Page 93 of Alpha's Rejected Warrior
“Not at all. The Hall whispered that you were coming, but I was not sure when.” Mahal gestures to a cushion across from his. “Come, sit with me.”
I sink onto a cushion across from him.
“Remain.” He glides over to a small alcove I hadn’t noticed before, returning with two steaming cups that smell of lavender and something earthier. The ceramic warms my palms as he settles back onto his cushion.
“Speak. What troubles the thread of your spirit?”
“I need answers,” I say curtly, exhaustion pulling at my bones. “Something happened. Something that shouldn’t be possible.”
“Impossible does not exist.”
I wrap my hands around the warm cup, grounding myself. “Ethan and I, we shared a feeling. When Jayme attacked us, I felt Ethan’s heartbeat like it was my own. . .as if our rhythms were in sync. I don’t know if that makes any sense.”
I search Mahal’s face for confirmation, but he drinks his tea in silence.
“And tonight, we mind-linked.” The words tumble out faster. “His thoughts were clearer to me than in any pack bond I’ve ever known. He spoke directly into my mind, and I answered. But he’s human. That’s not possible.”
“And yet it happened.”
“But why? What does it mean?” My knuckles turn white against the ceramic.
Mahal tilts his head, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips. “What meaning did your blood give it, Commander?”
“Don’t.” I set the cup down harder than necessary. “Please don’t give me mystic puzzles. I need concrete answers.” The pool’s surface catches my attention. Moonlight sparkles across it in scattered pieces. It reminds me even more now of the pond where I took Ethan, where he said he wanted to stay forever. “I’ve only ever heard of things like this happening to—” The words stick in my throat.
“To whom, Commander?” he pushes.
“Fated mates.” My eyes lock onto Mahal’s calm face while panic courses through every muscle in my body. “But that’s truly impossible. He’shuman.”
His weathered face softens, becoming almost sympathetic. “Is it impossible, or merely forbidden by those who taught you to name it as impossible?”
“Yes.” The word comes out sharp, desperate. I’m not sure which of the options he offered I’m agreeing to. Maybe both. “You said my fated mate was a wolf. You said he walks among my pack, that his wolf recognizes mine.” My tone sharpens with a feeling almost akin to betrayal. “Why would you say that? Ethan isn’t Lycan.”
“Ah.” Mahal sets down his cup with deliberate care. “You heard the wordwolfand reached for fur,” Mahal says, his voice precise. “I rather spoke of the predator that lives behind his ribs.”
Heat prickles beneath my skin, my thoughts tangling further even as part of me leans into his words more closely.
“I see the fierce protector within him,” Mahal continues, his voice taking on that distant quality that means he’s seeing beyond the present. “The loyal guardian who would die for his pack, who would die defending you. His spirit burns with the same fire as any Lycan warrior.”
The room spins. I clutch the edge of the low table. “How can a human be my fated mate? This has to be a mistake.”
“The Moon Goddess does not make mistakes.”
“He’s not even supposed to be in Clarion!” My volume spikes before I force it back down. “Ancient laws forbid humans from being in Clarion. Human-Lycan unions are— well, they’re forbidden. Punishable by exile, or worse.”
“Forbidden, yes.” Mahal’s expression doesn’t change. “But not unheard of.”
“What?”
“It has happened before: rarely, quietly, and almost never without consequence. There is truth in the stories you were told of past, failed attempts at such a bond. However, when the world tips, the Goddess answers with new bonds that defy the ledger and the law.”
“You’re talking about times of great change.” I laugh, but it sounds hollow. “Like when peace talks between ancient enemies fall apart because of sabotage?”
“Perhaps. Or, perhaps, something older stirs, something that demands bridges where we have only had walls. Even the Luna is proof that the Moon Goddess does not honor our rigid categories.”
Tears burn in my eyes. “I can’t do this.”
“Cannot? Or will not?”
