Page 33 of Broken Forced Mate

The debt between us grows by the hour. I saved her life, but at the cost of her autonomy. I protected her from one threat, only to make her a target of others.

At least this time, she’ll face whatever comes as my partner instead of their victim.

That has to count for something, even if she never forgives me for the choices that brought us here.

Chapter 10 - Raegan

I spend the morning systematically destroying every assumption I had about my own intelligence.

My cup of coffee sits cold on Wyn’s kitchen table while I spread the reports I found across the surface like tarot cards that might reveal my future. Each document confirms what I already know but refused to accept. I was completely, utterly fooled by Bastian.

The agricultural student from a small pack is interested in diplomatic relations. The gentle academic who cried when he talked about his dead sister. The man who proposed with tears in his eyes and a ring that fit perfectly.

All of it was a lie. Every single conversation, every moment I thought we were building something real…it was all just manipulation designed to position me for murder.

“Stupid,” I spit out as I flip through surveillance photos that show Bastian meeting with men I don’t recognize. “So incredibly stupid.”

My phone vibrates with another text from Sera asking if I’m okay. I ignore it like I’ve ignored the dozen others since yesterday. How do I explain that the man I was planning to marry was actually a terrorist operative who wanted to kill me for my inheritance?

The front door opens, and Wyn walks in carrying grocery bags. He pauses when he sees the classified intelligence files scattered across his table.

I expect him to scold me for snooping, and I’m ready to hit back when he does, but instead, he simply asks, “Finding anything useful?”

“Just confirmation that I have terrible taste in men.”

He sets the bags on the counter and doesn’t respond to the barb.

“Ash is coming by this afternoon,” he tells me instead. “She thinks working together might help you understand your new abilities better.”

“What new abilities? I had one vision. That hardly makes me psychic.”

“The bond between us changed something. You felt it when I touched your wrist.”

I did feel it. The moment his fingers closed around my skin, the world exploded into impossible clarity. But acknowledging that means acknowledging everything else about our supernatural connection, and I swore that off years ago.

“Maybe it was just stress,” I offer instead.

He gives me the courtesy of replying, “Maybe.”

But we both know I’m lying.

Ash arrives an hour later with her own stack of files and a thermos of something that smells like herbs and honey. She settles across from me at the table like we’re about to conduct a business meeting.

“Show me what you’ve learned,” she says without preamble.

I point to the maps I’ve been studying. “Thornridge has been planning this for months. The timing, the infiltration methods, even the backup plans, it’s all military in scope.”

Ash nods approvingly. “What else?”

“They’ve been gathering information about pack defenses, resource locations, and leadership vulnerabilities.”

“And now?”

“Now they know their cover is blown, so they’ll adapt. Probably accelerate their timeline and abandon subtlety for direct action.”

“Which means?”

“They’re coming for me, and likely soon. They’re willing to start a war to get their hands on me.”