My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 152: Control

Rowan

Corin’s eyes widened with shock. Bei was on her feet in an instant, her body coiled and ready to fight even as her face drained of colour.

"Supreme Alpha Rowan," she breathed, her voice tight with barely controlled panic.

I met their eyes.

And I reached before they could react further.

This was the unsavoury part I disliked the most.

An extension of my ability I used far less frequently.

To touch another one’s mind, I had to open up my own and create a connection that went both ways.

I especially needed to touch their thoughts. Their beliefs. Their very sense of self and choice.

And make suggestions.

They were both ensnared in my hold, but Corin came first.

Corin was first.

His mind was exactly as I expected. Sharp, disciplined, and layered with years of training. Including an iron will honed by service to his Supreme Alpha. When my consciousness brushed against his, he fought immediately. His metal defences tried to snap into place and push me out.

It was futile.

Easy, I projected into his mind, letting my presence settle around his consciousness like a warm blanket. You are only going to harm yourself.

His resistance flared harder and his body prepared to attack even as his mind struggled against my influence.

His loyalty to Kael was absolute, and the strange life debt he felt to Violet was sacred.

But loyalty was just a belief. A thought. And thoughts could be... redirected.

Bei was just as trickier to convince, and within seconds, their eyes glazed slightly. And their faces went distant as the suggestion took full hold. When the two blinked, it was with the slow, deliberate movement of someone who had just come to an important decision on their own.

This is your choice, I finished, making sure the suggestion settled deep into their senses of self. Take your things. Leave what she needs, and head North to Silverwood. You know where it is. Report to my beta, Telsid. This is in agreement with your Supreme Alpha’s orders. You will be more useful there than out here.

"We should go back," Corin said aloud, his voice carrying the conviction of genuine belief.

Bei nodded, her expression thoughtful, as if she had just had a brilliant realization on her own.

Both of them began packing their belongings with mechanical efficiency.

As I predicted, the third one was fast approaching. Violet sensed my presence as hard as she felt the bond, and thankfully she didn’t make her way here. But the other one sensed something was wrong.

She burst into the clearing, her eyes immediately locking onto me.

Ana fell faster than the others.

Her desire to be useful, and to serve a purpose was just what I needed.

Her resistance immediately wavered and her shoulders relaxed. She nodded once, then turned and began helping the others pack.

Their movements were smooth, practiced, like they had made this decision hours ago after careful deliberation. They would genuinely believe it was their choice until it wore off.

I watched them prepare to leave, and a cold knot of guilt settled in my stomach.

"This is wrong," my wolf said softly. "You know it is wrong."

"It’s necessary," I countered, my voice lacking conviction as I shifted into my human form.

The three wolves shifted into their wolf forms, and without looking back, they darted into the trees.

Towards my territory, and away from her.

I stood alone in the clearing, surrounded by some of the abandoned supplies. The night air felt suddenly colder and heavier as the certainty of what I had just done settled over me like a heavy weight.

"She’s going to hate you for this," my wolf said quietly.

"That is fine."

He laughed. "You are lying to yourself! You—"

"What...?"

She stood at the edge of the clearing, her dark hair still damp from the water, her clothes hastily thrown on and dishevelled. Water droplets clung to her skin, catching the moonlight. But it was her eyes that struck me.

Wide with panic as they scanned the campsite, taking in the abandoned supplies and my presence with growing horror.

"Where..." she whispered, her voice unsteady. "Where are they?"

Before I could say anything she was already calling out for them.

"Corin! Ana!" She took a step forward, still looking around like they might appear from behind the trees. "Bei?"

Her voice faltered and I stiffened.

"They left," I said quietly.

She stopped moving. Her eyes fixed on me, and I watched comprehension slowly dawn across her face.

"Left," she repeated, the word flat. "They just... left?"

"They will be fine."

For a moment, she just stared at me. Then she shook her head, small movements like she was trying to physically reject what I had said.

"Where are they?" she repeated, her voice growing hoarse with each word. "What are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words died in my throat.

Because I saw it in her face, the exact moment she understood what I had done.

Her expression shifted from panic to betrayal to fury in the span of a single heartbeat. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and I felt the air around us grow heavy with barely contained power.

"You," she breathed, and the word carried the weight of accusation and disbelief and rage all at once. "You did something to them. What did you do?!"

"They are safe, I—"

She didn’t let me finish.

She was already moving, running in the direction they’d gone. Her feet barely made a sound as she tore through the clearing toward the tree line.

I moved without thinking, stepping into her path.

"Violet, wait—"

"Don’t touch me!"

She shoved me.

Hard.

I wasn’t expecting the desperate strength in her arms as both palms connected with my chest.

I staggered backward, my back slamming into a tree trunk with enough force to rattle my teeth. The bark dug into my shoulders, and for a split second, the hurt in my chest dug deeper than the physical impact of the shove.

I stood there, my back pressed against the rough bark, staring at her as she stumbled away from me, breathing hard and stunned by what she had just done.

Just as something in my chest cracked open, she rushed past me to catch up with her companions.