Page 57 of Betrayed Alpha Mate

Delilah’s expression changes. The teasing warmth she usually carries drains away, replaced by something cold and focused, calculating, as her brows furrow. That scares me more than panic ever could.

She pulls her hands back from Emily’s head abruptly. The gold light retracts, snapping inward toward Emily’s temples, but the air around us doesn’t settle. It stays charged, heavy, electric, like the moment before lightning strikes.

Emily opens her eyes slowly, blinking as if she’d been asleep and is just waking up. She appears steady, like she’s holding herself together through pure stubborn will. It would have been amusing if I weren’t so concerned by the look on Delilah’s face.

“Well?” Hunter asks, breaking the silence as he steps forward beside me.

Delilah reaches out a hand, and Hunter is at her side in no time, helping her stand up as she brushes dirt from her knees. She exhales once, long and measured, before turning to face me. I’m already by Emily’s side, too, helping her get to her feet.

“Thanks,” Emily murmurs timidly, and I give her a gentle, reassuring smile as I remain by her side. Gwen and Arianna join us, the crackling fire serving as the backdrop of what feels like an eerie scene.

“The bond isn’t just active,” Delilah says carefully, her brows furrowing as she slips her arm through Hunter’s. “It’s integrating with Emily’s magic.”

My stomach drops. “Integrating how?” I ask, my voice rough as I take Emily’s hand.

Delilah hesitates, and it’s like a blade sliding between my ribs, prompting me to tighten my grip on Emily’s hand. I know that look on Delilah’s face. We spent four years together in black ops. She can’t hide her worries from me.

“The mate bond isn’t feeding her magic, the way it does with the rest of us,” Delilah continues. “It’s not amplifying it. It’s…becoming part of it.”

Arianna swallows. “Yeah. It worked differently for us. Our mate bonds strengthened our magic, but it didn’t bind to the bond.”

“We’ve never seen convergence like this,” Gwen adds grimly.

“Not outside of myth,” Delilah says to the other witches.

Emily’s shoulders tense. “That doesn’t mean it’s bad, does it?”

“No,” Delilah agrees, shaking her head softly. “It’s not necessarily bad. But it is dangerous.”

I take a step forward. “Dangerous how?”

Delilah meets my gaze, and for once, there’s no humor there. Only truth. “She’s nearing the threshold.”

The word lands like a gunshot.

Emily’s breath stutters. Through the bond, fear spikes. It’s sharp, cold, and my immediate response is to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“The threshold?” I repeat. “You’re saying she’s—”

“About to fully emerge as the fifth witch,” Delilah says matter-of-factly. “Her magic is crossing the point of no return.”

“How is that dangerous?” I ask irritably, and Delilah sighs.

“With Emily’s magic dependent on the mate bond, it puts the responsibility of her magic on both of you. You’re two halves of a whole, and one can’t work independently of the other. But if you get hurt, Emily does. And vice versa. There’s no room for error.”

Emily gasps beside me, her face paling as she stares in horror at Delilah. “The Harrower…?” she asks softly.

Delilah doesn’t look away. “She knows.”

My wolf snarls. Of course she does.

“Both of you need to be careful,” Hunter warns. “We can’t risk either of you getting hurt.”

“Emily needs to be especially careful,” Arianna warns. “The Harrower appears to be siphoning her energy through the psychic attacks. It’ll weaken her, but it’ll also weaken you, Sean.”

I nod briskly, while Emily remains spooked. Even when we head back inside the house and have dinner with the others, she barely says a word, as if she’s haunted. I keep a watchful eye on her discreetly, noticing how she eats, but she’s not even tasting her food, just going through the motions of dinner.

When night falls, and Tyler comes over to pick up Arianna, while Hunter, Delilah, and Gwen head to Scarborough, Emily remains quietly spooked. She still hasn’t told me what she saw in the vision she had last night at the diner, and I can see it’s eating her up inside.