Chapter 177 – Groped
–ZANE’S POV-
“What just happened?” I asked, as we both stood up from the forest floor.
I stared at the spot the cottage was less than an hour ago.
Where did it go? How did it just disappear?
What the hell was that girl?
“Where did you go, Warner?” I said, turning to him. “One minute we were having that disgusting tea, and the next both of you were gone. What happened?”
Warner’s face was hard. More so than usual.
Nothing.”
I frowned. “Where were you?” I asked again. “Is everything–”
“I said nothing happened,” he snapped, eyes turning black.
My eyebrow shot up, and he quickly turned away from me, covering his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright, Warner?”
Chapter 177 – Groped
10 min left
He didn’t answer right away. Just stood there, stiff, shoulders drawn up like he was holding something in. His breathing was off. Too shallow. Too fast.
“Warner,” I said again, firmer this time.
He shrugged off my hand. “I’m fine.”
That was a lie. Anyone with eyes could see it.
I watched him as he turned away, pacing a little, like he couldn’t stand still. His shoes crunched on the forest floor, his fists clenched at his sides.
“What did she do to you?” I asked quietly.
He didn’t look at me. “Nothing.”
“That’s the third time you’ve said that, and it’s still not true.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he muttered.
I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “Did she hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then what?” I asked. “Because I’m not buying this whole ‘it’s nothing‘ thing. You look like you just walked out of a war zone.”
2/8
11:53
Chapter 177 – Groped
He refused to meet my gaze.
10 min left
“Warner, I do not want to command you. Please. Just tell me what happened. She’s a witch and she’s dangerous. If she did anything, you need to tell me.”
I was worried for him. Genuinely. I’d never seen him act like this.
before.
He didn’t seem embarrassed. More… disturbed.
He finally looked up, meeting my gaze. His eyes weren’t black anymore, but they were still dark. Haunted.
“I don’t know what she did, alright?” he said, voice low. “She pulled me into some other space or dream or… I don’t even know. One second I was drinking tea, the next I was in this room. Her room.”
I blinked. “Her room?”
“Yeah. No doors. No windows. Just me. And her.”
“Did she… touch you?” I muttered, my face blanching. “I will rip her throat out if she did.”
“It wasn’t… I don’t know,” he struggled to choose his words. “She said weird things,” he continued. “Talked like she knew me, Like she’s been watching me for years. Said my aura was locked up and that it drove her insane. That she couldn’t read me like
3/8
11:53
Chapter 177 – Groped
she could everyone else.”
10 min left
I relaxed slightly. Obsession was fine. Assault wasn’t. It didn’t. matter that he was a man and a werewolf, or my strongest warrior. “So what? She tried to get in your head?”
He gave a humorless laugh. “She was already in it. She touched my face. Said I smelled like rain. Then started saying she wanted to understand me, not control me.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Does that mean she can?”
“I don’t know to what extent,” he replied. “For a long while, I was frozen. I couldn’t move.”
“Goddess,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.”
“It wasn’t… it was just weird. Then she… she crossed a line.”
“How?”
“I felt tingles when she touched me. Like the sparks you all keep talking about.”
My face fell. “No. Warner.”
“She cannot be my mate,” he snapped. “I got pissed, because clearly, she was using magic to manipulate me.”
“And how did that end?”
4/8
11:53
Chapter 177 Groped
10 min loft
Warner’s jaw tightened. “I lost my temper. Regained control
of my body. My eyes changed and I slammed the wall. I think I scared her, so she kicked me out. One second she was in front of me, the next she clapped her hands and poof—gone.”
I nodded slowly. That lined up with what I saw. One minute I was still in the cottage, drinking tea, and the next, I was face
down in dirt.
A witch for a mate?
That didn’t sound right.
It had never happened.
But then again, strange things were happening lately.
Almost like the Goddess was too bored and had decided to test us. Or it was someone else up there, having a good laugh while we scrambled for a sense of normalcy.
“Did she mark you?” I asked.
He blinked. “What?”
“Like, magically. A rune, a symbol, something unnatural. Did she leave anything on you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
5/8
11:53
Chapter 177 – Groped
“Take your shirt off.”
“What?”
“Off, buddy. I’m not taking any chances.”
10 min left
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but after a beat, he gave in with a groan and pulled off his hoodie and T–shirt in one go. For a second. I thought his chest only had the scar from the bullet, but when I looked closer, it seemed like something shimmered under his skin.
I narrowed my eyes, leaning closer.
“What are you doing?” he said, stepping away from me.
“Relax,” I rolled my eyes, “I’m not Sapphire. I’m not gonna try to
kiss you.”
“She didn’t try to kiss me,” he muttered under his breath.
I swiped my thumb over the faintly glowing spot.
“Dude,” he hissed, slapping my hand off.
“That wasn’t there before.” I pointed.
He looked down and frowned. “I don’t feel anything.”
6/8
11:53
10 min left
“She left something on you. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely
hers.”
He rubbed at it with his hand, but the mark didn’t go away. “Great. Just what I needed.”
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of it. “I’ll send this to Derek. Maybe he’s seen something like it before.”
Warner put his shirt back on and leaned against a tree, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked exhausted.
“I don’t get why she targeted me,” he said quietly.
I shrugged. “Maybe because you showed her kindness no one else had before. She was probably an outcast growing up. Witches don’t have packs to turn to, do they?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. She seemed lonely.”
“Anyway, you have to keep your distance. She’s creepy.”
“I told you,” he said, pushing off the tree. “But no, you thought she’d have answers.
“In my defense, she did. She just didn’t share them.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s go home. I need to shower.”
Then I said, “We should go. We need to get back before Lia
10 min left
starts asking questions.”
“Yeah, me too,” I agreed. “I would also like to puke my guts out to get rid of that disgusting liquid she called tea, Goddess, it tasted like bile.”
“Bile? Mine was sickeningly sweet.”
I stared at him. “Unfair.”
“At least you didn’t get groped.”
“Fair.”
