Midnight Whispers - Paranormal Romance by Catherine Bullard Read Free Book Online Page B

legends and stories of what it was like to be fated to mate with a woman
who was not of your clan, but the experience was all too different. He’d been
certain it would be no big hardship to let her walk away since he didn’t care
much for the idea of being mated to a human, but the past week had been utter hell.
Every cell in his body protested Kyra’s absence, and it only seemed to get
worse. On the hunts at night with the pack, during their nightly song, he
couldn’t help but infuse his cry with longing for her—a longing he
neither welcomed nor enjoyed.
    If he’d knew
exactly what sort of torture lay ahead of him, he would have never let Charles
allow her to walk out of the woods. He would have tossed her over his shoulder
and locked her up in his cabin until she agreed to stay with him. He was
restless and moody, constantly on edge, wondering with every breath when she
would return. At night, during their hunts, he couldn’t help but call for her.
Every fiber of his being ached for her presence, and he couldn’t have resented
it more.
    He walked quickly
through the village, and his heart lightened as her scent wafted toward him,
relaxing the taut muscles in his body even as it tightened… other areas.
Unconsciously he picked up the pace, needing visual confirmation that she was
here and safe.
    As the gates
came into view, so did she, standing in front of the guard, her arms crossed
over her chest in a defensive posture. Those eyes of hers sparkled with a
mixture of fury and fear, and he could tell by her rigid stance that she was
very uncomfortable standing out in the open with everybody staring at her.
    As though she
was able to scent him, Kyra froze, then whipped her head around and pinned that
glare on him. He noticed that even though her eyes still sparked, some of the
tension strung through her body dissipated, and couldn’t help but grinning. So,
she was happy to see him too.
    “It’s about
time you showed up!” She jabbed a trembling finger in his direction, tears
shimmering in her eyes now. “Do you have any idea the kind of hell you’ve been
raining down upon me for the last week and a half?” She didn’t seem to want an
answer, because she kept right on talking. “You’ve been stalking me in my
dreams during what sleep I get, which is far too little because you’ve also
been keeping me awake with your stupid wolf call!”
    “Did you
consider,” Bryce drawled, folding his arms to prevent himself from reaching out
and hugging her like he wanted, “that if you’d heeded the call instead of
resisting it, you could have saved yourself much of this needless suffering?”
    “If by
‘heeding the call’ you mean coming back here and offering myself up to you,
then yes, I admit that I did consider it countless times—or rather my
body did. I’ve been fighting the impulse this entire time, and I’ve only come
now because I’m asking you to make it stop. This morning my Aunt wanted to call
a doctor because I looked like a ghoul from the lack of sleep!” She bit her
lower lip and looked around nervously and whispered through her teeth. “I know
I’m not welcome here by anyone, least of all you. So why won’t you just let me
go?”
    He took her
by the shoulders, gripping her tightly. “I’m not sure if you remember a word I
said to you the last time we met, but mating is not a voluntary act. I didn’t
pick you any more than you picked me. Fate is a cruel bitch, and unless you
know of a way to bargain with her there is nothing I can do. Of course, there is something you could do, if you’re really so keen to end this.”
     “And
what would that be?”
    Smiling
bitterly at the look of hope in her eyes, he took her hand and pressed a dagger
into it. “You could plunge this into my heart. Once I’m dead there will be
nothing to compel you back here. Fate only ever chooses one pair of mates, so
you would not be bound to another member of my Clan. Either that, or you could
continue to put