Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 23 - We All Fall Down

Yep it's late and I'm sorry so I added extra to make it up, okay? Forgiven? New Year screwed me over. Hello 2018. Plz be a little kinder to us than your predecessors.

"How did they find us?" I asked Kat.

This was her moment to decide. I'd been delaying asking her whether she wanted to go to Lowland or New Dawn, but now the clock had run down and my next move hinged on her answer. Either she would fight us to get back to these douchebags, or she would help us get away from them. I hadn't need to smack down any mind-link tendrils yet, which must have been a good sign...

"I'm marked and mated," she said in a duh tone.

My ignorance on this subject was life-threatening, and I hated it. "For those of us less familiar with the mechanics of mating, can you elaborate?"

"It means I'm connected to him. He knows what direction he needs to go. The distance can be a bit iffy, but he'd be able to find me if we were half the world apart, let alone few miles. It just takes time."

"And no one thought to tell me this?" I demanded. "No one at all?"

"We told you it was a stupid thing to do. What more do you want?" Eira retorted through the link. I hadn't realised she was listening; apparently my question had been an open one.

I didn't bother replying. Maybe I had made this mess, in which case it was my responsibility to clean it up. And the first thing we needed to do, the very first thing, was get to the other side of the castle so Kat's mate would think she was inside. So I nudged Kat away from the field, made sure Alex was following, and began padding a wide circle around the castle and the flockies surrounding it.

We didn't dare go too fast because too much noise would have given us away. But we were hurrying. Once I could see the stones of the back wall and the pelts of a few flockies guarding them, I stopped and made myself as comfortable as any person could be while standing in wet undergrowth. The next part would be a mental battle, and distractions could come at the cost of my sanity.

"There are two ways to fix this. It's your pick, Kat. Someone could bite over your mark." That was my first suggestion. I didn't add any force to it, because that was an extreme, ditch-all measure. And because I would have to be the one to do it. I didn't even know how to mark a female.

"I would rather avoid that," Kat said in a very small voice. I tried not to show my relief.

"Alright. Give me your hand. Alex, keep watch while I'm gone."

He settled into a lying-crouch, facing the castle. I reached into Kat's mind, skirting around the edges, feeling for the link to her mate. I found it in a far corner, misplaced, forgotten. It was like a thread of silk stretching into the space between her and the Alpha. And someone on the far end was tugging on it, soft but persistent.

I could twist it off, stretch it thin, or sever it altogether. Only the latter would be a permanent solution.

"Can I break it?" I asked without opening my eyes. "Is that okay?"

Her wolf regarded me with eyes of molten chocolate. Her throat bobbed, she took a steadying breath, and then she nodded.

It almost felt too easy. But I knew this wasn't my work. Kat had been groomed for an arranged marriage since her preteen years – and to a much older man. She probably hadn't loved him. At least, that's what I had surmised from the conversation with her mother.

Anchoring myself to the bond, I began to creep across it. Halfway, I included Vik and Eira. They knew without being told what I intended, because my purpose shaped every thought. Naturally, there were some trust issues between the three of us, but we managed to meld to a certain extent, our walls lowered but not gone altogether. And then we began investigating the mate bond.