Chapter 17 - Sean
I might be speaking to the others, bringing them up to speed about what happened yesterday when Emily had a vision in the garden behind the clinic, but my attention is on her, studying her every move, every reaction, every breath out of the corner of my eyes.
It’s what I’ve been doing all night—posting myself outside her bedroom door like a designated guard whose sole mission is to protect Emily.
From the moment I felt the tug of the mate bond yesterday during training, and I found her on her knees behind a lavender bush, and she collapsed into my arms, I knew I couldn’t leave her alone.
The moment those scorch marks were found outside her cottage was the moment we’d all been dreading, and things are just getting worse.
The moment Merlin Grimes became aware of the emergence of the fifth witch in the prophecy, the final witch who makes up the group of the descendants of the Golden Tree Sisters that will put an end to his very existence.
While we’re all looking forward to his ultimate demise, we also have no idea what he’s planning now that he knows who Emily is and where to find her.
Emily is still shaken from what she saw in her vision, and it’s evident to see in the way her body remains rigid, shoulders tight as she sits beside me.
Whatever she saw must have broken her. That’s the only reason she opened up enough to accept my help, accept my comfort.
She’s afraid, and I’m worried about her.
“Emily heard a voice,” I explain, then turn to her fully with a nod.
I notice she’s fiddling with her fingers on her lap, and when I place my hand on hers, she doesn’t recoil or turn accusing eyes on me.
Instead, my touch gently nudges the bond, and prompts her to take a deep breath before lifting her head for the first time this morning and meet our friends’ gazes.
“I heard a voice like that before,” Emily continues. “We all did, when we fought the pack in Montreal, and Morganna appeared. It’s one of them.”
“One of the evil witches…” Donna gasps, and Delilah nods as she glances at Hunter.
“I guess we couldn’t keep your magic a secret for as long as we’d hoped,” Delilah sighs. “It seems like the Harrower is after you.”
Emily frowns. “The Harrower?” she asks, echoing my confusion.
Gwen pushes an open book across the table toward us.
It’s a leather-bound journal that belonged to Arianna’s grandmother—Azura Badillo—who sacrificed herself defeating Merlin Grimes during the Blood Moon War five decades ago.
The journal is opened to a page that’s full of words in a different language.
“Words are spells, and Azura was smart enough not to leave behind anything the wicked witches could find if they traced their names,” Gwen explains. “But she left cryptic notes in her journal. And they describe the role each evil witch plays in the war.”
“Morganna was the Shadowmaster—the one meant to hinder a white witch’s gifts and prevent them from emerging by using menacing shadows and black magic,” Arianna says.
“That’s what she wanted to do. Stop me from emerging with my gifts,” Donna adds, and the other witches nod.
“From what you’ve described, it appears the Harrower is after you, Em,” Delilah goes on. “She’s the illusionist, the manipulator who twists your deepest fears and insecurities in a way that makes you too frightened to use your powers.”
“She preys on instability,” Gwen says with a shiver. “You’re her perfect target. New magic—”
“A shaky mate bond, and—” Arianna adds before she stops herself and purses her lips, glancing at Delilah.
“And what?” Emily asks with a frown, and the room turns awfully quiet.
I glance at the guys, but they offer nothing but listless shrugs. They’ve been quiet throughout the meeting, but it’s Nicholas who leans forward and clears his throat, looking directly at me.
“You can’t undo the past,” he says, glancing at his mate, Donna. “But there are some types of trauma that run deep. It needs to be addressed.”
Emily turns stiff beside me, and I gulp hard, removing my hand from her cold fingers.
“You’re right, Nick,” I concede with a firm nod as I rise to my feet and take a deep breath, turning my gaze back to Emily.
She might hate me for this—for addressing this in front of everyone here—but it’s the only way I can hold myself truly accountable for what I did in the past. I can show her that I truly mean what I say, outing myself in front of our friends, instead of hiding away and pretending to be someone I’m not just because I’m a coward.
“This is something that needs to be addressed, and I can’t bear to see Emily suffer anymore…because of me.”
Emily looks up with a timid gasp escaping her lips. She hesitates, brows furrowing softly.
