Astrid's Wish Read Online Free PDF Page A

twirling sensation in my tummy?” Miles nodded again. “I felt that when I saw that man.”
    Miles kept nodding his head. Then his breath hitched. “Oh god, no!”
    Astrid watched as Miles stomped out of his room. Had he said something wrong?

    28 AJ
    Jarrett

Chapter Three

    “What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
    He wasn’t sure if he should tell Ben or not. To find one’s mate, especially after so many years, was supposed to be an exciting development. Others went their whole lives without ever finding their mates, and some died never knowing the touch of their mate. And here he stood trying to find a way to rid himself of his. This made him a bastard in more ways than one, and he didn’t need Ben vocalizing his shortcomings out loud.
    “Well, Klaus? I’ve known you for years. I’ve never seen you behave like that. What gives?”
    What gave was with his job, he had no place in his life for anyone.
    He traveled more than not, never able to lay his head in the same bed for more than a couple of nights. The constant danger he put himself in, all in the name of the council, was no life for a man who, by all pretenses, was a child. In the few moments he spent with Astrid, the man appeared afraid of his own shadow. How could he claim a mate that wasn’t his equal? Astrid would be a liability. A liability that could get him killed.
    Miles came back into the room. His face blazed a beet red, and the vein at his temple pulsed with every beat of his heart. His nose flared as he took deep breaths. The petite vamp looked ready to blow his top, and Klaus just happened to be the bull’s-eye.
    “I don’t know how, but you need to reverse that bond,” Miles shouted at Klaus. He walked up to him until only an arm’s length separated them.

    Astrid’s Wish
    29
    It was one thing for him to think being mated to Astrid was a bad thing, but for a complete stranger to demand he give up his mate all together was another. He didn’t want Astrid, but he’d be damned if this little guy would have a say in what took place between him and the witch.
    “Watch your tone, whelp. This doesn’t concern you.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t let his own doubts and concerns bleed through the confident image he projected to the outside world.
    The council counted on him to keep a cool head. Klaus had to be able to think clearly in any situation. But this wasn’t just any situation.
    This involved him personally.
    “Hey, guys, what am I missing here?” Ben looked from Miles back to him then back again. Klaus saw it the moment the light clicked on for Ben. “No fucking way.”
    “Yes way,” Miles said without taking his eyes off Klaus. “So, besides this prick coming to question Astrid, he’s also his mate.”
    Klaus didn’t like Miles’s tone or his attitude. This was some serious shit for him, too. Miles made it sound like Klaus had planned the whole thing. He had no control over this, and it really pissed him off that this newly turned vampire would treat him like some common criminal.
    Ben laid his hands on Miles’s shoulders and pulled the man back against his chest. “Calm down, baby. I don’t think Klaus knew Astrid was his mate until about fifteen minutes ago. He’s just as shocked as Astrid must be.”
    “Are you? Or are you upset that you’re saddled with a mate who’s more like a child than an adult? Someone who knows nothing of your world?” Miles scoffed. “You wouldn’t even know how to take care of him.”
    He bristled under Miles’s claims. The man condemned him without even knowing him. This was what a witch had to deal with every minute of every day of their life. According to majority opinion, witches were monsters who took advantage of people and turned them 30 AJ
    Jarrett
    into their worst nightmares. Some, not all, witches did that, but it didn’t matter. One bad apple ruined the bunch, according to popular opinion.
    “Nothing to say?” Miles laughed bitterly. “That’s what