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Her lips parted as she made a small gasp.
Gods, I want to hear nothing but that sound.
The fragrance of lavender and eucalyptus, mixed with the sweet scent of her arousal, filled my nostrils, my mind, my soul. I never wanted to smell anything other than that scent. I braced myself against the wall, trying to prevent myself from snatching her up to take her away from here. Because if I did, if I so much as touched her, I wouldn’t be able to resist claiming her.
But the bond was much more insistent than I thought.
It was too much. The instinct to take what the Gods deemed was mine overwhelmed me to an unbreakable point. I couldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do that to my mate. She took a step forward and I nearly lost all control right then. I had to get her away from me, I wasn’t strong enough to do it myself. The word tasted like poison as it crawled its way up my throat.
“Run.”
She hesitated for the blink of an eye before she spun around and bolted out of the alley and down the street. The bond took over with a primal frenzy, and I chased after her, a predatorhunting its prey. I forced myself to slow as much as I could, but my control had finally snapped.
NO!
My shadows snaked through the streets, trailing behind her. I wouldn’t do this to her. I refused to treat my mate like property. Not knowing what else to do, I slammed my body into a wall of a nearby building, giving her more time to get away. I needed leave. Even if it felt wrong in every way.
“Theron!”I bellowed down the bond.
A moment later, Theron appeared. He turned his head, taking in what was happening before looking back to me. He lowered his head and softened his glowering eyes, in understanding.
“Get me out of here,”I demanded as I touched his shoulder, holding on to him as if my life depended on it.
He Traveled us to the cave within the Eckterre Mountains in Oryn—the one place that always calmed me. My body vibrated with energy as the bond roared in retaliation. My skin tingled painfully, my heart raced, and there was ringing in my ears. Everything about being away from her felt unnatural, and I didn’t even know her name… I had fought with my magic to stay out of her mind, and I cursed Xareus for granting me such anatrociousability.
I sat against the cave wall, the chilled rock cooling my heated skin. The air was lighter here and I took deep breaths, filling my lungs with the crisp air to settle the savage beast within. Theron stood on the ledge at the mouth of the cave and lowered his head, looking as if he were ready to set me aflame.
“Why are you resisting? Do you intend to deny the bond?”His voice rumbled in my mind.
“No.”Regardless of Theron’s near-constant foul mood, he was always there when I needed him, always came when I called. And for that, I was grateful.
“Then why?”
“Because I refuse to claim her like some feral animal,”I shouted back, releasing fire around me as I jumped up, my flames unable to burn his body as they licked at his feet.“And because my Nation will suffer if I do.”
He tilted his head. I released a frustrated sigh and told him of what the Sage had threatened, and the village decimated by the Glaev, along with the panel of Sages and Worthy. He stared at me several moments before responding.
“Your fate has been sealed, as has the females. The Gods bound you two for a reason. It would be unwise to deny them.”
“And it would be wise to put her and my people in danger if I did?”I asked.“I’m bound to protect them and if I bind myself to her, I may be doing just the opposite. The Gods really fucked me over on this one, Theron. So unless you have some magical way to break your vow to intervene and stop the Glaev, I don’t really see any other solution at the moment.”
He didn’t say anything after that.
We sat in silence for a few hours on that ledge under the moonslight and I watched as the stars moved across the night sky. My thoughts jostled around, weighing heavy on my mind. The Glaev, the Sages, the panel, my people, my mate. I had a choice to make. And one that wouldn’t be made lightly.
Unable to stand being so far from her any longer, Theron took me back to Torx before disappearing off to wherever it was that he went. I made sure that my mate would not feel me through the ground, staying up in the trees, as I tracked her down and kept my distance. Watching as she lay in that field of grass all night.
I followed her, the male, and the Spirit the next day as they crossed into Ulrik, where they met up with a female then began to travel southeast toward Riyah. They stopped that night to make camp, and I nearly lost my mind when all of a sudden my mate and her Spirit Traveled away. It wasn’t far, but it was enough that the bond was rubbing me raw, like a blister constantly chafing.
Certain they would return soon, I waited out of sight of their encampment and watched the interactions of the male and female—hoping to discover thatthisfemale had an intimate relationship with the male and not my mate. But all they did was argue and bicker and taunt each other—nothing to indicate that they were involved. I hated waiting. It gave me too much time to think with nothing else to do, and my mind wandered to what was happening back home in Oryn.
Jolting me from my thoughts, the male began shouting obscenities at the now returned Spirit, and my mate lay there unmoving. It felt like a stone had been dropped into the pit of my stomach. I nearly went to her, needing to do something. I needed to know that she was okay. But before I moved to whisk her away to the nearest healer, Theron’s voice sounded in my head.
“He has commanded that you not interfere, and trust that he would not allow harm to come to her,”he said, sounding annoyed.
“Who?”
“Her Fylgjur.”
