Relief washed through Ash when he laid eyes on Helena. After a long moment of eye contact, he felt reassured that she was all right. At least she was alive, and no one was attempting to restrain her. He tried to move toward her, but Lee stopped him.

“Just hang on and listen,” said Junior Psycho, raising his brows and nodding at the alpha. “You won’t want to miss this.”

“Ash, we don’t normally do this, and I’m sorry it had to happen here, in the interrogation rooms, but it would seem that I have a couple of rogue enforcers on my hands.” The bearded man put his hands on his hips. “Do you know who I am?”

“They’ve been calling you Aaron.”

“That’s Aaron VonBrandt,” said the hillbilly beside him. “He owns VonBrandt Energy.”

“Well, my family does. It’s in trust for the whole VonBrandt pack, but yes, I’m the CEO, and I run the company.”

Ash shrugged. “Yeah. I know you. And?”

“Well, that part of my life is irrelevant as far as you’re concerned right now. The thing that does concern you is that I am the alpha of the VonBrandt wolves, and right now, that woman over there, the one you slept with…”

“Helena,” Ash spoke her name like a prayer, but she wasn’t looking at him. She stood, fidgeting, beside a tall brunette lady. Look at me. But she wouldn’t.

Even so, he couldn’t deny the relief he felt in her presence. Strange, especially considering the situation hadn’t changed all that much. But there was no denying it.

“Yes, Helena. And there’s no easy way to say this, son, but I need you to know that Helena…and I…are wolf shifters. What you humans call werewolves.” Aaron pointed to Junior Psycho and waved his finger up and down. “Go ahead and shift, Lee.”

Did that dude just say ‘werewolves’? Ash shook his head. Maybe the drugs hadn’t worn off after all.

The man beside him started to take off his shirt, and Ash backed up a step. “Woah, dude. What are you doing?”

“My alpha said to shift. I gotta shift.” Lee threw away his shirt, and Ash kept right on backing up. The pants came off, and then he was hangin’ brain, and then there was a shimmer, and Ash just kept stepping farther and farther away from these psychos. He’d backed straight into the two-way mirror by the time the shimmering firmed up into a brown wolf standing where Lee had just been.

“No. No, that’s not possible.” Ash shook his head harder, trying to shake all the crazy out. He couldn’t be seeing this. It wasn’t possible.

“Ash, it’s okay,” came Helena’s voice, but she was still on the other side of the room, her arm linked with that of the brunette woman. Her hand had a white-knuckled grip on the lady’s arm. Ash realized that he could feel some warmth under his fingers, and he spread his hands out in front of his face. No. There was no flesh under his fingers. Why could he feel the tension in his hands? It was like the sensations from her hand had transferred to his.

“It’s most definitely not okay.” Ash dropped his arms to his sides. “Those drugs they gave me must still be… Or I’m dreaming.”

Another shimmer, and naked Lee stood where the wolf had been. He waggled his brows. “Wanna see it again?”

“Lee,” said the other hillbilly, picking up the shirt off the floor and throwing it, hard, at the other man’s midsection. “Get your damn clothes back on.”

“Normally, any humans who saw that would be sent off to the Banfield witches to get their brains rewired—” Aaron began, but Lee held up one finger.

“Although, we’ve never had to do that. Our pack is pretty good about not revealing our secret to humans.”

Ash tried to calm the swirl of thoughts in his brain. Was this really happening? Had he just seen a man poof into a wolf? And now they were talking about witches? Like freakin’ Harry Potter or something? Dammit. This was weird as balls.

He stared at the ground in front of him, trying to think straight. Okay, they’re telling me werewolves exist. Score one for Bram Stoker, or whatever, but this has to be some bullsheeeeeyiiiiiiittt. No way this is real.

Something clicked in his head, and he made eye contact with Helena. When she looked away, he made a move toward her, but Mr. Dark-and-Broody stopped him.

“You’re one of them, Helena?” He pointed at Junior Psycho. “You can do that?”

She nodded, still not meeting his gaze. It looked like there was a tear forming in the corner of her eye and he tried to push past Lee to get to her. Dammit, girl, don’t cry. You’ll wreck me right now.

“Yes, she’s a wolf, like Lee. Like me,” Aaron said, crossing the room to stand next to the tall brunette. “But my wife, Tonya, she’s a human, like you.” He held up his wrist, and his wife held hers up beside it. There was a matching set of double-ringed green tattoos on their wrists. They’d obviously gotten them to match. Cute.

Ash looked around at everyone else’s wrists. None on Macho Bro. None on Junior Psycho. None on Helena.

“These are the seal of our mate bond,” Aaron said, taking his wife’s hand and looking into her eyes like they’d been airlifted out of a horror movie into a sappy Hallmark flick. “Wolves are guarded by Fate, and for some of us, Fate chooses the person we should be with, and orchestrates the events of our lives so that we meet that person. Fate knows exactly what you need to find your mate—weak pull, strong pull, whatever.”

