Page 109 of Bad Witch

“Give me a minute, peaches. I just need a minute.”

He sounded almost—panicked. “Is something wrong?”

When he didn’t reply, I tried to turn to face him, but we were still locked together.

“Hold still, baby, don’t try to move yet, okay?”

I twisted, keeping my lower body where it was, and met his gaze. What I saw had me freezing in place. “Fender?” I whispered, worried now.

His gaze dipped to my shoulder, locking on to the bite mark he’d given me. “We’re gonna need to have that talk now, peaches.”

Chapter

Thirty-One

Fender

* * *

The moment she said my name, I knew I’d fucked up. No, that was an understatement. I’d just claimed Tempest, I’d made her my mate without her agreement, something that couldn’t be undone.

There were a lot of things I could blame what I’d done on: the shit from Pan’s realm that had still been fucking with the beast when we walked into this room, and still hadn’t completely left me yet. The fear of what was coming, a war, and the driving need to claim Tempest to keep her safe, so I could keep her close and protect her.

All of those things had played a part in what I’d just done, but none of it was an excuse.

I’d taken away Tempest’s choice. I’d made a decision about her life, the entirety of it, and hadn’t included her in the decision. What I’d done was wrong in every conceivable way, and now, somehow, I had to explain what I’d done to the sweet female still knotted to me, looking at me with wide, confused eyes, and hope like fuck she’d find a way to forgive me.

If she chose not to, if she chose to leave me instead—I may as well have War put me down now, because life wouldn’t be worth living. A hound, once mated, didn’t do well without his female, not fucking at all.

“Fender?” she said and tried to move again.

I grabbed her hip, holding her to me. “We’re locked together, peaches. It’s normal.” Between mates anyway. “You have to stay with me for a little longer, okay?”

Her eyes were still wide, but she nodded. “Something happened, didn’t it? I feel like something just happened.”

My knot should have released her by now, but the beast could smell her distress and my body was holding on to her all on its own. Some primal reaction to her tensing against me, her preparation to flee, when I hadn’t even told her what the something that happened was.

I breathed deep, trying to calm myself, but more importantly, trying to calm the beast down. Until it felt her relax, my knot was going to hold her in place and not let her go.

“When we walked in here, I said there was something I needed to tell you,” I said roughly, the beast in my throat.

Her eyes flared wider, and she tried to jerk forward again. I hissed and hooked my arm around her waist to keep her hips where they were, snug against me. “If you don’t stop panicking, baby, it’s gonna take a lot longer for my knot to release you.”

She nodded, woodenly, and lay back, but she was stiff as hell. “Does this happen every time you have sex?” she said, her voice shuddery as if she were freezing cold, when she was the total opposite.

Pressing my lips to the mark I’d given her, I shook my head. “No.” It was fucked, considering the circumstances, but there was no stopping the feeling of elation when I looked at her mark. It was the nicest one I’d seen. Maybe all my brothers felt that way, but it looked so pretty on her smooth skin.

“Tell me what just happened, Fender.”

Her voice snapped me back to reality, and I held her tighter to me, as if I could will her to forgive me for what I’d done, as if I could make her feel the same way I did and return it—as if I could make her love me back.

“There’s something I’ve known for a while that I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, but you’re skittish, baby, and you were so determined to keep this casual between us that I was afraid that if I told you the truth, then you’d bolt and I’d lose you⁠—”

“What truth?” she rushed out.

“You’re my mate, Temp…and after what we just did, we’re mated…in truth.”

She went utterly still. “No…that isn’t…that can’t be possible. I don’t have a mate, I can’t…”