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Bowe hesitated, then said, "She put another spell on s for her I think it's triggered me to think of her as my mate"

"You are sure it's a spell?" Lachlain hastily asked "What if it's real?" He could only hope Emma had told him that aside from a bit of a wild streak and a pinch of a witch's natural deviousness, Mariketa had a good heart

Lachlain didn't know if he could say the same for Bowe's mate from before He'd met Mariah on occasion when he and Bowe had traveled to convene with her father, the king of a large faction of fey Lachlain had always found Mariah to be a spoiled sort, and though she'd been beautiful, tall and blond, she'd seemed to show disdain for all the elementals that the Lykae celebrated - food, touch, sex But Bowe had been content with her, so Lachlain had res Yet now "Bowe, it could be that you were given two"

"Have you ever heard of that happening?" he asked, his tone growing frustrated

"Well, no, but - "

"In five thousand years of the clan's record keeping, there's never been an instance of it Five millennia, Lachlain I know because I took half a decade to cole record Every bloody one"

Lachlain knee had been dogged in finding a way to have Mariah back, but he hadn't realized he'd sifted through all those records

Bowe added, "The witch put one spell on me - ould I no' think she'd hex me twice?"

"But ould she do it?"

He ran his re hand over the back of his neck "There was a shortof time when she when she wanted me for herself She made me kiss her - "

"Made you?" Lachlain raised his eyebrows

"Enthralled me to do it"

"How can you be sure you didn'tAnd I have been true to Mariah all these years until that witch toyed withdidn't shock Lachlain Though the Lykae were notorious for their insatiable appetites, their kind revered few things above loyalty "Emma knows the witch and has seen her without her cloak She says Mariketa is a beautiful girl Did you no' find her so?"

"She had a glamour on I canna recall her looks clearly"