The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 167

“Ah,” the witch said, nodding to herself. “The lovers—reversed. You had a fated mate once, no?” I didn’t even respond before she went on, “If you want your wolf back, you must mark him again. Restore your bond under the blood moon.”

My jaw tightened. The witch was already clearing away the cards like the session was over. “That’s it?” I blurted out. “That’s the only way?”

“Yes.”

“There has to be another—”

“There isn’t,” she said, holding out her hand, palm facing up. She wanted payment. I ground my teeth together and pulled a wad of cash out of my wallet. Slapping it into her hand, I shoved my chair back and stood.

“Thanks for nothing,” I muttered, turning on my heel and leaving.

“You may try to deny it all you want,” she called after me, the cuckoo clock trilling, “but your threads of fate only run in one direction—toward one another!”

I wasn’t listening. There was no way I was marking Callum again. I would have to find another way to restore my wolf, regardless of what some fortune teller said.

When I burst out onto the street, I found Zane leaning against the railing with his hands in his pockets. I stormed right past him.

“What happened?” he asked, jogging to catch up.

“Nothing. It was a waste of time and twenty bucks.”

“Ah. Oh well,” Zane said. He fell into step beside me and gestured to a nearby market stand. “Want some hot cider? On me?”

“Sure,” I said. Zane grinned and walked off to get the drinks, and I waited there, still fuming.

Just then, I felt something bump into me. I looked up to see Bella walking past, shoulder-checking me on her way. I stumbled, nearly slamming into a passerby.

“Oh. Sorry,” she said, shooting me an indignant glance. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your guys’ date.”

“It’s not a date,” I pointed out.

“Right. It never is with him.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder and looked me up and down. “It’s funny, actually.”

“What is?”

“My brooch fell off.”

“The blue one?”

“Yeah. I can’t go anywhere until I find it.”

Zane helped me search for it—we even went all the way back to Madame Ellen’s shop—but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. My heart sank when I realized that it was probably long gone by now, either crushed under someone’s shoe or taken.

“It’s alright,” Zane said, patting my shoulder as we returned to the car. “It was just a piece of costume jewelry, right?”

I almost laughed out loud at that. It was definitely not “just a piece of costume jewelry”—it was my great-grandmother’s and had been passed down through the royal line to me. My mother would be devastated if she knew that I had lost it so carelessly.

But of course, I couldn’t tell Zane that. If he knew I was running around wearing a royal heirloom, he would never let me live it down without telling him.

So I sighed and said, “Yeah. Just a piece of costume jewelry.”