Chapter 247: Chapter 246

Mason I'd been ready to wait all night, but after an hour, the door to the room opened, and Zane appeared in the doorway. He stood there for a few minutes, talking to someone | assumed was Rhiannon, still inside. Then, he hurried to the car and got in.

“Let's get the f uck out of here,” he said.

| didn’t ask him how it had gone. | could smell sex on him, and a faint perfume. A hint of magic. Some blood We drove in silence broken only by the occasional hitch of Zane’s breath in and out. Right before we got to the drive to Lanie’s cottage, he muttered, “Pull over.”

I did. He got out to be sick alongside the road. | gave him a few minutes before | turned off the car and got out to make sure he was okay.

“I'll be fine.” Zane assured me. “The taste of puke is better than tasting the witch.”

| had a bottle of water in the car, so | got it out and handed it to him. He swished it in his mouth and it out, then drank some. Spit again. He finished the bottle.

“Thanks, man.”

“You ready?”

“Yeah. | don’t want to face them. I’m not sure | can face them.” He shuddered, his voice cracking. “They're my mates. And | was just with someone else.

“They understand. You should go straight into the shower as soon as you get back, though. That'll help.” | hesitated, then rubbed his shoulder. | wasn’t sure what else to do for him.

Facing Xander and Lanie was going to be hard for all of them.

“What's done is done,” | said, adding, “Did you...l mean, you got her to vow?”

“Yes. Tonight only. And she was guaranteed to conceive tonight. She didn’t tell me how she could be so sure, but | could tell she was.” Zane shuddered again. When he looked up at me, his pupils were dilated. “I can’t face them, man. | just f ucking can’t.”

| put my arms around him for a strong hug, the strongest | could give. Zane clutched me, his face pressed to my shoulder while he fought his so bs. It was the best | could do, and it didn’t feel like enough.

“Sorry” he said when he pulled away.

“Don't be sorry. We're family | got your back.” | looked at the car. “You ready?”

“No. But they’ll be worrying. Let’s go.”

Zane Mason hustled me into the bathroom as soon as we got back, running interference between me and my mates. I’d be grateful to him for that for the rest of our lives.

The hot water scalded me, but | wasn’t sure | would ever feel clean. The memories of the sex were already thankfully fading into black, but the horrible feeling in my stomach wasn’t going away.

As soon as I'd finished, | made sure to get dressed right away. | knew why | was there, but the urge to get out was stronger than anything. Now, | couldn’t stop thinking about the sight of the witch, naked on the bed. When | pulled on my boots, she’d jumped up to put her hand on my arm.

“What's the rush? You could stay for a drink,” she'd said in a breathy voice.

“One night only, Rhiannon. You vowed.”

“It’s still the same night,” she’d wheedled. “You could stay.”

“| don’t want to stay.”

| expected her to look angry, but she’d only looked...sad?

Her voice even shook when she said, “I guess you really do love her.”

“More than anything,” I'd told her, and made haste to get the f uck out of that room.

She'd called me back when | was in the doorway.”If you change your mind...”

“The vow, Rhiannon!”

“A vow can be broken if both parties agree to it,” she’d said.

| was never going to change my mind. | made sure to slam the door behind me in case she tried to follow.

Why had she been so clingy? Rhiannon had made no secret about not liking wolves. Loathing them, even. The sex had been fast and hard, but | hadn’t done anything to make it good for her. If anything, I’d done my best to feel the bare minimum, myself, even though there’d been a hateful pleasure at the end of it.

i got out of the shower and toweled off. Physically, | felt better. M entally, it was going to take some time.

There was no point in trying to put it off any longer. | had to face my mates. | steeled myself for the look of disappointment in their eyes. Even if they’d agreed I'd had to do it, there was no way they weren’t going to be hurt.

Yet when | went into the bedroom where they were waiting, all | saw was love and acceptance.

Lanie opened her arms to me. “Come to bed, love. You've had a long night.”

Thank the Goddess it was over.