Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 81

Chapter Eighty-One

“No,” Eric says quietly.

Ashley’s face falls.

I don’t pity her. Not for her crimes. She’s hurt too many people. But I was rejected once, and the pain is indescribable.

“Alpha MacPhearson,” the commanding voice belongs to the other woman standing beneath the arbor. I didn’t pay much attention to her before because, you know, Ashley, but she captures all of my focus now.

The woman appears to be sixty or seventy. Her face has a few lines around her eyes and mouth. Lines on her forehead. But her skin is very clear and her tan complexion sets off eyes that are so pale a hazel, they are nearly translucent. She wears a headdress that makes me think she is some sort of Priestess.

I don’t know anything about this culture of Seers.

She steps closer to us, and I feel prickles of electricity as she draws near. This is a very powerful she-wolf. I think she must rule this pack because our guide who had been standing beside me this whole time bows her head in deference.

“You are here for a reason, Alpha,” she addresses Eric. “I will remind you that a true mating is a gift of the Goddess.”

I feel my mouth fill with moisture, like I’m going to be sick. I’m taken back to that fateful

day, so many years ago when my father read the mating vows for Ashley and Cameron. My father said exactly the same thing.

But why would the Goddess tangle us up like this, with so much pain and suffering. Why not let us find our way before all this hardship?

The Priestess gestures for Eric and Ashley to come closer.

Neither moves.

I take a step back because I am so out of my element, and on some instinctive level I know that whatever will transpire between them…it has nothing to do with me.

Part of me loves Eric and always will.

The hurt I feel is for him.

He is a good man. An incredible lover.

I care so deeply about him. I don’t want him to suffer.

“Your actions, Alpha MacPhearson,” the Priestess says, “have set these events in motion. Just as those events that befell your life, the horrors endured by your bloodline, were a precursor to what you would do.”

It’s a circle.

One tragedy catalyzes the next one, on and on, in an endless cycle.

She turns to Ashley. “And your crime, Ashley, bartering away your gift of Sight as if it was of no consequence, despite being warned against such a heinous action by the very woman who gave you life and bestowed upon you that gift…for this, Ashley McNally, you will be punished.”

Ashley squares her shoulders. Her hate for Eric radiates from every pore of her body.

She’s either really brave or completely possessed by her need for vengeance. Why else would she come here? She had to know there would be consequences…

I think about it for a minute and I feel a wave of sympathy.

Ashley is so broken…she has nothing left to lose. She may even be trying to punish herself.

“For both of your actions,” the Priestess continues. “There is only one Path that we foresee. It begins here. Now. With what we decree. You will accept the mating bond, and I will henceforth officiate the mating ceremony.”

Eric doesn’t mince words. “No. Fucking. Way.”

She cocks her head, her expression almost taunting. “Shall I tell you of the fate that awaits if you forsake this vision? Shall I foretell the war that will erupt? It will herald not just the end of your bloodline but the destruction of our entire species…”

Her gaze cuts to Ashley. “Your mother accepted her fate–the brutal way she’d be slaughtered by her own child, because she knew her sacrifice was the only thing that would bring us together here. Today.”

The Priestess looks genuinely angry now. Her eyes flash to an eerie greenish-gold. Her wolf is very old. Very powerful.

“We Seers do not forgive so readily, Ashley. What you did in your quest for vengeance…bartering your gift of Sight…killing your own kin. For these crimes–and until such time as your heart is pure–you shall be severed from your wolf.”

The Priestess holds her hand open and chants something.

“No!” Ashley screams.

She drops to the ground. The binding of her wolf–however the Seer manages such magic–makes Ashley contort and scream.

We–myself and Eric–and the whole assembly of Seers watch.

Ashley’s body bows and arches as if it is about to shift, only it stays in that interspace, convulsing and thrashing uncontrollably.

It isn't quick.