Eleanor’s shoulders fell, a full-body exhale that I recognized from every argument I’d ever lost. "I wondered if that would come back to me," she said, and her tone wasn’t cruel. It was sad.
Krystal stared at her knees. "Why’d you do it?"
The air in the room thickened. Eleanor looked past Krystal to the window, to the garden, to anything but her daughter’s face. "I wanted you safe. I wanted you to focus. You were reckless, and I was afraid you’d get hurt."
Krystal’s jaw worked, fighting the tremor in her lips. "You took away my choices."
"I tried to give you better ones," Eleanor replied. "The world isn’t kind to girls who can’t control themselves."
Krystal’s hands shook. "You didn’t trust me."
Eleanor’s eyes snapped back to her. "I trusted you to be yourself. That’s what scared me. I was trying to help you temper your wild ways, Krystal. I only wanted to help."
Neither of them spoke for a long time. I felt like an intruder in someone else’s nightmare.
Krystal finally looked up, her cheeks blotched red. "You broke something in me. I can’t even recognize my own mate."
Eleanor’s own eyes went glassy, the first hint of tears. "Not on purpose. That was never my intent. Besides, the spell was supposed to wear off over time."
Krystal’s anger flared, and she slammed her hands down on the coffee table, rattling the jars. "Well, it didn't. You could have told me. You could have given me a chance."
Eleanor’s composure cracked, and she hunched in on herself, hands in her lap. "At first I thought I was doing the right thing. Later, I came to regret it." She shrugged one shoulder. "I realizedat Bryce's fourth birthday that it was still there, but I thought you’d hate me if you knew."
"I do," Krystal said, but the words were soft, not the kill-shot I think she’d intended.
Eleanor pressed her lips together, then turned her attention to me. "You’re here because of the mate bond?"
I nodded.
She nodded back, resigned. "It’s possible the spell tangled with it. The suppression was meant to push you away from bad decisions, but if it went wrong, it might block out much more." She chewed her lip. "I’m sorry."
Krystal’s tears finally spilled. She wiped them away, hard. "Can you undo it?"
Eleanor looked as if she wanted to say yes, but she shook her head. "It’s not safe to simply rip it out. I can do some research and find the safest way to remove it. But it might take time." She hesitated, and her gaze softened. "I never meant to block love, Krystal. Only to keep you from self-destructing."
Krystal laughed, a hollow sound. "What you don’t understand is that I’m a wolf, and we’re a little wild. Usually are until we find our mate."
Eleanor let the words hang. She reached for her daughter’s hand, but Krystal pulled away, folding her arms around herself.
The silence was jagged.
Eleanor broke it. "I’ll do what I can, but I can’t promise there won’t be consequences. There always are."
Krystal didn’t reply.
Eleanor looked at me, the weight of the world in her eyes. "Take care of her. Even if she won’t let you."
I nodded, my throat too tight for words.
We left together, Krystal moving quickly, nearly running to the truck. She slid into the passenger seat and pulled her knees up, hugging them to her chest. I got in, closed the door, and waited.
She stared out the window, refusing to let the tears fall. After a few minutes, she spoke. "She was always like that. She never did anything halfway."
I reached over and set my hand on hers. She didn’t pull away.
"I’m scared," she said. "What if I’m still broken, even after she fixes it?"
I squeezed her fingers. "Then we’ll find another way."
