Page 65 of His Bullied Fated Mate

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, but nightmares did that to you. You woke up afraid, thinking whatever you'd seen was real. “Janella...” I continued to stroke her head. “I think it’s just a dream. Let's go back to bed.”

She leaned back, giving me a glare. “It’s real. I know it is, Riley.”

I grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you. But it’s…” I looked over at the alarm, seeing it was just a little past two in the morning. “It’s two in the morning. Let’s go back to bed, and in the morning, if you still feel like it’s real, we can go look for it.”

Janella swallowed and slowly nodded. I tucked her close to me and pulled the sheets back over us again. She rested her head against my chest and sighed.

I woke up first the next morning. Janella was still out cold; her face relaxed in a deep sleep. I moved slowly, not wanting to wake up. I went and started us both coffees, and was pouring it when she came down the stairs. She rubbed at her eyes, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top now.

“Morning.” My eyes looked her over, taking in how tight the fabric was clinging to her. I tried to shake my head to stop staring.

“Morning.” She sat down at the island. She took a cup of coffee and sighed.

“So? Still think that cauldron was real?”

She nodded her head. “I do, and I want to find it.”

I shouldn't have been surprised that she wanted to look for it. I glance at the time. I had gotten a few messages that I needed to address before I could go help her. “I have some meetings I need to attend today, but I can join you this afternoon.”

“That’s okay. I wanted to go looking around this morning anyway. See if maybe I can feel a pull or something.”

“I’ll join you this afternoon, after lunch.”

She swallowed. “You're not going to think I'm crazy? That I'm reading too much into it?”

I shook my head. “No. You're a witch, Janella. And that dream might have just been a vision.”

I left half an hour later. I had a meeting with the council, who were furious that I let word get out. They were pissed that people were talking about it and asking them for more information. I said little, not in the mood to defend myself more than I already had.

I had another meeting with Philip, my Beta. He had gotten calls all night asking him for more details. People wanted answers. Answers to questions I didn't have. I had hundreds of voicemails waiting for me at the office.

By lunch, I threw my hands up and called it a day. I called Janella as I got outside and started my car. It rang a few times before she answered.

“Hey.”

“Hey, where are you?”

“I'm at the park by the city hall.”

I turned and glanced at the park across the street. I could see her standing near a tree, and I smiled. “Well, I'm done and ready to help.”

Janella and I went out looking everywhere. We stopped at different stores to see if they were selling any cauldrons. We went into the woods to see if we could find one that was abandoned. But we came up empty on all accounts.

Janella hadn't seen where the cauldron had been, just that she saw it. She had no idea where it could be, which made it harder for us to pinpoint where to look.

We came home tired after a long day. Janella threw herself onto the couch and sighed heavily. “Well, that seemed like a bust. I feel we were everywhere.”

“We can continue to look tomorrow.” I headed down the hallway to my room and froze when I remembered the mess that was waiting for me.

“Shit.”

I heard her footsteps coming down the hallway, and she paused as she took in my room. “I forgot about this.”

“I did too.” I sighed, rubbing my hands through my hair. “I should probably get to cleaning it.”

“I can help.”

I shook my head. “It’s my mess, Janella. You don’t need to help me clean it up.”