Chapter 12 #3
“This is for every lie you told her,” I continue conversationally, moving to his ring finger. “Every time you made her believe you cared.”
Snap.
“Every moment you let her hope for a future with you, all the while planning to sell her like a commodity.”
Snap. His pinky finger is now bent at an unnatural angle.
“Please stop,” he sobs, cradling his mangled hand against his chest. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”
“You’re not sorry for what you did,” I say, grabbing his other hand. “You’re just sorry you got caught.”
I start with his thumb this time, applying slow, deliberate pressure until the bone cracks.
His eyes roll back in his head from the pain, but I grip his chin, forcing him to stay conscious.
“Look at her,” I order, jerking his head toward Astra’s broken form. “Look at what you did to the woman who trusted you.”
He tries to close his eyes, but I dig my fingers into his jaw until he opens them again.
“She saved your life once,” I continue, moving to his index finger. “And you repaid her by putting her in this state.”
Snap.
“By letting them torture her while you watched.”
Snap.
“By planning to breed her like cattle.”
Snap. Snap.
By the time I’m finished, all ten of his fingers hang grotesquely limp. He’s barely conscious, shock setting in from the pain.
Seth chooses this moment to appear in the doorway, having dealt with the inn owner. He takes in the carnage with a single sweeping glance—three dead bodies, blood splattered across the walls, Andrew slumped in the corner with his hands destroyed.
“Lucian…” he says carefully, acutely aware of the alarming edge to my rage.
“Keep this one alive,” I say icily, jerking my head toward Andrew. “He’s not dying yet.”
Seth nods and moves toward the barely conscious human. “What else?”
“Summon Leon and two of my private healers,” I order, my eyes already back on Astra’s still form. “Now.”
“I can have them here in an hour—”
“Ten minutes, Seth,” I cut him off, my voice turning deadly. “You have ten minutes.”
The lethal promise in my voice makes him nod jerkily. “Ten minutes.”
He drags Andrew’s now unconscious form out of the way and disappears through the shattered door.
Finally, I’m alone with her.
I kneel beside Astra’s broken body, my hands shaking as I reach for her. She’s so still, so pale. The pulse I can feel through our forming bond is growing weaker by the minute.
“Astra,” I whisper, gathering her carefully in my arms. She weighs almost nothing, feels as fragile as spun glass. “I’m here. You’re safe.”
Her eyes flutter open, unfocused and glassy, but no words come. Instead, there’s a horrible rattling sound in her chest with each labored breath—the death rattle I’ve heard too many times on battlefields. The sound that means someone is drowning in their own blood.
“No,” I breathe, pressing my ear to her chest. The wet, gurgling sound is getting worse. Internal bleeding. Probably punctured lungs from broken ribs.
She tries to speak, her lips moving soundlessly, but only more of that terrible rattling comes out of her throat. Blood bubbles at the corner of her mouth.
“Don’t try to talk,” I tell her calmly, though panic is clawing at my chest. “Save your strength.”
Her hand moves weakly toward mine, her fingers trembling and ice cold. When I catch them, she squeezes so faintly that I barely feel it.
She’s slipping away from me.
I never should have driven you away, I think, my chest tight with emotion I can’t contain. I was angry because you matter to me more than you should. More than anyone ever has.
She blinks slowly. I think I see recognition flicker in her gaze, but the rattling in her chest is getting worse. Each breath is a struggle now, shallow and uneven.
“Stay with me, Astra,” I command, putting every ounce of authority I possess into my voice. “You’re not allowed to die.”
But she doesn’t respond. Her eyes are losing focus, staring at something I can’t see. The death rattle grows louder, more pronounced.
“Don’t you dare,” I growl at her. “Don’t you dare leave me.
” As I stare at her, taking in her bruised face and the empty look in her eyes, a burning fury fills me.
“Everyone who hurt you, I’ll make them pay.
I’ll turn the streets red with the blood of their families for what they’ve done to you. I’ll make sure of it.”
I lower my forehead to hers, but she’s so still. Just that horrible sound in her chest and the bond between us growing so weak I can scarcely feel it anymore.
Terror pierces me. Seth isn’t back yet. The healers won’t make it in time. I can feel her life force ebbing away like water through my fingers, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Nothing.
The word echoes in my mind like a death knell. I’m the crown prince of this entire kingdom. I command armies, control vast resources, strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. But I can’t save the one person who matters most.
I can’t save my mate.
The helplessness is devastating. Rage and grief war in my chest as I watch the light fade from her eyes. I’m losing her, and I’m powerless to stop it.
Except...
It strikes me that there is one thing I can do. One way to strengthen our bond, to tie her to me so completely that she can’t slip away.
The mating mark.
But claiming someone who hasn’t consented, someone who doesn’t even understand what we are to each other, goes against everything I’ve been taught about the sacred nature of the mate bond. It’s unethical.
She’s dying, though. Right here in my arms. My mate is dying, and I’m not going to allow it to happen.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper against her ear, my voice hoarse. “I lied to you. You are not annoying.” I brush her hair away from her neck, exposing the delicate skin where her pulse beats weakly. “You’re my mate, Astra. My fated mate. And I’m not letting you go.”
I lean down and press my lips to her throat, feeling the flutter of her pulse against my mouth. Then I bite down, my canines extending to pierce her skin.
The effect is immediate and overwhelming. The bond between us explodes into existence like a supernova—so bright and powerful, it nearly knocks me over. The connection snaps into place like an elastic band stretched to its breaking point and suddenly released.
Mine, my wolf roars in triumph. Ours. Forever.
And through the bond, I feel everything—her pain, her exhaustion, the devastating betrayal that has broken her heart. But I also feel something else flowing from me to her through our newly forged connection.
Life. Strength. The unbreakable power of the mate bond itself.