“There must be some magic to counteract it!” I demand.
But Elsie is still crying, and even before she answers, I know my words amount to nothing.
If there were something to be done, she would have done it by now. That much I’m sure of.
“Love potions aren’t magic,” she says, hugging herself. “They’re poisons. She needs a healer.”
“A powerful one,” Kitty adds.
Her shift has died down, and she stands, curled into Dred’s side, shaking from the force of her wolf. He holds her close, rubbing her arms to soothe her. But I don’t think it’s working.
As I look at them all, broken and beaten, I can’t help but feel guilty.
They don’t deserve this. None of this is their fault. Not Dame’s or Kitty’s or Dred’s, or even Covington. This is my fault.
Ifailed her. Because I couldn’t do the one thing that would have protected her from this. The one thing that would have ensured her safety.
If we were mated, not just claimed, but truly mated, bound by fate, nothing could ever stand between us. No magic, no potion, certainly no man. But I can only give her words. Not my heart.
“I can give her my blood,” Dred offers. “She’d be bound to me, but?—”
“No,” I say, quieter now.
“Elliot,” Dame scolds me, gripping my shoulder and forcing me to look at him. “Let him! Would you rather she be gone?”
Iris would probably prefer death over a lifetime tied to Dred. But it doesn’t matter. She’s mine. I’m the one who put us in this mess. I’m the one who will get us out of it.
“I can fix it,” I say.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Dame shouts. “There’s nothing you can do. Just let him?—”
“Yes, there is,” I mutter, laying Iris down in the dirt. “You can sever me.”
“What?” Dame and Kitty both blurt in unison.
“No,” Dame declares. “I won’t do it. You’ve lost your mind.”
“She’s mine,” I say. “I know she is. Sever me from the pack and sever me from the family. The bond will form without the curse tying me down.”
“Elliot…”
Kitty’s voice is soft, pitying, and I know what she’s thinking.
She thinks I’m foolish, clinging to a hopeless idea of who I could be. They both do. But they don’t know. They don’t understand that I want to love her more than I want a pack. More than I want to live.
What other reason could there be for such pain?
“She’s mine,” I repeat. “I can feel it.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Kitty asks, stepping away from Dred to crouch beside me.
“I’m not,” I say. “I know I’m not, but if I am, Dred can feed her, and she can hate me for it. Simple.”
“Nothing about losing you is simple,” Dame mutters.
His blue eyes are bright with pain as he stares at me, desperate to change my mind. But I won’t. It was made up the moment those three words left her mouth. It was only a matter of time.
“You would do the same,” I say, bowing my head so our foreheads meet. “If you knew how much it hurts.”
