Sienna shrugs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
I blink. “No, that’s not what I’m getting at.
You shouldn’t have gone, but what happened is not your fault.
The oversight with the patrol rosters should not have happened.
For the past couple of years, the forest has become a little dangerous.
We’ve had this problem with rogues for a while.
And even though Lydia briefed you when you first arrived, you still went in—”
Sienna’s eyes narrow as she cuts me off. “What are you talking about? She never briefed me about the forest.”
I frown. “She told me she did.”
My mate shakes her head vehemently. “She did not brief me, Lucas. You were the one who told me, after I had gone in the first time, that it was unsafe. The second time I went in was accidental. But when I went looking for the cove, Lydia had specifically told me that area was very safe. That’s why I went. I’m not stupid.”
Her words make me suspicious. Lydia told me she had briefed Sienna.
“She must have forgotten,” I murmur, more to myself than Sienna, but she abruptly gets to her feet. Storming over to me, she grabs me by my tie and yanks me forward, her eyes flashing.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Lucas,” she hisses, and the fierce look on her face has me both fascinated and terrified.
“I am your mate. Whether willing or unwilling, I am your mate now. I am the only woman in your life, and I will not tolerate you sympathizing with another. Lydia has feelings for you, and unless you have sawdust between your ears, I’m sure you’ve picked up on that.
I don’t care how close friends you two are, but when it comes to choosing between us, you’d better have a clear understanding of whose side you are on. ”
Jealousy! My mate is jealous of another woman. Despite her feelings on our bond, seeing me so much as defend another woman gets her this worked up. My wolf rumbles happily.
“Your side, Sienna. I’m on your side.”
She inhales deeply and then releases my tie. Before she can move away, I pull her straight into my lap and lock my arms around her.
“You’re the only woman who consumes my thoughts, which you have done since I first met you. I am willing to burn every friendship to the ground for you. Just say the word.”
Her cheeks turn red, and she turns her head away, muttering, “You’re making me sound toxic.”
“I like you this way.” I nuzzle her neck, testing the waters to see how far she’ll let me go. She stiffens but doesn’t push me away. “Makes me feel like you don’t completely hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“I know.” I rub my nose against the mating mark and feel her shiver. “But I can see how unhappy you are. So, when you act like I do matter to you, it makes me happy.”
She grabs my jaw, forcing me to stop nuzzling and look up at her. “Are you trying to act pitiful to get me to feel sorry for you?”
I grin at her. “I don’t know. Is it working?”
She shoves my face to one side, but I grab her hand and kiss the palm.
“I am pitiful, Sienna. I had to push away my amazing mate for so long and watch her get cozy with other men—”
She scoffs. “Oh, like you didn’t—”
“—and now that I do have her, she can barely look at me.” I end on a deliberately heavy sigh.
“Stop trying to act cute. It’s not going to work.”
I kiss her cheek lightly. “Sienna.”
She looks at me warily. “What?”
“I’m sorry. For everything. I know I put you through hell and made you think the very worst. I’m an awful mate for that.
I thought it would be easier if you could hate me, as long as you could be alive to do so.
But the more I saw you, the more desperate I was to have you.
You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met. You’re so free and vibrant, everything I crave.
I wanted to be a part of your life.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear wistfully.
“There were times I wished you weren’t my fated mate.
So that I could be with you without the curse. ”
I see the emotion flicker in her eyes before she hides it. Her lips move as if she’s trying to form words but failing.
“I know I hurt you, Sienna. I should have fought harder to stop you from coming here. That way I could have just been your fated mate, a stranger who was arrogant and rejected you, rather than someone who constantly hurt you.”
She swallows, and there is a sheen in her eyes. “I want to be so mad at you.” The tears in her voice make my chest tighten. “I want to scream at you and hit you and do all sorts of awful things to you.”
“I know,” I say hoarsely.
She doesn’t speak for a moment. “I know none of this is your fault. You did what you had to do. But knowing that doesn’t make what you did stop hurting.
Constantly throwing me out, choosing Lydia…
” Her jaw clenches. “I want to make you pay for it all. But a part of me knows that’s wrong because it wasn’t your fault. ”
“I was an asshole.”
“I wish I could disagree with you. I really want to,” she whispers brokenly. Then, she wraps her arms around my neck, as if to hide her face from me, and I wrap mine around her waist.
“We’re going to keep looking for a way to break this curse,” I say quietly, looking at an invisible point on the wall.
“But I intend to treat this time with you as very precious, Sienna. Each day I get with you is a gift, and I will treat it as such. I won’t squander a second of it.
” My fingers press against the back of her head gently as I stroke it, murmuring, “I don’t mind you punishing me for what I put you through.
Punish me till you are satisfied. I’ll take whatever you dish out. ”
Her tears against my neck have me closing my eyes in regret.
I whisper, still stroking her hair, “Do whatever you have to do to feel better, Sienna. I’ll love you through it all.”
Her sobs reach my ear, shoulders heaving. I hold her tighter.
My mate is a prideful creature, and I hurt her pride with my actions. She’ll need more time, but I can be patient.
I’ll wait for her.
At six in the morning, while most of the estate is still asleep, I’m in my office, leaning over an unfurled map on my desk. The three team leads for my investigative task force are all present.
All eyes are on the map. A red border around our territory. Outside it, a wider, gray ring of buffer towns. Twenty-three small dots inside that ring, every one of them a place I have never visited and a place a witch could choose to settle. As an alpha, I never go into human towns unless I have to.
“Witches like isolation,” I explain. “They usually prefer living on the outskirts of a town or village, desiring their privacy. Look for houses at the edge of the woods, maybe a cottage at the end of a lane. Somewhere with one neighbor, two at most, and a long walk into town. Witches keep to themselves and only go in for what they need—the post office, the market, a tavern—once a week, then they leave again.”
One of the team leads, Bauer, nods in agreement.
“They will not stand out by their behavior,” I continue.
“A witch who has lived in a community for ten years has friends. People who like her, who will defend her. Don’t ask the wrong questions in the wrong pub.
Avoid letting on that we are looking for anything other than a quiet visit through the area on business.
Humans don’t know our kind or witches, but they do know herbalists, florists. Witches mostly dabble in nature.”
Bauer nods again. “Understood, Alpha.”
“Their magic clings to them. Anyone with a wolf’s nose will smell it the moment she passes within ten feet.
Out in a quiet, country lane, it is unmissable.
In a crowded marketplace, it can be lost. So, work the outskirts.
Watch the small post offices. Walk the edges of the towns at dusk and dawn, when foot traffic is light. ”
The team leads now have the information they need. I wrap up our meeting.
“You have nine days till the Moonvale delegation arrives. We need to find the witches by then.”
Bauer suddenly looks uneasy. “Is there a reason why we’re looking for witches right now?”