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‘The visions—they make me weak. I scream and cry and sometimes even pass out when having them. How can you call that strong?’

‘Because despite what they do to you, you keep going back in. Keep opening yourself up to them to help others.’ She placed her finger against his lips when he went to argue. ‘I know you can block them. I’ve heard Iris and Abby talking about your stubborn refusal to let them help you keep them at bay to give you some respite and peace. But you never did. You kept having them for the good of the pack. If that is not strength, then what is?’

His mouth opened, closed, opened again. ‘It is what I have to do.’

‘But not alone. Not anymore. Never again. I am your mate. I never truly knew what that meant until now.’ She’d always thought herself a little useless to the pack, not having a skill or role that was truly unique or added in some significant way to make the pack stronger. But she realised now that she was unique. Her dogged determination to just keep going and do her best, to see the bright side of things, was her strength. It was a quiet strength, but one none-the-less. One that added something essential to the pack.

And now, that quiet strength in her was the very thing finding a way forward for her and Paul. She could see it working on him, the bleakness leaving his eyes to be replaced with something that could be hope. ‘Let me share this burden with you, starting now.’ She took his hand in hers and held it up before them. ‘As one, let us decide which fate shall befall us. Let us choose which path our lives should unfold. If we are fated to die as mates, then let us seek out the path that gives us the most time, the most happiness before the inevitable falls on us. Pushing the future aside, trying to change it, has made things worse. Let’s not do that anymore. Let’s embrace what is before us—our mating and the joy that will bring. Let this be our rebellion.’

‘Our rebellion?’

‘Yes. Our rebellion. To not only take what is offered and make the most of it, but choose the path that will give us the most. What do you say? Shall we tell Fate, “Fuck your ideals of control” and be the masters of how ours unfolds?’

His smile was a wide slash on his face, shining from his eyes as he lifted his hands to cup her face. ‘I never thought I could love you more, but I do now. I think our love will keep growing.’

‘Forever.’

‘Yes, forever.’

His smile slipped a little. ‘But Iris and Abby—they started to tie the soul-bond into this life’s mating bond. If we do this, our fates will be inextricably linked to a tragic end.’

‘Not if we don’t wish it to be. I think we can find a way.’

‘How? We won’t remember what has happened in this life.’

He was right. There was no way to circumvent the fact that because of what Iris and Abby had started, their future lives would be bound down the same path they took on this one. They would find each other in every life their souls were granted, they would mate and then they would die.

The tree. The leaves. Memories.

The voice whispered in her mind and she reached up and touched the leaf hanging above their heads. At the touch, images flickered through her mind, showing them landing in the field to roll to a stop under the tree. It flickered forward, like a movie jumping ahead, showing them standing there in this spot, having this discussion. She gasped. ‘The leaves. This tree. It will remember for us. And one day, we will discover it and we will know. We will remember and the memories will help us to right what has been wronged.’

He reached up and touched the leaf, gasped. Then touched another, eyes widening. ‘They are my memories.’

As this is your place,the breeze murmured so that both of them heard.Yours and Ivy’s. Forever.

‘The Goddess is helping us,’ Ivy whispered.

‘I thought she’d forsaken me.’

Never. I am with you both, always,the voice said in the chimes of the leaves that rustled over their heads.

Paul stared down at her. ‘This is because of you.’

‘It is because of both of us. Now, let us fix what has been broken and decide our future, together.’