She empties her lungs of breath, and we say nothing for a moment.
“I don’t feel like my free will has been stripped. I want this.”
“You think you want this. That’s the whole point though, isn’t it? To make you think you want this.”
I shake my head. “I kept your keys because you keep tryin’ to leave. I kept the phone because you threatened to call the cops. Stop making me worry about what you’ll do, and I’ll stop preventing you from doing what you want to do.”
“So are you gonna tell me what happened yesterday, then?” she clips.
I blow out a long breath before replying, “Yesterday was a shit show for Riley and the news wasn’t good for him, but the news for us and for Tyson and your sister was good.”
She jolts tight and says nothing.
“You’re where you’re supposed to be, Mrs. Quinn. So is Mrs. Savage. Tyson and I do have free will here, baby. Riley’s got issues with a missing fake mate instead of a dead legit one, but me and Tyson both have what we’re supposed to have.”
She begins shaking her head. She does it for too long before finally spitting, “Bullshit.” She then pulls away and gets to her feet, eyes blazing at me again.
“It’s not bullshit.”
“Bullshit!” she repeats, voice full of venom. “That’s not remotely believable when you consider my aunt handed over a fortune to the witches and made this happen.”
“The witches told me your aunt went to their relative who is now deceased, but did that because that was fated. Their grimoires all check out.”
“That doesn’t make a lick of sense.”
“They say your aunt probably won that fortune in order to do it. That fortune was meant to go to the witch for some needed purpose.”
She shakes her head again and stomps to the window, giving me her back.
And now I’m getting a little pissed. “You’re so determined that this isn’t real. Why not give it a chance? See how it feels to you if you let me in just a fucking little bit.”
“No.”
She’s so fucking stubborn.
“No? Why? Because you’re afraid of being wrong? Afraid of being happy? Tell me you weren’t happy last night when you let yourself have it for one night?”
She scowls. I rise, turn her and pull her close. She freezes and purses her lips in an adorable way. I kiss her mouth softly.
“Amie, baby…”
“No!” she denies. “Stop trying to use affection to get under my skin.”
“Nope,” I deny. “I’ll use whatever I have in my arsenal to get in there.”
“I want to talk to these witches.”
“They’ve gone. They live out of town.”
A scoff. “How convenient.”
“I’m serious. I have no reason to lie to you about anything. I have every right to keep you here. As your mate, it’s my job to do what I need to do to keep you safe, keep you as mine. That’s what I’m doing and what I’ll keep doing,” I promise.
“Then let’s go wherever they are. I want to hear it from the horse’s mouth,” she says, completely disregarding everything I just said to her.
“You don’t believe me, but I have no reason to lie. You’re mine whether you believe it or not,” I try again.
“I hardly know you to know if I should believe you or not. How do I know you’re not either lying to me or that part of this spell makes you believe all this ridiculous shit?”
“All what ridiculous shit? Alphas identify their soulmate. That’s how it’s always been. They get the urge to mark that one and only female with a bite during mating. They can only knot their fated mate. All that happened. Yeah, witches say there was interference, but this coven swears it’s all above board. What’s ridiculous? That we’re meant for one another? That we’ll get to spend the rest of our lives together making one another happy, having a family, being there for one another? That’s ridiculous?”
“Completely!”
“Why is that completely ridiculous? Because there’s something about me, my life, my pack that you don’t want for your life?”
She frowns.
“Or,” I continue, “Is it because you don’t believe you deserve happiness?”
Her jaw muscles bulge.
“Is it that you’re afraid to believe it in case it gets ripped from you? And you don’t want to get hurt?”
Her expression now falls, and this’d tell me everything I’d need to know if I didn’t already know it.
“Amie.” I pull her tighter to me, tucking her head under my chin. “Give this a chance. You’re no longer engaged, you clearly don’t give a fuck about that guy and told me yourself last night how relieved you were that the wedding is off, before you told me yourself you were letting yourself have what you want for one night and-”
She twists to claps a hand over my mouth and her entire being exudes warning.