Page 18 of Bonded

He grips my chin, forcing me to look at him and somehow still holding onto my hands with just one of his. “We did not kill her. Creatures like that cannot be turned back, yes, that’s true. What we told you was true.” He picks me up, and vines push us both into the flower petal until we’re hidden in darkness within it. I snarl and burst through the vines, begging my shadows to help me, but I still don’t have enough control of them, and they don’t listen. I eventually manage to cut through enough to get free before he grabs me again, pinning me against the petal walls, his hand wrapped around my throat.

My shoulder throbs as blood pours down it, but it is nothing to how I feel in my chest.

“Creatures like Tannith often live for many years. Yes, there hasn’t been anyone who has ever turned them back. But it doesn’t mean there couldn’t have been; it just means no one in power cared enough to try. It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have found a way to bring Tannith back, because we would have—for what you did at the end. For you.” Tears begin to build in my eyes. “Don’t think for a second we wouldn’t have. Blackfire would burn the world for you, Reed would drown it, and I? I’d reshape the very earth to make sure you didn’t lose her.” His words are raw and angry. “Something or someone sped her dying up. That was unnatural. She didn’t always smell of death the way she did at the end. Something changed. I hate to say this, but the goddesses were furious because you are not human. We all heard them say that you tricked them. Maybe they did it to punish you.” His eyes hold mine. “Stop fighting, you stubborn, beautiful creature!”

“Never!” I snarl back, even as his words sink into my chest. Did the goddesses kill her quickly to punish me? Is it all my fault? The guilt of that nearly sends me into madness.

Orion carries on. “If the goddesses did this, they will pay. This dark god of yours—he obviously isn’t on their side. He wants their weapons, and he wants war. You’ll make them suffer for what they took from you, and I will help you to succeed. We shouldn’t be on the same side, but fuck it all.” His grip eases slightly. “Don’t you dare think for a second we would have just let her die. Blackfire is obsessed with you, as is Reed, and they would never hurt you.”

“What about you?” I breathe out. “You swore to kill me for saving Elizabeth. Are we even now that you’ve thrown her to the wolves?”

“I should hate your very existence for many reasons, Princess, but you make it hard to completely hate you.” His admission shocks me. “You knew deep down she could never be turned back. You knew the chances were that she would remain as she was. But I didn’t know for certain, and that’s the point. This world—we don’t know enough of it to be able to tell you there was never a chance. None of us are spell masters like the Crone alpha.” He looks at me so intensely. “Hate me all you want. If it makes you feel better, fine. You can hate me while you stay at my side, because you gave up your soul for mine, and I will not be counting the days we are apart any longer.”

He uses my surprise to press his lips against mine. Pure shock renders me speechless as my lips part for him, as the scent of maple syrup, the sickly sweetness of Orion, overwhelms my senses and all I can feel is him. Something burns in my chest, and I can feel the earth around me—green and alive, power sparking in the air, shaking almost—as he deepens the kiss, my eyes closing on a moan. His hands sink into my hair as he kisses me like it’s something he’s always wanted to do, even when he hates me. This isn’t hate.

Petals fall away around us with a slam, and harsh whispers burst into my ears. Orion kisses me once more, dragging my bottom lip slowly out from his. Fire blooms against my cheeks, and I look around in complete shock.

We’re in the throne room.

“Orion,” I hiss. This is why he kissed me. There’s a smirk on his face as I realise he just kissed me in front of his entire court. Making a point. Claiming. I grit my teeth together and resist the urge to find something sharp to stab the Mother heir in his own throne room, in front of thousands of his people. I keep my voice low. “I hate you.”

His laugh is anything but quiet; neither is his reply. “You don’t kiss me like you do.”

I turn away from the asshole and take a moment. The Mother Pack’s throne room is breathtaking. But for a second, it’s all too much to take in, as I stand in a throne room unlike anything I expected. Every inch of the walls is tree trunks made of some kind of green crystal, and at the very tops where the branches have woven together, a thousand flowers of every colour smother the entire rooftop of the huge space. Light pours in through the flower petals, making the throne room look like it lives inside a rainbow.