Tonya smiled and leaned into her husband’s shoulder. “The mate pull is just as real for humans as it is for wolves.” Her smile turned sad as she regarded Ash. “We don’t always know what it is when we first feel it, especially since most of us go into the experience without knowing this world exists. Some think it’s nausea or hallucinations, but it’s magick.”

Ash snorted. “Magick?”

“Yes.” Tonya left Helena’s side and crossed the room to where Ash stood, his back against the mirror, facing all five—now four—of the crazies in a line. She put her hand on his arm and he flinched at the touch. “I know this is new for you, and it takes some adjustment. There’s a lot more to this life, and this world, than just this bond. But before we go into that, we need to finish the bond that has started between the two of you.”

“Bond?” Ash asked, looking past her to Helena. Despite all of this craziness, he couldn’t deny he’d felt an inexplicable pull toward her since he’d first laid eyes on her. Maybe even before that. Was his life really being directed by Fate?

Not sure on that one. But there’s definitely something real with Helena.

He still felt it, despite everything they’d said to him, despite his reluctance to believe what his eyes had seen.

“When you had sex,” Tonya continued, patting his shoulder, “you started the first steps of a bond that would make you and Helena into true mates.”

“Typically, with wolves,” Aaron said, “we say the spell first, and then sex seals the bond. But your connection is deep enough that sex must have activated the physical side of your bond before the spell.”

Tonya looked over her shoulder, giving her husband a little smile. “It’s different with every couple, we’ve found. But one thing remains constant with Fated mates: Fate draws you together, pushes you toward one another, and does whatever you need to get you to say the words of the bond spell so you’ll never have to part.”

Ash shook his head, trying to clear it. So much information, all at once. It was impossible to process it all. “So, you’re telling me that those four, over there,” he pointed at Miles, Lee, Aaron, and Helena, “all have wolves under their skin, and that up there somewhere,” he pointed to the sky, “is an all-powerful being who puts people in bondage to one another.”

Tonya’s laugh was quiet, and both of the wonder twins rolled their eyes. VonBrandt’s wife shook her head. “No. It’s not bondage. It’s like marriage.”

Ash’s heart leapt at that word. He couldn’t deny he’d been entertaining the thought of some kind of future with Helena. It seemed foolishly fast, but he couldn’t deny that’s what he wanted. Call it Fate, call it love, call it whatever. He wanted her to be his. And he wanted to be hers.

“So, there’s some spell people say as part of this?”

Aaron came forward, leading Helena by the hand. “Yes, there’s a spell. A wolf has to say it. And it will complete the bond you started last night.”

“Are you sure there’s no other way?” Helena asked, raising her tearful eyes to look at the big man…the alpha.

Those words, those tears…they were like a sword to his gut. She doesn’t want this.

“You’ve felt what the physical bond is like,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “That won’t go away. And yes, it gets more intense when the emotions come with it—which will happen after we say the spell—but it’s going to be a lot like this for the rest of your life. Or as long as your mate is alive.”

Tonya pulled Ash forward so that he and Helena were standing face-to-face, with the alpha and his wife beside them. He had the overwhelming urge to gather his woman into his arms and cart her off somewhere so they could talk about this alone before agreeing to anything.

Listen to me, already. My woman? Yeah, I’m a goner.

Ash offered his hands to Helena, like he was standing in the weirdest wedding ceremony in the world, but she tightened hers at her sides.

“Aaron, you know I don’t want to do this,” Helena whispered, more tears streaming down her cheeks.

The pain was pretty swift, and Ash had to take a breath to make room for the emotion that had grabbed him by the throat and squeezed like it would choke the breath right out of him.

She doesn’t want me.

He wanted her so much. But she didn’t want him.

Ash didn’t drop his hands. He just kept offering them. He wanted her that much. It defied all logic and all common sense, but it was the truth.

“I know you don’t, and I told you this would be messy.” Aaron put his hand on Helena’s back. “But if you don’t finish the bond, you’re going to feel each other’s physical bodies for the rest of your lives. Every time one of you is in pain, the other one will feel it. With the bond spell, you’ll give him your healing ability. You’ll be protected from pain because he’ll rebound from most physical injuries.”

“Wait.” Ash dropped his hands. “She’s going to give me what?”

“Healing,” Aaron said, pointing down at the boot on Ash’s foot. “Wolves have supernaturally fast healing, and while this particular spell won’t give you wolf healing, it will allow you to heal much faster. It will probably take care of your injury within a few hours, if it’s just a broken bone. Different wolves heal at slightly different speeds—something else we don’t totally understand—so I can’t predict how long it will take. But my son, Luke, bonded to his human mate last year. She’d been in a car accident, but the bond spell saved her life. She was completely healed in a matter of hours.”

“I heal fast,” Helena said, her eyes downcast.

“You’ll also be relieved to know that the bond becomes much easier to control as soon as you seal it.” Aaron squeezed Helena’s shoulder.

