Chapter 19 - Liv #2
My mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be serious, not after the conversation we’d had the other day.
“I should be here,” I said. “I can help.”
He shook his head. “Liv, you didn’t see what they did at the spring. They killed the two guards on duty. Then they killed another two of my men after we showed up. They nearly got more of us. I don’t want you putting yourself in danger.”
I could hear the earnest concern in his voice, and it softened my ire, just slightly.
I could understand his fears, at least a little.
But that didn’t change the fact that this was my pack.
I loved them, and if there was even a minuscule chance that I could do something to help them, then I was going to do it.
I wouldn’t let the wraith take away my home without putting up a fight.
I let out a deep breath as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out how to soothe his fears without backing down.
“I understand you’re worried,” I said. “But I have to try. And I’ll be with Rachel and Emma. It’s not like I’m going off on my own.”
“You’re my mate,” he said. “I’m not going to just let my mate waltz into danger.”
I stared, letting the words wash over me, not fully believing my ears.
My mouth had parted slightly in disbelief.
Rage began to bubble inside me. He still felt as though he had some sort of right to decide what I do, just because we were mates.
And it was the way he said it. He wouldn’t let his “mate” walk into danger.
It didn’t matter that it was me. It mattered that I was his mate.
That was the only reason he felt any sort of responsibility or protectiveness.
“Unbelievable,” I spat.
Drake blinked. “What?”
“Stop trying to dictate what I do.”
He shook his head, eyes flashing wolf as he snarled. “I’m trying to protect you,” he growled.
“Stop pretending like you give a damn,” I exploded.
I was sick of hiding my emotions. I didn’t care if it was improper.
I was done with it. I needed to say this, to get it out, and I couldn’t do that while pretending that everything was perfect.
Drake’s eyes widened, and he took a step back.
“We both know that you only care because of the mating bond.”
It was obvious in every word he said, in every decision.
All of his actions had nothing to do with me as a person and everything to do with the fact that we were mates.
If I weren’t his mate, he wouldn’t give two shits about me.
The word “mate” replaced anything else. It could have been anyone.
It just happened to be me. And that was the only reason he cared.
Drake’s hand slid away from me as his brow wrinkled in confusion.
It might have been funny how clueless he looked if I weren’t so fucking angry at him.
He had only started caring about me when the Oracle had forced us together.
I was more than a mate, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. He just saw me as an obligation.
“That’s not true—”
“Of course it is,” I interrupted, giving a harsh, frustrated laugh. “Of course it is. Because if you really cared about me, you wouldn’t have treated me the way you did for years.”
This time, he took a slight step back as if he’d been slapped. A flash of savage triumph washed over me as I took in his bewildered expression and confusion.
“I was nice to you,” he protested.
I laughed. “In private. But the second we were in public, you treated me like dirt. Don’t pretend you didn’t. You know it’s true.”
He didn’t answer. He at least had the decency not to lie about it, then.
Giving an exasperated, frustrated shake of my head, I took a step back.
I was tired of hiding all my emotions behind positivity.
I might be a sunny, happy person, but I still had feelings, and I wasn’t going to let Drake walk all over me.
“You know, if you actually cared about me, if you actually wanted a say in what I did now, then maybe you should have done something before you were forced into a mating bond,” I snarled.
“Because it sure as hell seems like any of your actions right now are perpetuated by that, instead of genuine care for me.”
He flinched like I had just reached out and slapped him. I didn’t particularly care.
“Liv, you’re being unreasonable,” he said. He reached out and grabbed me by the arm, squeezing tight. “I’m trying to help you here.”
“No, you’re not. You’re trying to control me.
” I gave a hollow laugh as I ran my fingers through my hair, taking a deep breath.
“I thought you had a gentle side. Hell, I know you do. I’ve seen it.
But trying to draw it out of you is like pulling teeth, and I’m not going to wait around for you to start showing it on your own. ”
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared at me, as if he couldn’t fully process what I was saying, as if he couldn’t believe it.
I waited for an apology, for something that would show me he had some understanding of what he had done, that he felt some sort of guilt.
Hell, I would have accepted an acknowledgment that my feelings were valid.
He simply stared, his mouth opened slightly, not saying anything.
My stomach plummeted, and an overwhelming emptiness and sadness washed over me. He still didn’t get it. I doubted he ever would.
Glowering, I scoffed and shook my head. “I’m going to go find Rachel and Emma,” I said. “Don’t try to stop me.”
Before he could react, I stepped around him and marched off, hands shaking slightly as I tried to get a grip.
I felt his eyes lingering on me even as I refused to turn and look back. I bit back my screams of frustration. All I wanted was for him to understand, but it seemed impossible.
I found Rachel and Emma standing at the edge of the water, muttering to one another as they took in the sight. I moved to stand next to them and sucked in a breath of horror as I looked at what had transpired.
For the first time since I’d arrived at the oasis, I could fully take in the travesty.
The lack of running water filled the pavilion with a silence that I hadn’t noticed before, because of all the people.
Now, the quiet was almost deafening. The rocks, normally dark and slick from the waterfall, were baked dry.
There was not so much as a trickle coming from the mountain where the water cascaded down from.
Seeing it up close sent a chill through me, making it real in a way I wouldn’t have expected. My stomach churned as rage boiled up in my throat like bile.
The wraith had done this. The wraith and Azaret together.
Somehow, they had managed to take the purest, most peaceful places in the entire town and corrupt them, turning them into desolate places full of misery and despair.
Rage bristled through me as my wolf snarled.
A calm certainty washed over me, a lull in the tempest of anger.
Somehow, we were going to get our oasis back.
We were going to make Azaret and the sand wraith pay for this.
“Hey,” Rachel said as I came to stand next to her. Emma didn’t take her eyes away from the oasis as she gave me a short nod. “Not a pretty sight, is it?”
I shook my head, words unable to articulate exactly how I felt. “Any idea how it happened?”
“Magic of some sort,” Rachel said. She scowled as she gestured at it.
“This is the type of thing that makes people hate witches, even if it wasn’t us.
It happened to a normal stream the other week.
Emma and I were able to get it restarted, but this is different.
What we did then isn’t working. I think it’s because they did something to the spring itself. ”
Rachel took a deep breath, frowning. I knew Rachel well enough to know what she was thinking.
“We’re going to have to go to the tunnels, aren’t we?” I said.
“Looks that way,” Rachel replied.
Emma hadn’t said anything. She just stared out at the oasis, her eyes narrowed, fury pulsating off her.
“You all right?” I asked Emma.
Her lips pursed. “No, I’m not,” she growled.
“When I was growing up, this was the place I always felt most at home. I didn’t know I had an affinity for water back then, but I always loved it.
There was a sort of pureness here that I never experienced anywhere else.
And now…” Her eyes burned as she glowered at the sight in front of her.
“It’s not here anymore, that pureness and magic.
All because of that fucking wraith and that demon.
I swear I am going to make them both pay. ”
“We all are,” Rachel said, squeezing Emma’s shoulder, the same steel in her own gaze. “And we’re going to make them pay. We’re some of the few people who can do something to fix all of this. We’re going to go into that tunnel and get to the spring, kick some ass, and then restart it.”
“We will,” I promised. “Though a few more specific details on how we’re going to kick ass might not go awry.”
Emma snorted, her lip twitching upward. Taking a deep breath, she finally tore her gaze away from the stagnant water and dry falls.
“Let’s get to work,” she said.