Chapter 16 A Really Mad Selkie
Caspian
My blood raged. They’d threatened my mate, made her feel foolish and small. It was a good thing that shit stain had walked out with her cum dumpster sister. My hands shook as I held Juniper.
Her hands pressed to my chest, and I realized with a jolt that she was pushing me away. A tear slipped down her cheek as she glared at me.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You had no right to do that!” Another tear escaped, and my heart crumbled.
“What?” I asked dumbly.
“Now they’re going to think I’m insane. They already think I hired you as an escort, apparently. I don’t even know how I’m going to fix this. I mean, they’re my family.”
I reached for her, but she stepped back. I stiffened. “No, Juniper. I’m your family. They don’t treat you the way you deserve.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what I deserve.” She whirled away, pacing a few steps before turning back. Her delicate nose turned pink as she began crying in earnest. “I’ve been a total idiot. I can’t believe—Look, we just need to get rid of this whole beholden thing. I can’t do this anymore.”
She motioned between us, and she might as well have stabbed me in the heart.
Everything else faded away as my world narrowed to Juniper. I would not lose her. It wasn’t possible. Our souls were bound together.
“Juniper, you are going to listen to what I need to tell you.”
At the command in my voice, the pinched expression relaxed from her beautiful face. She braced herself against the kitchen counter and watched me, ready to listen like a good little mate.
Icy dread filled my stomach. This was going to be difficult for her, and it was all my fault.
“I didn’t tell you everything,” I started, watching her face to gauge her reaction. Her eyes narrowed a fraction, but she stayed frozen.
“The fact you had my coat doesn’t matter. There is no magic in that. It’s folklore for a sailor to steal a selkie’s coat and force her to come home with him, but it doesn’t happen anymore, and it was never magically compelled.”
Her voice was tight. “So you could have taken your coat and left at any time.”
“It means my feelings for you are real, not influenced by the fact you had my coat. But you were going to send me away, and I needed to be close to you.”
“You’re a fucking liar and a stalker,” she said, her eyes widening. Her breathing sped up. I wanted to hold her and soothe her, but I was also the cause of her fear, so I held myself back.
“No,” I said softly. “I have a very good reason.”
“What?”
“You’re my fated mate.”
I let the statement hang between us. I wasn’t sure what I expected—for her to rush into my arms and embrace the bond? Her expression hardened, her mouth thinning and eyes narrowing.
“I have no reason to think you’re telling the truth,” she said finally.
My shoulders slumped, but I’d never give up. “You feel the bond. I know you do. And we’ve been sharing dreams.”
That was the wrong thing to say.
All of the blood drained out of her face. “Shared dreams?” she repeated. “You were actually there?”
I tried to backpedal.
“I should have told you days ago, but I thought you would be scared of our bond until I won you over. I was taught that witches don’t feel it, but you did. You channeled my magic, for fuck’s sake, Juniper.”
Her shoulders tightened until she was a sharper, colder version of herself. “I can’t trust anything you say… I don’t want you near me.”
With determined steps, she crossed the room and grabbed my coat off the sofa.
“Juniper?”
I trailed behind her as she stalked outside, past her chatting family onto the sand.
“Juniper!” I called.
Tears ran down her face, and she ignored them, letting them drip off her jaw. She stormed across the sand until the waves lapped around her ankles.
My steps slowed as I reached her. “What are you doing?” I asked tentatively.
“I want you to go. Leave me alone.” Each word was so cold, she didn’t sound anything like my Juniper. With her eyes on me, she tossed my coat into the shallow water.
The cold rippled through me. My muscles went taut, my body straining to reach my coat, but my heart trying to claw out of my ribcage and go to Juniper.
Her chest heaved as the last of her fight drained out of her. With short, uneven steps, she marched back up to her grandmother’s house.
The water soaked into my shoes as I retrieved my coat. The water slid off the dense fur.
I should go after her.
She was very clear that she didn’t want to see me.
Maybe some time to cool off would help, but she would have to accept that I wasn’t going anywhere. I belonged to her.
I’d give her the space she wanted, but only for a time.
With a defeated sigh, I walked into the surf and pulled my coat over myself. In a shimmer of magic, I changed forms and slid into the water.