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Past tense.
Right, because Ze’ev’s pack had been wiped out.
My eyes widen. “Why did Arwan have it?”
His amber eyes burn with flecks of gold, illuminating the band that still glows with his wolf’s interest in me. “Why indeed?” is all he says.
The snap of a twig makes both of us shoot up our heads.
Ze’ev stands like a specter in his hooded cloak with his mismatched eyes staring at us.
Godric slowly rises to his feet. “I brought her here as promised,” he says. “But she has something important to show you.”
Ze’ev peels away his cowl as he approaches me. He seems cautious as his nostrils flare when my scent hits him.
Godric steps away, leaving me entirely under the Outcast’s dominion as he wraps his hands around my elbows. Then he catches the glint of moonlight on my bracelet and freezes.
I show him my wrist as I slowly turn it. “Does this mean anything to you?” I ask him.
He takes it in as if stunned. Mesmerized, he lifts one hand to slowly trace his fingers over every individual chain before tracing the line of the moon. When he’s done, his gaze falls to me, then he eyes the woods.
He knows Arwan must be here.
He doesn’t speak, but a low growl rumbles in his throat and a red glow illuminates behind his white eye.
Instinct guides me as I wrap my arms around his middle and hold him. I can’t explain the pain that rolls through me; I just know that it’s not my own.
Is Arwan somehow responsible for what happened to his mother?
Maybe to his entire pack?
“Yes, Arwan is here,” Godric confirms Ze’ev’s unspoken question, which makes the hybrid snarl. I keep my hold on him, and even though I’m not strong enough to make a flea obey me, he acts as if I’ve anchored him to the spot. “You can’t kill him,” the pack master adds. “Arwan and Liliana are magically linked. If he dies, so will she.”
Ze’ev’s arms instantly wrap around me like a protective shield.
His growl grows deeper, forcing a whimper from my throat as the heat settled in my core blooms into a fire.
He goes still, then buries his nose in my hair.
He takes in a long breath.
“I propose a triad bond,” Godric continues, surprising me that he’s taking the lead on this. “It doesn’t have to be permanent, at least not for me or Arwan, but just until we can undo her link to him. We don’t know what caused it.”
I have an idea. The day I died as a child, I found myself in his realm.
He brought me back.
I owe Arwan my life, and the moment I set foot on this isle, my soul found his and clung to it. Maybe it was self-preservation. Maybe it was gratitude.
No matter the reason, that is how Monster Isle works. The female chooses her sponsors.
Maybe that’s why Arwan is linked to me—because I am choosing to be.
And maybe… to unlink us, I have to let him go.
If I’ve been holding on to him as the only protector in my life ever since I was a child, that might be nearly impossible to do.
I don’t let myself dwell on that possibility for too long. My mind refuses to complete a full thought as Ze’ev keeps emitting those aggressive sounds that have my body curling into his.