I give her a gentle, reassuring nod. “Five years ago, just before I joined black ops, I did something terrible, something unforgivable.” I take a deep breath before continuing, “I discovered that Emily was my fated mate, and instead of embracing what was gifted to me by the Moon Goddess, I rejected her.” I hang my head shamefully.
“I have no excuse for what I did—no amount of grieving or anything could justify what I did to hurt her. And right now, in front of all of you, I’m making a promise to be a better man to Emily.
Not just for the sake of her powers and defeating Grimes, but because I truly care about her.
If the Harrower is after her, if Grimes is onto her, then I won’t let anything touch her.
I’ll burn the world before I let that happen. ”
Emily meets that promise with tears in her eyes, her throat working on a gulp before she blinks fervently and pushes her chair back. Metal legs grind against the wooden floorboards—the only sound in the room against the silence as she stands up and rushes out of the pack den.
Gulping hard, I turn toward my friends, and everyone’s eyes are on me. I nod slowly when Nicholas turns to me, the look in his eyes telling me everything I need to know.
“Go after her,” he says with one simple nod, without using words. I know that’s what he’s advising me to do because he’d been in the same situation a few months ago, with his fated mate, who is now heavily pregnant with their pup.
None of them looks at me with judgment, but rather with understanding, even as I stand here, bare, without the mask of someone I never was, someone who didn’t take life seriously.
Grief messed with my head only because I allowed it.
And I will not allow myself to be consumed by the demons of my past. I am not the same man I was before special ops, and I need to prove that to Emily.
That’s why I follow her out of the pack den, finding her bent over, hands on her knees as she breathes unsteadily. I notice the way her body trembles and recognize what’s happening to her as I approach.
Without a word, I fold her into my arms, lifting her against my chest as she continues to tremble and quietly sob against me. I hold her firmly, securely, stroking her back gently.
“It’s okay, Em,” I console her in a gentle tone that’s so soft, even I had forgotten that I could be so tender. It’s a part of me that had died when my mother died, and it feels like it’s coming back.
Perhaps that’s why Emily looks up at me with doe, tear-stricken eyes, as if she can sense that side of me that I’d kept buried for so long. When she sees me like this—truly sees me—I become overcome with the most intense feeling of protectiveness.
I cup a hand on her face, my thumb hitching her chin up and urging her to look deeply into my eyes as I breathe steadily. She matches the pace of my breathing, calming down until her panic attack subsides. I still keep my breathing controlled, my voice soothing as I remain gentle.
“I meant what I said back there, Em. I won’t let anything hurt you. You have nothing to be afraid of.”
Her bottom lip curls into a pout. “That’s not—not why I’m afraid, Sean,” she whispers tersely.
I frown at her as I tilt my face to the side. “It’s not? You were panicking…”
She nods warily. “I needed to catch my breath, I needed to breathe, because I don’t know what’s going on with me. But I am beginning to believe you. I’m beginning to trust you again, and that scares me.”
My breath catches as I stare deeply into her eyes, seeing her exposed and unguarded for the first time in many years. The last time she had that look in her eyes was the night I took her virginity when I needed her the most.
All I know now is that I must protect her, and I must protect her from my own demons. But I make a solemn oath that they won’t be a problem anymore.
“I will never give you any reason to regret trusting me again. I did it once before; I fucked up, but it will never happen again.” I pinch the skin on my neck as I say, “I swear by the Goddess that I will never break your trust.”
A timid squeal leaves her pouted lips before she throws herself into me, her cheek flush against my chest as she buries her face against me. My heart puffs with pride and a sense of devotion to this woman, my fated mate, who has suddenly become everything to me.
Or maybe she always was everything to me, and it took me some time to remember.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you in the past, Em. I’m really sorry.”
Emily lifts her head and tentatively reaches out to cup my face, her eyes swollen with tears. “I forgive you, Sean. I forgive you.”
Relief washes over me as Emily returns her cheek to my chest, where I can hold her tightly.
“Tell the others I’m ready,” she says, voice muffled against my chest as she sniffles. “Tell the others that I’m ready to train. Properly this time.”