Page 257 of Alpha Mates

“They say to keep witches away from your mind,” Julian mutters.

“With good reason, too. Guess it’s a good thing I’m not that bad of a witch, huh?”

Katerina is crazy. Not raving mad, but something close that comes from people who stopped giving a damn what the world thinks.

I look at Julian, trying to gauge his state of mind about this.

We’d already jumped head-first into this with a series of stupid decisions, but was this a step too far? Letting a witch into your head felt like suicide. Sure, we were trained to block witches, but that all went to shit when you let them in. Plains, that might not even work with one of this calibre.

“Why are you here?” Julian asks with narrowed eyes. “Specifically,here. There are no other witches in this area, and yet you’ve popped up out of thin air.”

Her easy smile wavers. “Now you want my life story?”

“If I’m letting you into my head, I’d at least like to know what you’re doing out here alone,” he replies.

For a moment, Katerina just stares at him, eyes flashing violet before she heaves a big sigh. “Let’s just say I was trying to make lemonade but life handed me some prunes, so I’m stuck here making prune juice.”

I chuckle, can’t help it, and she smiles. Julian does not.

She groans dramatically, letting her hands swing in the air. “I’m topping up on energy. But don’t worry, I’m not drawing from your pack or anything. You’d feel it if I were, right? And all jokes aside”—she leans in conspiratorially—“I’m not trying to piss off a pack as big as yours. I’m harmless to you guys.”

That only raises more questions.

Some witches—famously dark magic witches—could syphon the power from the living. But Katerina seemed to have earth magic, and definitely didn’t smell dark. So who the hell was she pulling from if not us?

“This is your last chance before I make you fuck off,” she says, cracking her knuckles. “Come here.”

Julian glances my way, but there’s nothing to say.

She’s our only option. And as weird as she is, my gut says to give this a shot.

I trust it,I admit through our link.

Glad I’m not the only crazy one.

I snort, and we step forward. Katerina’s eyes prick with interest as we move together, but she’s still, waiting. Her magic is a physical force against us, a tangible pressure that keeps us just shy of touching, leaving it to her to take the last step.

She finally smiles up at Julian before she raises her hands.

He swallows audibly, then bends forward, slotting his head between her open palms.

The humour drains from her face. She takes a deep breath and her eyes slip shut before she presses her fingers to his temples.

They both flinch, but neither moves as the air around us drops to near freezing. Katerina mumbles something low, foreign words that shift into a hum. I listen closely, not a fan of witchy juju, but it sounds kind of familiar … kind of like …

I stare at here, blinking like an idiot, because yes—that’sHelloby Adele.

When she pulls away, she has a strange smile that’s almost appreciative.

“Oh, you are all kinds of fucked up,” she says with a cackle.

Julian glares at her as she steps closer to me, rubbing the sides of his head. “It’s an emotional thing,” she says, back to being serious at the drop of adime. “Your wolf’s buried himself into one of the deepest parts of your mind. It’s pulled him away from the place he’s supposed to fill in your soul,” she explains while she bats at the wheat swinging beside her. “He’s hiding, and the path back is closing in. I felt a lot of pain … betrayal.”

Julian shifts from Katerina’s sombre deliverance to look at me. “What happened between us shouldn’t have done that to him.”

“No, it shouldn’t have,” I mutter. Whatever I’d done, I didn’t have a relationship with Alex for him to take it that hard, but maybe he’s more sensitive than Julian.

It’s me,Max admits, voice low with shame. The bond twists, flooding with his grief until my chest aches.