Page 75 of His Rejected Fated Mate

The door opened, and my mother stood there. She had a smile that fell, and then she looked confused. “Elize? What are you doing here, honey?”

She looked me up and down really quickly, and worry filled her face. “Honey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” She pushed out of the doorway a step closer to me.

I felt my lower lip quiver, unable to even form the words. The man I love was gone again. I didn’t know how I was going to survive this.

She moved quickly, pulling me into her arms as I started to bawl. I sobbed into her arms, hating that this was happening.

She pulled me inside, and we rested on the couch. I told her everything that happened. I told her about everything withMartin and how he pulled Troy and me apart. I told her how the council had been pulling other members apart and that the cauldron was from one of them.

My mother was absolutely stunned as I spoke. My father sat in his chair, not moving, but I could see the anger written on his face.

My mom handed me a tissue, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

I wiped at my eyes. “Did you know?”

“Know what?” she asked.

“That he… Martin’s plan? Did you know?” I didn’t know if I would be able to stomach it if they had.

Both of them shook their heads. “No. We didn’t. We honestly just thought Martin understood you better. He was always talking about how he wanted you to be with other witches and learn.”

My mom sighed. “We know that we weren’t there for you for a lot of stuff, sweetie. And we thought you and Troy were such a great pair. And then suddenly, everything just changed.”

“Troy said he came here and asked if you knew where I was.”

She nodded. “He had, and we figured you didn’t want him to know. We never told you because we didn’t want to hurt you more than you already were. Martin said it was best.”

My father leaned forward. “So, where is Troy now?”

“He’s locked up. I tried using my magic, but I couldn’t calm him down. Riley has his locked in the basement just a few doors down from the cauldron.”

“He will calm,” my mother offered. “Just give it time.”

I shook my head. “Normally, my magic does that, but it didn’t this time. Janella tried, and it didn’t work.” I sighed. “We’re trying to figure something out, but I feel like he’s slipping away.” I felt tears building up again. “And I can’t lose him again.”

My mother moved closer, tucking me into her arms. She patted my hair and kissed the top of my head. “You’ll figure something out. I just know it.”

I don’t know how long we sat there. But I did know I wished things were different.

“You know we love you, right?” My mom asked, her hands soft as she ran them through my hair. “That we only wanted what was best for you.”

I nodded. “I do.” I looked at them, knowing they tried their best. Growing up, there was so little talk about witches. But now, itches were coming back and breaking the silence on things. We had learned a lot, but when my folks had me, they had little info to go off of.

My mother sighed. “I wish sometimes I pushed harder. Martin was such a force, and I thought he really cared. We thought he was just doing what was best.”

I hated how much he’d screwed things up.

“Can I stay here?” I asked, not wanting to go home. I couldn’t stomach walking into our space without Troy.

“Of course.” She kissed my forehead. “Let us help you with whatever you need.”

I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up feeling groggy and smelling coffee. I stumbled into the kitchen and found my mother with books piled high on the table. My eyebrows went up. “Where did you get these?”

“I dug,” she stated as she handed me a mug of coffee. “When you first left, I started buying every book I could about witches and spells. I ended up with a fine collection, even books that the library doesn’t have. These are all of them.”

“All of them?”

She nodded. “Yes, and I want you to take them. I’m sure there is something in here that will help you. You might have read them all, but I want to make sure you have all the information you can get.”