Page 18 of His Rejected Fated Mate

“Yes, you would have. When I fainted from heat last summer, you refused to let me leave my apartment for three days.”

“You worry too much.”

“Yes, yes, I do. And it would be helpful if you made my life easier by listening to what you were told.”

Victoria scuffed. “Elize, I’m a grown woman. I know what I’m doing.”

I stared at her, refusing to leave. Victoria sighed. “I won’t get up again until I’m leaving.”

I sighed and uncrossed my arms. I shouldn’t have been that surprised that she didn’t listen. Victoria was sweet but headstrong. She ran this shop no matter what.

I pulled a seat up and sat down next to her. She offered me a soft smile. “You look tired.”

I grunted. “I’m fine. I just need another cup of coffee.”

“Why don’t you go up and rest? I know that you were up late last night.”

I’d healed her leg, and because of it not being complete, I’d helped around the house. Charlie needed help with some other things that Victoria normally helped with. I hadn’t even gotten to my apartment until four in the morning. I only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before my body jerked me awake because of the light seeping in from my windows.

I was late, so I rushed out of the house after throwing on clothes. I had planned to wear something nice. I’d even pulled out a floral dress and had it hanging in the bathroom. But I was too tired to care after the lack of sleep.

“How is Charlie handling this?”

Victoria chuckled. “You know, Charlie. He almost had a heart attack this morning when I was moving around.”

“How did you get out of the house without him seeing you? I know he doesn’t know you’ve left the house.”

She smirked. “He’s napping.”

“Oh, Victoria, he’s going to freak out when he wakes up.”

“I left him a note.” She shut the book she was working on. “So, how was the ceremony? Did it go as planned?”

I shrugged. “It was fine. Nothing exciting.”

She gave me a soft smile. “How was Troy?”

I could see his shocked expression when I arrived. I could also see the disappointment in his eyes.

“He was fine.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay. I know this is hard for you.”

“We are. It’s just an arrangement for right now. It’s what’s best for the convent.”

“You didn’t have to agree if you didn’t want to, Elize.”

“I know that, but I agreed. So, let’s move on to what you’re doing here.”

I helped Victoria with a few more things around the shop before I headed upstairs. I meant to sleep for just a couple of hours, but I ended up sleeping until the next day.

I showered and made myself coffee before I headed back into the pack. After the ceremony, I asked Martin to tell me more details about what was going on. He’d brought up a cauldron, and I told him I wanted to see it. He first declined the idea, but I pressed. I wanted to be done with this as quickly as I could.

The drive to Riley’s pack was quiet, and my head was spinning with information. I was trying to think of everything I knew that would be able to help, but I didn’t know much about dark magic.

Victoria taught me simple spells and how to make healing potions. I had read tons of books and was always open to learning something the other witches were willing to teach. But it was a small group, and there had never been a need for me to learn the other stuff.

Now I was wishing I’d tried, or at least tried to know what they were capable of. I knew there was still a lot that I could learn, and I wanted to find out, starting with the cauldron.