Cursing the Moon Goddess

Chapter Twenty

Cole POV

I really wanted to tell Mikaela she was my second chance mate. But she doesn't feel the bond. I think it's because she's still tied to Asher. I didn't know how she broke her bond. All I knew was that her neck was unmarked now. But her wolf did not connect to mine. My wolf and I were both hurt. I have no idea why she broke her bond to her first mate. But I can finally begin to put the pieces together.

That was what she wanted when she asked me about it at the library. And I can imagine that's why she went to Scarlett. What I don't understand is why Scar would help her. Does Scar know Mikaela's reasons to break her bond? Does she agree that whatever happened was enough to break something so sacred?

But the question that burned my head more than anything was if I really wanted to be mated to someone who already broke her first bond. What wolf would do such a thing? And how did she survive it after being marked?

I had too many questions for her. I tried my best to keep myself composed at dinner. I desperately wanted to be by her side, to feed her, to remove the little crumbs that sometimes stuck at the edge of her lips. But, I also wanted to ask the moon goddess what she meant by bonding me to her.

When dinner was over, I decided to go to my room for a winter coat. My jacket was too light for this late into the evening. And if we were going to talk, I did not want to be half naked while we were. It was best if I got there in my human form. It would be a 30-minute jog.

Staring into the forest's reflection on the lake, I hear rumbles of dry leaves behind me and the scent of cherries and vanilla comes in an instant. I wanted to go hug her. I manage to refrain myself.

- You're already here - Mikaela acknowledges my presence first. I turn to see her and she also came in her human form. She was dressed in full winter clothes, there is no way she carried all those clothes in her wolf snout. And she did not carry a bag.

- Yeah, I'm glad you came. - I tell her. I really am, I'll get answers from her. - Come over here. - I say. I lead her some yards away from the last spot we met months ago. But still on the edge of the lake. I want to shield us from the cold breeze the lake gives off this time of year. And I know just the place.

We arrive at a very familiar tree trunk, and I look up. The trees around here are very thick in foliage. The spots where the sun rays can hit you are counted.

- How is this place better than the last? - She asks me.

- We have to climb up. And you can't tell anyone about this place. - I wink at her. I'm bringing her to my super-secret childhood tree house after all.

I start climbing first and make sure she follows. She does. I smile at the idea of how much she already trusts me, she trusts me without feeling the bond. It makes me feel great.

We quickly reach the bottom of the tree house and I push the entrance top open. I pull myself up and look at her climb up behind me.

- Is this some kind of secret fortress? - She asks me.

- It is, and you have to swear you'll keep the secret. - I say.

- Or you'll kill me? - She asks with a laugh.

- No, I'll trap you here forever. - I take a step towards her.

She looks in my eyes and I can feel the urge to kiss her. I shake the idea away and close the entrance door that is on the floor of this tree house.

It wasn't a big tree house. Only about six yards long and six yards wide. It had bean bags that were a little dusty, a small coffee table in the center, an electric fireplace to the side of the bean bags, and opposite the fireplace, a small door leading to a balcony. I was small. Only two adults would fit on it and stand very close to each other. She walked around the room. Taking the scene in. She looked at the excuse of a bookshelf Jace and I kept here. It had our notebooks of when we were little. If she was to look inside them, she would find drawings of the adventures of two brothers in a forest. Of our first hunt. Of many of our childhood best and worst memories. But she didn't. She just looked and kept walking. She walked to the door leading to the small balcony and stepped outside. I follow her and stand close to her in the small place. We can see the lake from here, and the last rays of sun disappearing behind the mountains in the horizon.