The Wolf Prince's Fated Heart - Page 75

“What if he doesn’t talk?” I challenge. “Will you torture him then?”

“Not exactly,” Helia replies. “Long ago, witches perfected the art of getting into someone’s head. If he doesn’t talk, we’re going to have to look through his memories ourselves.”

“What if I talk to him?” I offer. “I’m sure he’ll tell me everything.”

“Too risky,” Grayden says with a shake of his head.

“No way,” Graham growls.

“Relax, you two,” Helia chides, her gaze stern. “If you keep scaring her like that, she’s never going to embrace the bond.”

The room is silent for a moment, as Grayden and Graham seem to recollect themselves. Helia seems to know what she’s talking about, and that makes me even more interested in getting to know her.

She turns to me, her green eyes meeting mine. “Did Graham talk to you about the fated-mate bond?”

“He did,” I say, choosing my words carefully.

I already know the basics but not how it should be or how it will be. This is not something a human could understand. Not something I can pretend to make logical sense of. It is something much more.

Graham seems to understand the question without Helia spelling it out because he clears his throat and shifts his position.

“If you are to reject the bond, a part of our soul will get irrevocably damaged,” Graham explains with a hint of fear and sadness in his voice. “Though we’ll be alive, we’ll never be able to fully recover from the pain and hurt.”

“You’re human, so you won’t feel it as deeply as Graham,” Helia adds. “In fact, you probably won’t even notice much difference at all.”

Grayden straightens his shoulders, and there’s a challenge in his dark eyes. “Which is why I’m pleading with you to at least give him a chance before you decide to reject him.”

“I don’t need you two to fight my battles,” Graham tells them. “That’s between Cassie and me. She’s under a lot of pressure as it is, and though I appreciate the sentiment, you’re making it worse.”

“That’s a lot to take in,” I say. “Perhaps it’s too much too fast.”

“I understand,” Graham says and pauses.

He clearly wants to add something. I hold my breath.

“I hope you’ll think about it,” Graham says and gives me a sad smile.

“I will,” I tell him, but then an idea occurs to me. “I want to talk to Tim before anyone else tries to interrogate him. Take it as my condition to give this a chance. Take it as a way of you showing me that I’ll be your equal despite not being a wolf. Or a witch.”

My demands are met with silence.

Helia is the first to break it. “If that will give you peace of mind,” she offers, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Graham,” Grayden demands, and his brother looks away. “Graham, tell her you will agree to this. The traitor needs to be interrogated anyway. You might as well get something out of it too. Besides, we’ll be just a door away, watching the entire thing through the two-way mirror. She’ll be safe. Nothing will happen to her.”

A moment goes by.

And then another.

When Graham agrees, it looks like the decision was physically pulled out of him, along with a piece of his heart.

Or that’s what I’m guessing, anyway. How the hell am I supposed to know how a wolf thinks or feels?

I need to be feeling brave right now to face Tim. I need a sense of control, just to prove to myself that he hasn’t taken it from me. And yet, when I think of what I’m planning to do, my bravado falters.

“It’ll have to wait until tomorrow though,” Graham says. “Cassie needs to rest.”

“Time is of the essence,” Grayden reminds him.