Witch Undecided by Debbie Cassidy
Chapter Eight
Imust have heard wrong. “What did you say?”
Sten smiled at me as if he were offering me his last Rolo. “You’ll have the privilege of picking Tor’s breeders. Choose whoever you feel most comfortable with.”
He said it as if he was doing me a favor, like it was some kind of honor, but the fact was he wanted me to pick who Tor fucked. Naked, sweaty, and…My chest grew tight.
I looked at Tor, not even bothering to hide my what-the-fuck face.
He bit back a smile and crossed his arms across his broad chest. Okay, so no help forthcoming there. He was leaving me to deal with this, huh. Fine.
I smiled politely at Sten. “No thanks. I’ll pass.”
Bee looked at me incredulously. “Don’t you want to be involved in this? The females chosen will carry your mate’s offspring. It’s an important decision.”
“Unless you expect me to fuck them, I don’t see why I need to be involved.”
Tor made a strange sound, part chuckle, part cough.
He was finding this funny, the fucker.
Sten studied me for a long beat, his expression wistful. “Charlotte said the same thing when Arne asked her to choose his breeders. Well, not the fuck part, but the sentiment was the same.”
Bee tucked in her chin. “I thought we agreed we wouldn’t speak her name.”
Sten’s expression hardened. “You made a suggestion, Bee. I didn’t agree to anything. Charlotte is…” His jaw ticked. “Was my mate for a century.”
“Not your true mate,” Bee retorted. “We’ve finally found one another, and after what she did…” Bee stood taller, her mouth pressed in a line. “No, Sten, I won’t stand for it.”
Sten leveled her with a cool look. “Show our anchor around. Introduce her to our pack. We’ll speak about this later. In private.”
Oh boy. It seemed Sten had found his true wolfy mate in Bee, and she wasn’t happy about him harping on about Charlotte, but the fact that he was…Did that mean he still loved her? Even after what she’d done?
“I’ll find you in a little while,” Tor said to me. “You don’t need to choose a breeder. I’ve no intention of fulfilling that duty just yet. There’s time.”
Well, he could have said that sooner.
And why was that a weight off my chest? I shrugged. “Don’t hold off on my account. You do what you got to do.”
He studied me with narrow eyes, as if he could see right through me, and in that moment, I would have sworn he could.
He leaned in so his lips brushed my ear. “You’re my mate, remember. I can feel your emotions.” He stepped back. “I’ll find you in a bit.”
Shit. So much for my poker face.
Tor stepped into the house with Sten, and Bee joined me on the decking. She exhaled and I noted how her hands were trembling.
“You okay?”
She looked surprised by the question. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
I arched a brow.
She pressed her lips together. “This isn’t easy for any of us. Least of all for you.” She smiled slightly. “I’m sorry that this is how it has to be, but it would make life easier for you to choose the wolves who might bear Tor’s offspring. It might give you some control.”
“I don’t need control. I trust Tor will make the right decisions.”
And I didn’t want to dwell on it. Best to keep that aspect of the deal separate from our relationship. From our friendship.
“You say that now,” Bee said. “But it’s not easy knowing the man you love is lying with another female, even if it is just to procreate.”
“I’m not in love with Tor. I don’t intend to have that kind of relationship with him, Leif, or Rune.”
Her mouth tightened at the mention of Rune’s name. “You say that now, but—"
Urgh, enough already. “Yes. I’ve heard. But I’m a stubborn bitch, Bee. I’m not a slave to any mystical bonds. I’m my own woman.”
Bee’s smile widened. “I wasn’t referring to the mating bond, Cora.”
Okay, now I was confused. “You weren’t?”
“No. If you have no interest in meeting the potential breeders, I suggest we talk over a spot of tea.”
Oh, thank God. “Got any cake?”
Bee wasTor’s aunt on his mother’s side, and now that the mate bond between Sten and Charlotte was gone, it turned out Bee was his wolf mate. Yep, I’d been right as usual.
