Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
ZANDER
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you in to see him,” Dr. Black said, his elegant mouth turned down at the corners.
“But I need to,” I protested, my bear battering against my skin, desperate to break free.
Our mate was in pain. Our mate was scared. My bear wanted to comfort the young warlock and nuzzle away his distress.
“I need to know that he’s all right.”
My emotions had been in turmoil ever since I’d scented the warlock after his bond with that evil bastard Trent had been broken.
I’d already been told that the poor omega had been forced into the arrangement and basically used as a tool and a weapon, but he’d still had a bond with Trent, whose death must be excruciating for him.
I needed to be with him.
I growled. “Doc, you know I respect you, but I have to see him with my own eyes.”
Dr. Black’s grimace deepened. “I’m sorry, but I must insist. This comes directly from your mother. She’s the only one the boy has allowed interaction with.”
I gritted my teeth. Momma was the one keeping me from my mate? How could she? Didn’t she know how much it hurt to have met him but be unable to see him or get close to him?
“The good news,” he continued as if he couldn’t see the murder in my eyes, “is that he seems to be the healthiest of the omegas that were rescued today, physically speaking. He doesn’t appear malnourished or bruised, although we’ll have to confirm that later.
Of course, there are other types of assault than beating… ”
A growl rumbled through me and I fought the urge to tear the door from its hinges, knock the doctor aside, and go to my mate.
The thought of Trent raping the beautiful little warlock with cherubic cheeks and soulful blue eyes made me wish I’d been the one to kill that son of a bitch. He hadn’t been good enough to lick my mate’s shoes let alone anything else.
I could only hope that Trent hadn’t repeated the assault after mating him.
Doing it once was horrific enough, but doing so continuously when there was no purpose behind it would be absolutely sickening.
I had an awful feeling though. It was distinctly possible that the warlock’s bond with Trent had made him long for sexual contact between them.
A magically forged connection didn’t make it consensual.
All it meant was that my mate had been controlled and coerced using magic that he was unable to resist.
Claws burst through my fingertips and my teeth elongated.
“Zander,” Dr. Black warned. “This is exactly why you can’t come in. He’s been through enough without facing down an alpha bear shifter. He’s already been mistreated by a mate. There’s no need to terrify him further.”
I deflated, my claws and teeth retracting. I knew he was right, but every part of me rebelled. How could I ensure my mate was safe if I couldn’t even see him?
I closed my eyes and allowed my other senses to take over. When I concentrated, I could hear soft breathing coming from within the clinic, with faint hitches that made me think he was crying. I inhaled traces of salt and ozone—from his tears and the unique aroma of warlock magic.
A shudder ran through me.
“Fine,” I said, then turned and stripped off, leaving my clothes in a pile on the doorstep as I allowed a shift to roll through me.
My bear came to the fore and, as soon as I was steady on the ground, I took off across the street, around the residences separating the doctor’s clinic from the surrounding national park, and into the woods.
Guilt tugged at the edge of my consciousness but I ignored it. Yes, people needed me, but there was no way I could be my usual unflappable self right now. All I’d do was make everything worse. It was for the best if I ran off all of my agitation.
I dodged around trees and sucked in cold, crisp mouthfuls of air until my legs burned and the jitters under my skin had eased, then I circled back around to collect my clothes. I shifted when the clinic came into sight.
Dad was leaning against the wall of the clinic, his hands in his jacket pockets, waiting for me.
As I approached, he straightened, gathered my clothes and tossed them to me.
I caught them and dressed quickly. Shifters had a higher body temperature than humans so we tended to stay warm for longer, but that didn’t mean the chill air wouldn’t get to me if I walked around naked outside in the middle of winter.
“I know this must be hard,” Dad said, and all I could think was that he had no idea how I felt. He and Momma had been high school sweethearts. His mate hadn’t been traumatized. They’d had it easy.
He raised his eyebrows and I wondered if every single one of my thoughts had played across my face. “You need to be patient with him. He’s been through a lot and it could be weeks or months before he’s recovered enough to even consider mating again.”
“I know.” I did. But I also couldn’t deny it stung that my mate didn’t seem to feel the same pull toward me that I felt for him.
It was self-centered, but I’d always assumed that when I met my mate, they’d be eager to get to know me.
I didn’t know how to proceed with someone like my warlock. “I’ll give him time and space to heal.”
“Good.” Dad nodded at me as if he’d expected nothing less. “Perhaps you can introduce yourself tomorrow and take it from there, but go slow.”
Anything less than claiming him now felt glacial, but I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t going to fail the first test of being a decent mate.
The question was, how the hell was I supposed to just go home and go to bed when I knew my mate was suffering?