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“Who are you?” he demands.
She thrusts her chin in the air. “Mistress Silverman of the Magick Folk.”
“What were you doing?”
“I was hired by that young man to break their mate bond.”
“Break their mate bond?” Nathan fumes. “That’s not even possible.”
She shrugs. “My people believe everything can be reversed aside from death. We use our will and powers from the universe to make whatever we want happen.”
“For other people, too?”
“If the price is right.”
At that, I growl at her, and she flicks her gaze to me. “What if I didn’t want the bond broken?”
She shrugs in response. “You didn’t hire me.”
Nathan prowls closer. He grabs her by the flimsy dress, tightening his fist in the fabric. “If I ever catch you close to Mia again, I’ll end you myself.”
She gives him a sly smile. “No need. I’ve already been paid.”
He roars in her face, but she’s seemingly unperturbed. When he retreats, she gets to her feet and starts a slow walk back to the opposite side of the forest. Nathan looms into view, using his sharp claws to cut through the rope I’m bound with. He hisses when he sees the injury on my thigh and glares in the direction Sean escaped.
He scoops me into his arms. “Are you okay?”
I blink at him, and my wolf finally makes herself known, as if she, too, is waking from a dream. “Maybe we should’ve let her do it.”
Nathan clutches me to him. “I don’t need a stupid spell to break the mate bond. I already have.”
16
Nathan refuses to set me down, carrying me through the forest on swift legs. We’re at least half a mile away from the party on a peak, grassy knoll. I tell him I can walk, but all he does is grunt at me as he slips easily back into thick trees and brush. His breath isn’t even labored when we hit the road. Clouds darken the moon, splaying shadows over Nathan’s face as he peers both ways.
I wiggle, wanting to walk on my own, but he merely holds me tighter. “Calm down. I’m trying to figure out what to do.”
“What can we do?” I ask.
“Well, I’m not taking you back to the fucking party. If he’s there, I’ll cut his throat. I don’t want to stay on the road because the only shifters out will be coming to and from the party, and we don’t want to be seen.”
“How did you get away? How did you know?”
He starts off in a direction, staying close to the trees. “The longer you were gone, the more I panicked. Then Gayle began to act funny, trying to get me to drink when I haven’t had a drop all night.”
I narrow my gaze at him. “You didn’t?”
“I’m not letting my guard down with them.”
“Wish I would’ve been that smart. He spiked my drink.”
A low rumble emanates from his chest. I press my hand against it as if I can get him to stop. He’s still naked as a newborn pup, so I filter my fingertips through his chest hair. The soothing motion must put me to sleep again because I wake up on a thin cot in the corner of a room. A single light on the bedside table illuminates most of the space. Bare bones is all I can call it. Two-by-fours flank the room with plywood screwed into them for makeshift walls.
Fingers play over my feet, and I peer over to find Nathan—now fully clothed—tracing designs across my skin. My movement makes him look at me. “Where are we?”
“My brother’s place. Well, an outbuilding on his property. You passed out on the way here.”
I stare at my leg where there’s a dull throb beating from the slice the magical lady gave me. A white bandage covers it. “Thank you for fixing me up. Did your brother see us?”