Against the walls are several rows of seats going up, and there are a thousand people in those seats, staring down at us. A green velvet carpet is laid on a grass floor, leading from the platform, where the petal leaves are slowly sinking back into it like they were never there.

They travel by flowers; it’s cute, if not a little weird, though I don’t think I ever expected the Mother Pack to be this beautiful and whimsical. I expected dark, earthy rooms underground and huge mountains like I’ve been told.

There are two green stone thrones—one empty and one of equal size next to it—where the Mother alpha sits in a green ballgown, watching me. Behind her is another tree again, made of crystal, hanging over the thrones. It sparkles beautifully and chimes as a breeze from somewhere echoes through it. It’s the only sound in a room of thousands.

Orion takes my hand, pulling me down the path. I eventually keep up with him.

“You’re an arsehole for doing that. If this is your apology, it sucks,” I whisper to him.

“I’m not Reed, and I’m not Blackfire. You won’t get me on my knees, begging you to forgive me, Princess. But you are mine.” He says it as if it were a settled fact.

“We will see,” I snap back, pulling my hand from his. He just laughs low, his eyes twinkling with challenge and amusement. I step away a little as we walk down the long path to the thrones, and try to push the scent of Orion off me because it’s too nice. It smells incredible in here, though. Sweeter than anything I’ve smelt before. Slowly, we get to the throne, and Orion bows his head. I do the same, unsure exactly of the protocol.

“I bring with me a good friend.” The way he says friend is dirty. Oh, I want to kick him so badly.

“Welcome to our court and our lands, Princess.” The Mother alpha’s voice fills the space, and she nods at me before raising her voice to address her people. “This is Princess Meredith Duskmore of the fourth pack, as they are starting to be known—the Pack of Oblivion—and people we wish to make an alliance with. As she is a princess, she is to be treated as an honoured guest by everybody in this court. She is also a Champion, much like my son, Prince Orion. The goddesses have blessed and chosen these two who stand before you, and the Mother Pack will treasure our guest.”

Cheers and shouts of joy break out behind me. I turn back with wide eyes, seeing so many shifters cheering for a human they would have killed without a second thought not so long ago. Creepy. When the applause dies down, Alpha Gaia smiles at me. Something is so broken about her smile—it doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “In two days, I am hosting a ball with every noble in attendance. I am excited to meet you properly, Princess. Until then, you are a welcome guest at Mother Palace. You are free to look around, ask any questions you wish.” She glances sideways. “Prince Orion—a word before you show our guest to her room. Everyone else, you are dismissed.”

People are standing as I step in front of Orion, ignoring how his hand reaches to stop me. “Wait—what about Elizabeth? She is my guardian. I chose her, and I will not let her be abused here.”

“You chose a murderer,” Alpha Gaia snarls at me, a growl echoing. “You chose a girl, a bastard thing we invited in our home when we had no reason to, who betrayed her father. She tore him to pieces.”

I still can’t believe Elizabeth killed him for no good reason. She isn’t evil, because I’ve seen and faced evil, and it’s not her. “I was unaware when I did choose her of what she had done.” Whispers break out behind me, and by the sound of them, they are not happy. Might as well keep digging my grave next to Elizabeth, as I have a funny feeling my defence of her is not going to end well. “But what I said stands. I cannot be a guest knowing you’re hurting her.”

“She is on trial for the murder of my husband, the alpha,” she reminds me and everyone listening in. “But as you have a close connection to her, I will consider allowing you to be present at the trial. Until then, she will not be seen by anyone or hurt.”

“I want her promised safety until the trial, then. She is my guardian, and I promised to look after her as she did me.”

“Ah.” Something softens, just slightly, in her eyes. “I see why the Mother goddess made you a Champion; you harness the very core of the Mother Pack mottos. You may not know much about our ways, but honour and loyalty are above all. The Mother is fair and understanding like the earth, and we follow her ways. The murderer will be kept safely, with no harm to come to her—that is our word, as it is for all prisoners until they face the Mother in trial. Her trial will be in two months.”

It’s not exactly Elizabeth’s freedom, but it’s a good step in the right direction. I nod. Orion leaves my side for a few minutes to talk privately with the alpha, while I watch as the room empties of people through glass doors in the actual tree trunks.