Soul Bonded by Meghan Malone

“Susan isn’t a sad memory. Her disappearance is, but it was a long time ago.” He paused. “To be honest, I’ve always suspected that one of our ‘friends from across the river’ was responsible. I couldn’t prove anything, though, and Alpha wasn’t willing to listen to my suspicions. As you just saw, he would do almost anything to avoid confrontation with that pack.”
    “Why do you think it was them?”
    “I don’t believe Susan would have run away like that. The pack was her family. She wouldn’t have left because she had nowhere to go. Something happened to her.” He fingered a lock of her hair, seemingly riveted by its texture. “Besides, when you live next to monsters, it’s natural to look to them when things go wrong.”
    “So Alpha’s assessment that you’ve all co-existed peacefully until now…”
    Rafe scoffed. “They’ve never done anything blatant enough to encourage Alpha to push back. He tells us to stay out of their way in the hope that they’ll stay out of ours. At first that just meant turning a blind eye to the humans they killed. After Susan vanished, it became clear to me that Alpha is more concerned about avoiding war than taking a stand. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t just kill us tonight if that’s what he thought Jack Devereaux wanted.”
    “I’m so sorry, Rafe. Really.” While the thought of Rafe being with another woman made her stupidly jealous, she hated knowing that he’d suffered that kind of heartache. “Did you love her?”  
    “Yes.” He cupped her cheek and traced her lower lip with his thumb. “But we weren’t bonded. Very few of us ever find a bond-mate.”
    “So you’re saying that what you feel for me is different than what you felt for her?”
    “Very different.” Rafe rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “But you’re right. We barely know each other.”
    Katie propped herself up on her elbow. “Is your Alpha bonded to his mate? You said he should know what this means.”
    “No, his parents were bonded. And his father was never the same after his mother passed away.” He covered his face with his arm, no longer looking at her. “Damn it, Katie. I really am so, so sorry.”
    “Because you’ve ruined me for other men?” Emboldened by the knowledge that she wasn’t being observed, Katie allowed her attention to drift lower, to Rafe’s tented sweatpants. If she really was ruined for anyone else, then wanting him was only natural. Even if it seemed really, really messed up.  
    “To start.” Rafe dropped his arm and caught her looking. She appreciated his grace in not mentioning it. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess. That we bonded. That I didn’t explain things to you and that you felt like you were better off running away into the night. If I’d handled any number of things differently—“
    “If you hadn’t done exactly what you did, I’d be dead. So no more apologies,” Katie said. “You’re forgiven. And that’s that.”
    “I appreciate that.” He entangled their fingers and looked up at the ceiling again. “But I’m not sure you should forgive me before you understand the full scope of what it means to be bonded.”
    “It means that you’re my other half now. For better or worse. It means that without you, I’ll never be whole again.” She paused, watching turbulent emotion play over Rafe’s handsome face. “Did I get that right?”
    “Yeah.” He lifted their joined hands to his face and kissed her knuckles. Then he closed his eyes. “They say that when one half of a bonded pair dies, often the other follows shortly after. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a physical consequence of such an intense, soul-deep connection being severed.”
    Katie digested that news. So if Rafe died, she would either drown in sadness or join him. Excellent. “Is that the worst of it? Our bond?”
    “Yeah, I think so.” Rafe lowered their hands to rest between their bodies. “Having a bond-mate is an