“He still has feelings for Charlotte.” Bee sipped her tea. “As I’m sure you surmised. I’m afraid there may not be room in his heart for me.”
“But you’re his mate.”
“Yes, I am. But love and the mate bond are two entirely separate entities. You can have both, but you can also have one without the other.”
“But the mate bond attracts you to someone and makes you develop feelings for them.”
“Yes, it attracts you sexually, but emotions like love don’t always come into it. I’ve known mated wolves who have hated each other every hour of the day aside from when they were rutting.”
Heather’s words came back to me. She’d tried to explain this to me too.
“Not every anchor has been in love with her mates,” Bee said.
“What?”
“History tells us of two such cases.”
Had Charlotte known this? She must have.
“The bond can’t compel you to love your mates,” Bee said. “That’s entirely up to you. If you weren’t attracted to them before, the mating bond will make you want them sexually, but that’s all it will do.”
But I had been attracted to them before. It was okay, I still had control over my emotions. All I needed to do was avoid deep, meaningful conversations and bonding-type activities for a whole fucking century.
Oh boy.
No. Do not despair. You got this. Friend zone could be a loving place. A platonic loving place.
Bee was studying me with a shrewd expression that instantly had my back up. I was starting to get sick of people trying to read me. I took a gulp of tea and slipped on my poker face.
“Bee!” A child ran into the kitchen. “The post van is here.”
She sighed and pushed back her chair. “We order supplies once a month and the van never comes past the gates. I’ll be right back.”
Long minutes ticked by, and I was done sitting about. I headed into the hallway. Maybe Bee needed help with these parcels?
“Not gonna happen.” Tor’s irate voice drifted out from a door beyond the stairs, drawing me into eavesdrop mode.
“We don’t have a choice,” Sten said. “They’ll want him. He’s the perfect bait.”
“He’s not bait.”
“He agreed to it.”
“You went behind my back?” Tor’s voice vibrated with rage. “Do I have to remind you who’s alpha now.”
“Then act like one! Your subjectiveness in this matter is a weakness.”
A growl. “Who are you calling weak, old-timer?”
“They’re opening several rifts at a time. We lost two humans last week because we were unable to fend them off effectively. Something’s changed. We need to know what, and to do that we need to capture one of them, and you know they never allow us to do that. Ever.”
“They’d rather die.”
“Yes. So we set a trap with bait. Something they want.”
“No,” Tor snapped. “We find another way… One second…”
Boot falls headed toward me. Shit.
The door to my left opened and Tor stood there, a flat expression on his face. “Seriously, Cora?”
“What? I was headed out to help Bee with the post and heard you guys arguing. What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” He lobbed the car keys at me. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
The dismissal in his tone was clear and annoyance flared in my chest. “No.”
“No?” He looked genuinely confused.
“You heard me. You may be an alpha and used to barking orders, but you’re not my alpha, so you don’t get to dismiss me. If there’s a threat to humanity that I’m not in the loop about, then you need to clue me in stat. I gave up my life to protect a fucking seal, for godsake, so I deserve to know what the fuck is going on.”
“She has a point,” Sten said.
Tor shot him a lethal glare. “And there are parties involved that have the right to their privacy.”
Sten pinched the bridge of his nose. “Cora, we were discussing the varga and increasing patrols.”
“You mentioned bait.”
“Enough,” Tor snapped, his cold gaze settling on me. “You’ve been anchor for five minutes, but we’ve been protectors of humanity for centuries. If there’s something you need to know, then you’ll be informed of it. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Anger and embarrassment swirled in my chest, but like hell would I let him see it.
I shrugged. “Whatever.” Then brushed past him and out the front door.
My anger melted as I got to the car and anxiety bloomed in its place. But it wasn’t my anger, it was Tor’s. His cold attitude was a façade. A front.
He was worried…scared.
What was he hiding?
And suddenly I was a dog with a bone.
I needed to find out.