Ash felt something click in his mind. He was starting to believe this was real. He wasn’t hallucinating. They were really offering him the chance to be with the woman he’d fallen in love with at first sight. And agreeing to take part in this spell would also give him the ability to heal from his injuries.

Ash wanted this bond with Helena more than he’d ever wanted anything. Only…

She was so reluctant. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want him. She didn’t want this. But was there really another option?

“Helena,” he said, holding out his hands again. “I know this has all been sudden, for both of us, but I’m falling for you, so hard. I want you, if you want me.”

Her tears practically soaked her cheeks, and she gave a little shake of her head. “I don’t want this, Ash. I don’t want it for either of us. You don’t know what our life will be like.”

“I don’t care.” He moved a step toward her, feeling his body come alive as he neared hers. “Let’s do this spell thing.”

Her lips trembled, and he crossed the rest of the distance, pulling her into his arms. He needed to touch her, and something told him that it would help bolster her will, too. Despite the confusion and uncertainty she felt at this moment, his intuition said bonding was the right thing for them.

She didn’t relax into him, not like he’d imagined. Her body was so rigid, so tight, like she was forcing herself to stay straight as a board in his arms.

Ash stepped back and tried to look into her eyes, but she was staring at the floor. She took a step back, too, shifting her gaze to Aaron VonBrandt.

“What about my grandfather?”

“Let me take care of him,” said the big alpha. “Are you ready?”

“I guess, since I don’t have a choice,” Helena said, finally meeting Ash’s eyes. Her nostrils flared and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ash.”

She grabbed his hands and started to say some foreign words Ash didn’t understand. She kept saying the words, and with a sudden burn, the green tattoos began to appear on his wrists. Hers too.

Damn. The alpha and his wife hadn’t gotten matching his-and-hers-tattoos at some parlor… Fate had etched those tattoos herself.

That’s some dope ink work, Fate.

Ash held up his wrists, watching the intricate design appear. It was slightly different from Aaron’s. The lines and whorls were in different places. Interesting.

Helena released his hands, when the tattoos were done, and stepped back to where the wonder twins were looking on, like the witnesses in a very weird justice-of-the-peace wedding.

There would be no rice throwing and no hymn singing, and he was forever bonded to a woman who didn’t want him. But there were worse things.

He could have been right about the serial killers.

* * *

The burn from the tattoos warmed her wrists. She couldn’t believe they’d made her go through with it. What did Aaron VonBrandt think he was going to say that her father hadn’t already tried? Her grandfather would never change. He would always hate humans. And he would hate Ash and make their lives miserable because of it.

She’d ruined Ash’s life. He just didn’t realize it yet.

His emotions washed over her through their bond. There was relief that he’d found her and also plenty of concern for her. She couldn’t help the waves of guilt and fear leaking from her psyche. Everything she ever did was planned out carefully. Everything except Ash. The one time she’d let go of her lists and planners…he’d been there waiting. Fate had been waiting.

Well, Fate made a fracking mistake. He shouldn’t want me. But he did. He wanted her so much she nearly started weeping again.

“Helena,” Ash whispered.

“We need to give them a few minutes,” Tonya said, throwing up her hands. “Move it. Out.” She shooed the two enforcers out first.

“There’s still more to discuss,” Aaron objected.

“Nope,” Tonya shot back, shoving the big man toward the door. “We’ll catch up with them later. You need to finish those meetings before the big run tonight and I need to get dinner ready.”

They are leaving me. With Ash.

Their voices faded away, and soon it was just her and Ash and the smell of hay. He stared at her for a moment before moving closer again. Her lip trembled. She didn’t know what to tell him. How to break it to him that he’d mated into a pack that would never accept a human member. That he’d be ostracized and ridiculed. Hated. She’d thought Fate would help her fix everything—that she’d find the perfect mate, the one who’d been chosen for her, and escape to another pack. But no, Fate had stuck her magickal nose straight into Helena’s business and turn her world upside down.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want me?”

I do. She wanted to shout it out and throw her arms around his neck. But instead she cast her gaze to the floor—if she looked at him, all bets were off—and murmured, “I’ve ruined your life. I’m sorry.”

He moved closer, grabbing her arms and taking her mouth the way she wanted him to. Hard. Possessive. Mine. She wanted to lean into him. Embrace the mate bond. Accept everything Ash was offering. Tell him…she loved him.

Instead she kept hearing every angry word her parents had spoken to each other. Every time the pack had made her mother feel like less. Every time her mother had cried herself to sleep because there hadn’t been a damn thing she could do to fix the situation. Her dad had pleaded and begged his whole life for her grandfather to change.

It had never happened for her parents.

Her path with Ash would be no different.

Tears burned at her tightly clenched eyes and she placed her palms flat on Ash’s chest and shoved, breaking the kiss. Breaking the moment. And breaking her heart and his at the same time.