Forged in Fire (Forgotten Series, #2)

Chapter Fourteen

I watched her leave, she was putting that pretty, sweet mask back on but it couldn't hide how fucking vulnerable she looked. I grimaced slightly as I followed her, unwilling to let her leave my line of sight or my reach of protection. My touch had caused her to have a full blown panic attack. I didn't know why or how but there it was. She had panicked and wheezed and I was reminded of Maricella when she would wake up panicking due to the demons inside her head.

The only saving grace was that I had been able to help her calm down. She had looked so utterly heartbroken and panicked that my own heart had seized in my chest. My wolf snapped and snarled in my head at the thought that someone out there had done something to cause that reaction, to hurt her in such a way that a touch would cause her to panic like that. I watched as her shoulders rolled forward slightly. She was uncomfortable and she was vulnerable and I hated that I had made her feel like that.

I kept in pace behind her as she moved down the stairs. She was ignoring me, I could feel it but I let it stand. I had pushed her too far and she needed space. My wolf disagreed, he wanted her wrapped in our arms. He wanted her to understand how much we cared for her, how much we would do to protect her. There was no lengths my wolf wouldn't go to ensure her safety and protection, the images he constantly flashed in my mind cemented that fact.

She was our future, the pack's future, and we both wouldn't abide by a single thing harming her. The Hunter had just been a warning. We didn't care about titles or positions or who a person was related to. If they harmed our mate we would react the same as we had with the Hunter. It was simply instinct. It didn't matter that I was aware I barely knew her, the bond was there and it made its demands known. I wasn't about to deny it either.

I watched as she hit the bottom of the stairs and looked around as if lost for a moment. "Study is first doorway down the kitchen hallway." I said it carefully and she didn't acknowledge my words but moved to where I had directed. I kept back a few feet from her, I let her have her space. She was a complicated creature. I had never seen anyone fight a mate bond like she did and if I hadn't known better, I would have been afraid she would win against it. However Gamgam had told me that the bond would adapt to situations. My little cat could fight the bond all she wanted but in the end it would useless. The bond would twist and change, wiggling into the cracks of her armor, ignoring her fighting, using it to her advantage.

My wolf didn't like how much she fought against it, against us but I understood her wariness. Gamgam had told me she was a Respingere Colector, a Collector of Rejection. Gamgam was certain she was unwilling in that department but I wasn't aware of how many rejections there had been. We hated that she had been rejected at all but the fact that the rejections had brought her to us soothed our anger a tiny fraction. Not enough to lessen it completely but just enough that it made us aware that if she hadn't been rejected by her previous mates then she would have never come onto our territory, she would never have been ours. I quite liked the thought that such a beautiful and smart female was mine.

She pushed open the door to the study and I moved closer to her, the instinct to protect her was strong. There were numerous wolves in the room and wolves could sense weakness. I didn't want to admit it but with her being so vulnerable, she was a target.

"So good of you two to join us!" Jovan's voice was amused as he looked us over with a knowing glint in his eyes. "Thank you for the drinks." He held up his glass before taking a large drink of the amber liquid. I wasn't quite sure about the councilman. They never came out to give lectures, they usually left it for the lower Hunters to deal with. His presence was making me and my wolf tense.

"You are welcome, councilman Edwards." I nodded at him and followed Pisică as she sat in a chair further away from the group of Hunters that stood beside the door. I glanced at the other empty chair. It was a seat of power but I glanced at my mate and knew it was more important to show my preference for her over power. Family before pack, before power.