“Not pity.” I rolled my bottom lip in my mouth and reached for his hand. “It’s part of my powers as a witch. I can feel the emotions of others. I can feel their emotional highs and lows. It affects me the same way it affects them.”
“So you felt what I felt in my dream?” His fingers threaded through mine.
“Yes. It was the worst emotional pain I’d felt from another person.” I wanted to ask what his dream was about, but I didn’t want to keep talking about his pain. Not when it felt so raw. “Do you get nightmares a lot?”
He let out a harsh chuckle. “The only night I didn’t get them was when you were in my arms. It must be an effect of the matebond. You put me at ease.”
A shock jolted through my stomach. When I got the queen size bed, I’d told him he wasn’t allowed to touch me. He respected it, but look at what happened. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He squeezed my hand. “Don’t do that. I respect you. I don’t need you to cuddle me because you feel bad for me. When you do it, do it because you want to touch me.”
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and let go of his hand as I got off the bed. Throwing my hands up, I lit the wicks of the candles around the cottage and rummaged through the kitchen until I found what I needed for a sleep spell.
His presence was close behind me as I gathered the thyme, lavender, anise, amethyst, rose quartz, smoky quartz, and jasmine oil and put them into a sachet. I closed it in my hands and pushed some of my magic into it to boost the benefits of the spell.
“What’s that?” His warm breath tickled the back of my neck.
I spun around, his face was inches away from mine. My heart thumped so hard against my chest I knew he could hear it. “It’s a sleep sachet.” I held up the small bag with the ingredients inside. “For safe sleep.”
“Safe sleep?”
“It keeps the negative spirits away and puts your thoughts to rest while you sleep.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Aren’t you handy?”
“A little bit of magic keeps the monsters away.” I shrugged, recanting what my mother used to tell me when she’d make me these as a child.
“I am a monster.” His callous voice sent chills down my spine. “Isn’t that what you said?”
I dropped my arm and cupped my elbow with my other hand. “You will always be a monster.”
His lips curled into a sneer. “Thanks for that.”
“But what type of monster you become is completely up to you.”
He barked out a laugh. “What kind of fucked up shit is that?”
I shrugged, holding out the sachet to him again. “Whatever kind of shit you want it to be.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard you cuss before.” He cracked a smile as he took the little bag from me. “But thanks.”
“Put it under your pillow when you sleep.”
“Like I can sleep now,” he mumbled.
“Chamomile tea is a cure-all for getting sleepy.” Turning around, I busied myself with making tea.
Xavier watched me as I lit the stove with my magic and filled up the kettle with a jug of water. Once the kettle whistled, I pulled two mugs from the cabinet and tea bags I had prepared ahead of time.
I steeped the bags in the hot water for a few minutes before sitting down on top of the small table Xavier sat at, handing him his tea.
He sniffed the tea and recoiled at the smell. I threw my head back and cackled like the witch-bitch I was becoming around him.
His glare burned me. “It smells like you put the forest in it and mushed it up.”
“Well, yeah.” I brought the mug to my lips and sipped. “It’s tea.”
He wrinkled his nose and took a drink before gagging. “Fuck, Harlow. Are you trying to poison me or some shit?”
My lungs were burning from laughing so hard. I had to sit the cup down before it spilled everywhere from my shaking.
“If you didn’t want me as a mate you could’ve just rejected me instead.” He froze, eyes meeting mine with a mix of fear and regret. “Forget I said that.”
I sobered up, swatting my hair away from my face. “I could reject you?”
He sighed as he rubbed his temples. “Yes. It’s the worst fucking thing you could put a wolf through though.”
“I wouldn’t.”
He tilted his head. “You wouldn’t what?”
“Reject you.” I wrapped my hands around the mug and absorbed its warmth through my palms. “I’ve become quite fond of you, actually. Which is saying something, considering I hate everyone.”
“Really?” His eyes were wide, and a ghost of a smile was on his lips.
“Really.” I brought the tea to my nose and inhaled. Unlike him, I loved the smell. “Now, drink your tea before it gets cold. It sucks when it’s cold.”
He gave me a horrified look, and I laughed. It was hilarious to watch him choke down the tea, but he managed, and a few minutes later, we crawled back into bed.
Fear of abandonment was clear in his eyes when he’d told me about the possibility of rejecting a fated mate. It broke my heart to see him like that—afraid I would reject him.
Somehow, this stupid werewolf has wormed his way into my heart. I wasn’t sure if it was love, but it was something close. And as I stared at him, sleep sachet under his pillow, tiredness swallowed him whole. His dark lashes fluttered before oblivion engulfed him, and it wasn’t long before I was asleep too.
∆∆∆
“You’re shitting me.” Xavier’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Not at all.” I laughed. He looked petrified sitting on one of the massive roots sticking out from the tree beside the cottage. “You hold my hands, and I will teleport us to the village.”
“But why do we have to go?” He scratched the back of his neck, his
