Chapter 44
SADIE
Igave Lainsz a strange look as I let go of his shirt. He could have overpowered me at any point. My grip on him was human, not particularly strong.
Leander strode towards me, so fast that Paige crossed her arms and stepped in front of me. He sidestepped her and caught my face in both hands, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“You were very brave,” he told me, and oh no. Not now, desperate need for praise and approval. My eyes stung again; I blinked to get rid of the sensation.
“Sadie,” Paige stage-whispered. “Are you boning the wolves?”
I groaned. “No, I’m not boning the wolves.” Not all of them, at least. “Not a word,” I whispered to Leander when he grinned, his green eyes brighter than they’d been when I first woke up. I didn’t miss the way his hands hovered over where I was hurt, as if he’d memorised their placement.
“Hey,” I protested when Elix held up a note. I can guess what boning means, and she’s definitely boning the wolves. Boning was underlined. Twice.
“They’re—” Heat stained my cheeks. “They’re my mates.”
Paige blinked, missing the significance the way I had, but Elix’s mouth popped open. Okay so that was how meaningful mates were. Her eyes blew so wide, she looked even more like a doll and she wrote so fast, I was surprised her pen didn’t smoke.
THEY’RE YOUR MATES?
“Yep.” I scratched the back of my neck.
Elix shook her head, bewildered. No wonder they wouldn’t let us in the house.
“Explain it to me,” Paige said, and I was glad she did, because I didn’t want to admit how ignorant I was on the subject. This was all so normal to the pack that even when they explained it, I never completely grasped it.
A mate is a wolf’s partner, Elix said, like a husband or wife but so much more. There’s a bond that runs deep, like a heart vein.
At our blank looks, she added, that’s the vampire’s equivalent.
It’s more than marriage, because there’s only ever one.
You would never leave your mate or replace them, never divorce.
They’re your other half, as essential as your heartbeat.
It’s magic, to find your perfect half, a person who’s your balance, your mirror and equal.
The temper to your flame, or the bright spark to your calm, or the colour to your grey soul.
By the time she was done, and I’d finished reading, my eyes stung fiercer. It seemed impossible that I’d been in this world a mere week before I found my forever-husbands.
Chosen by magic. That made a lot more sense than fate. I wasn’t sure I believed in fate, but I’d seen magic. I’d touched it and felt its tangible power.
It was flattering, and a little odd, to think that magic had weighed me and decided I wasn’t just a perfect fit for one man, but three.1
“Well,” Paige said, giving me a look.
“Shit,” I finished with a hysterical giggle. “Wait, if I have three mates, does that mean the magic’s calling me high maintenance?”
Paige patted my shoulder. “And hard to handle.”
Maybe the magic just really likes you? Elix suggested.
I doubted that. Fate, the universe, magic—whatever you wanted to call it, it had never been kind to me before. Why start now?
“As much as I appreciate you caring for Sadie,” Verne cut in, and it occurred to me that he’d hung back, assessing the way my friends and I conversed. Judging them as safe or a threat in his alpha way. “She needs to rest.”
“Now, listen here, Mr Controlling,” Paige began, squaring up.
That’s the alpha, Elix hurriedly wrote, a shade paler.
“I don’t care if he’s Ghandi, I’m not letting him boss my bitch around.”
“Paige,” I cut in, laughing, and hissing through my teeth when laughter proved to be agony. My hand went to my middle unconsciously, and I leaned into Leander. “It’s okay. Loathed as I am to say this about a man, especially when he can hear me, Verne’s right.”
I caught him smiling, caught him watching me with warmth simmering in dark eyes.
“Everything hurts and I need to sit down,” I reluctantly admitted. “You can come inside—”
Lainsz’s growl echoed off the treetops.
“—in a few months, when Lainsz has undergone extensive therapy. It should be safe for you at the academy,” I added. “Mortem isn’t going to punish you for having a wolf friend. She wouldn’t dare.”
Elix pulled me into a careful hug and flipped her paper to a prewritten page. We’ll keep Lawrence quiet, don’t worry.
But I was worried. I might have convinced Mortem to keep my secret, but that pretentious dick was a whole other kettle of fish. Maybe we could rob a bank, then bribe him. I bet he loved money, and hated slumming it with the rest of us at the academy, rubbing shoulders with the poor.
But that was a problem for future Sadie, because I gave Paige a hug, promised to speak to them both tomorrow—even if I had to train a pigeon to carry messages—and collapsed on the plush green sofa in front of the fire.
“This place needs a TV,” I told the three men who’d been magically selected for me. I’d take this over Tinder any day.
“I’ve been saying that for years,” Lainsz muttered, stalking past me and into the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards with a level of passive aggressiveness that could win awards.
Verne sat in an armchair, opening his mouth to either ask how I was feeling or tell me it wasn’t safe to go back to the academy. So I spoke in a rush before he could get a word out.
“I want to do this the normal way. The human way,” I clarified. “I accept that there’s a connection between us, and it’s serious shit, but I still feel human even if I can shift into a wolf. My mind is human, so I’d like to do things the human way.”
“The human way?” Leander asked, perching on the arm of the sofa, watching me with a gentleness I hadn’t earned.
“I want to go on dates. Do stuff together. Not sexy stuff,” I hurried to clarify when his eyes darkened. “Not at first. I know you’re my mates, chosen by magic—”
“Wolves are chosen by fate,” Lainsz snapped from the kitchen.
“But I want to know you as men. So I want to go on dates,” I finished lamely, aware of how stupid it was to say that to wolf shifters.
Leander shot off the sofa and raced for the stairs without a word. Great. That went so well.
“Where are you going?” I asked, pretending rejection didn’t stab a deep gouge into my heart.
“To get a pen and some paper,” he threw over his shoulder, his tone… excited? “I have so many plans.” He grabbed the top banister and swung around to peer down at Verne and I. “Just to be clear. This is a competition to see who can plan the best date, right?”
“No,” I answered at the same time Verne said, “Obviously.”
I shook my head, laughing—carefully. “I’m serious. It’s not a competition.”
Verne rose and crossed the scant space between us, leaning down to kiss me. “Oh no, alianazara. You opened Pandora’s box. Now you’ll have to live with the consequences.”
My eyes widened. “All the world’s ills are set free…?”
“Precisely,” he agreed with a grin sharp enough to bring to mind things like hikes up mountains, camping in a threadbare tent, and spelunking.
Or—oh god—would they torture me with cockblocking and make me regret my no sex comment?
I stared at Verne in horror.
What had I done?
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Thanks for reading, and see you in the next book,
Love, Leigh x