Chapter 8: Fated Mate Mark
Lilia POV
Lilia kept pressing her fingers to the mate mark on her neck. She wanted to scrub it off. A foolish impulse. She couldn’t just scrub it like a stain.
WHY DID I ALLOW HIM TO BITE ME?
But she couldn’t have known he would do that. She didn’t have even the slightest premonition. Her one mistake was getting so close to him during his sexy dream.
“You tricked me. Did you even want water?”
He took a long gulp of the water. “Yes. But I did trick you.”
“That’s not fair!”
“You wouldn’t tell me on your own.”
“I was distracted!”
His eyebrows arched, looking regal. “Clearly.”
How could she have gotten so swept up? The shop and her mother had been her life, ever since her father abandoned them. Ever since her mother’s illness got progressively worse. All at once it crept up, with Ravyn barely able to get out of bed some days.
Oddly, ever since Dane arrived, Ravyn seemed to find new strength and energy–something that none of the witch healers they knew could accomplish.
Romance had been the last thing on Lilia's mind until Dane.
She had to ask. “Did the power of this bond make me amorous?”
He shot her a wry look. “I’m not the charmer that some of my brothers are, I admit, but I feel a bit insulted. I certainly don’t need any encouragement to be amorous with you.”
She flushed. “That wasn’t what I meant … you can be very charming and kind. I’ve just never…well, this is rare for me.”
Flames kindled in his eyes. “I was right. You’re untouched. By the Moon Goddess, what a gift I’ve been given. And despite being untouched, you kindle a need in me I can’t deny.”
She wondered, darkly, if the unknown admirer felt the same. She certainly didn’t reciprocate! Dane was a different story.
“Doesn’t the bond draw us together?”
He acknowledged this with a nod. “It does, and the strength of it is why I lost my head over you, ever since we met.”
She folded her arms. “You wanted me to be your mate … in fact, you made it a condition of your help! Is that losing your head? You seemed in control when you wielded your influence.”
“I was negotiating a mutually beneficial arrangement as Alpha of the Evenhide Pack.”
“How is this mutually beneficial?” She flushed at the memory of his kiss and at the desire evoked by his seductive words just moments before.
He sighed. “The Moon Goddess only knows the answer to that.”
“I wouldn’t mind answers from the Goddess Brigid while we’re at it. You’re the Alpha of the Evenhide Pack … who you choose as a mate is going to turn heads.”
“At the very least,” he muttered.
She sat silently, thinking.
Whoever Dane mated with would become the Luna of the Evenhide Pack. A position of respect and power. A position that would draw her far, far away from Wildefell and her shop. Her mother could recover, her mother could ask for help from other witches to run the shop … but that was irrelevant.
A Luna of the Evenhide Pack couldn’t run the Bloodstone.
What was she going to do?
“The mate mark really means we’ve begun to bond as fated mates?”
He gave her a look of infinite patience. “Yes. Why didn’t you tell me right away I had bitten you?”
That was a good question.
She rubbed her eyes. “I thought it was harmless since I didn’t suffer any ill effects. And you were healing. And my mother and Anneliese are always around. Except tonight, for some reason.”
His eyes glinted wickedly. “I can guess why that is. At least as far as your friend is concerned. But you still should have whispered in my ear.”
“I thought it was nothing!”
“It’s not nothing.” He raked his hands through his thick waves of hair. “You should have told me.”
She blew out a breath. “The Book of Secret Petals, our witch circle’s sacred text, says that unless you can undo or counter a spell, it’s not worth the time and energy to regret casting that spell. You bit me. I didn’t tell you. Now we find ourselves in a new situation. Let’s just figure out where we go from here.”
* * * * *
Dane POV
By his fangs, Lilia made all the sense in the world.
“You’re right,” he sighed. “I was being a bit foolish, arguing over this. It’s just that I was taken by surprise.”
Her gemstone eyes shimmered. “So was I. We … We both have responsibilities. Me to my mother and our shop, you to your pack.”
He understood. Even though he counted his pack as far more important than her shop … not that he would ever dare to utter such a thing.
By the Moon Goddess, he needed to do right by his pack. He would NEVER have marked her or begun the bonding process until they both heard the truth from Tulaska! But what was done was done.
He couldn’t do anything that would make her feel he’d rejected her, even though the pack didn’t know he’d gone to seek his mate. Rejecting a fated mate wasn’t done. Especially as an alpha. And looking into her eyes, her sincere, wise, but innocent eyes, he didn’t want to reject her. He wanted to make sure that this was good for the pack. That being with her was positive and would strengthen the pack.
And he couldn’t give in to the temptation to claim her completely. The bonding process had started, but there were more steps. He just had to refrain from proceeding further and keep his hands to himself until they reached Evenhide lands.
“You’re being silly. You should give her that reward,” Brodie whispered in his mind.
“What would that accomplish?” he answered in his mind.
“She is so sweet and willing. We need her. We need to kiss her, to touch her. To take her.”
“Not here,” he told his wolf. “Not now. When we return to the pack lands. If Tulaska says–”
“It takes too long to get there.”
He felt a surge of irritation and said aloud, “ENOUGH! Behave.”
“I beg your pardon?” Lilia sounded outraged.
He ran his hands through his hair. “Not you. I was telling myself to behave properly.”
She leaned back and folded her arms. “We both need to do that.”
He felt a thrill at her admission. “So, let’s hold off on any further … explorations … until we resolve this.”
She tapped her chin, thinking. “That’s fair.”
Did he hear disappointment in her voice? “It’s the wisest course.”
“Hmmm. Then can you also tell me how we resolve this?” And she shook her head. “You still aren’t drinking your water.”
“I am too.” He swallowed the rest of it in one gulp. “And I know exactly how to resolve this, but it requires both your courage and your mother’s graciousness. Would you like to hear my plan?”