Chapter 15
Rynlee’s POV
My mind was reeling as we stepped into the sparring room. Just like Ivy had said last night… we were up against her group. My eyes immediately found him. Erebus. He was staring right at me, unblinking, a smirk already curling at his lips. A shiver slid down my spine.
He’d been talking about me. But why? I cast a glance across the space and spotted Aiden leaning against a stone pillar, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. The black leather clung to his muscular build, his jaw clenched in deep concentration as his jade eyes scanned the group. Ivy stepped forward to assign pairs.
“Ryan and Clara. Luna and Jake. Rynlee and Erebus.” My entire body tensed.
My gaze locked with Erebus’s across the sparring ring, but instead of focusing on the strange chill he always seemed to carry, my thoughts turned inward.
Stupid. I should’ve healed the bruises still aching along my ribs, should’ve taken a moment to patch myself up before walking out here.
Every breath reminded me of the cost of hesitation, and now I was about to fight him, like this.
“Remember,” Aiden called from the edge of the mats, his voice iron-hard, “no magic.” I unclipped my extra daggers and let them fall to the floor.
The weight leaving my body felt wrong. Exposed.
One blade left, thin, familiar, balanced in my palm.
Across from me, Erebus smiled. Not a smirk. Not confidence. A predator’s smile.
Alright, Ryn. You’ve got this. I didn’t hesitate.
I lunged forward and drove my fist into his cheek with everything I had.
The impact jarred my knuckles. He barely moved.
His counter came fast—too fast. I twisted aside, his strike grazing past my ribs as I snapped a kick into his side and jumped away to gain space.
He didn’t even grunt. Instead, he rushed me.
The air seemed to tear as he closed the distance.
I barely got my forearm up in time. My back slammed into a stone pillar, the shock rattling my teeth. He swung at my head. I ducked.
His fist smashed into the pillar instead.
Stone exploded behind me. My blood ran cold.
I spun and punched him across the jaw, feeling bone connect this time.
He staggered, only for a second, then straightened, eyes gleaming, wild and wrong.
He drew his dagger slowly, deliberately, as if he wanted me to see it.
Then he threw it. I raised my blade on instinct, metal clashing midair, but not before his blade sliced across my cheek. Heat bloomed, blood slick and warm.
My chest heaved. My heart hammered. He was trying to kill me.
Adrenaline flooded my veins. I charged, using the momentum to leap, wrapping my legs around his torso and dragging him down with me.
We hit the mat hard. I wrenched his arm behind his back, twisting until he snarled. For a heartbeat, I looked up.
Aiden was watching. And for the first time, there was something in his eyes that wasn’t fury.
Admiration. Maybe even pride. The thought had barely formed before pain detonated in my thigh.
I gasped as my own dagger was buried deep in my flesh.
What? How? Erebus moved like a nightmare.
He flipped us with brutal force, pinning me beneath him.
My wrists slammed above my head, trapped in his grip.
Then he punched me right in the ribs, the cracked sound echoing.
Pain tore through my side, blindly and then he did it again. Something inside me gave way. I felt it, felt the break, white-hot agony ripping the air from my lungs as I screamed. Blood filled my mouth. I kicked, thrashed, fought blindly, when he leaned down.
“Nothing can save you, little Sunbound girl,” he whispered in my ear before his teeth sank into the curve of my neck.
The pain was wrong. Violating. Sharp enough to fracture thought itself.
I screamed again and then—he was gone. Ripped off me like dead weight and hurled up.
Erebus was slammed into the wall with a bone-shaking impact.
The entire sparring room fell silent. Aiden stood over Erebus like a force of nature, shadows coiled tight around him, his chest heaving, dangerous, unleashed.
In one brutal movement, his forearm pressed against Erebus’s throat, pinning him effortlessly.
“Touch her like that again,” Aiden growled, voice venomous, “and I’ll break your fucking jaw.
” Erebus only grinned, my blood smeared across his lips like some twisted badge of honor.
Aiden snarled, a sound low and inhuman, before releasing him and rushing to me.
“Come on, Ruin,” he said, his tone softer now, a thread of worry beneath the gruffness.
Without hesitation, he scooped me into his arms.
I didn’t fight it. I couldn’t. My body was limp. The pain radiated like fire through every nerve. My head lolled against his shoulder as he carried me from the training room. And there it was again, that sensation. The mate bond.
Warmth spread from my chest, rippling outward like the sun rising inside me. His arms tightened slightly. He felt it, too. My hand instinctively brushed against his skin, right over the place where the bite mark was beginning to form on him as well.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice gruff as he stopped on the stone bridge. The morning sunbathed him in soft gold, highlighting every sharp angle of his face. He looked… ethereal. Powerful. Mine. I stared up at him, breathless, hurt, angry, confused, and yet my heart was pounding for him.
“Healing you, what do you think?” I snapped, sarcasm covering the pain as I winced and clutched my ribs. Definitely broken. Every movement sent sharp jolts through my side.
“Even when you’re bleeding and broken, you still can’t help but be a—”
“What?” I arched a brow, glaring up at him as he carried me effortlessly across the bridge.
Aiden exhaled through his nose, but the fire behind his words was gone. “Infuriating woman,” he muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes as we headed into the infirmary and Aunt Mira looked up from her desk. Her expression instantly shifted from calm to alarm.
“Oh gods, what happened?” she gasped, hurrying over as her gaze landed on the bloody bite mark on my neck.
“Well, some freak bit me,” I deadpanned, trying to play it off until she shot me that look. The mom look. My mouth snapped shut like a trap.
“We’re in the process of learning advanced sparring techniques,” Aiden said, slipping seamlessly into his commander tone.
“Her opponent got the better of her.” He laid me gently onto one of the cots, and I tried to summon my magic.
My hand glowed with golden light as I placed it over the bite, but the wound didn’t heal.
“Yeah… what he said,” I mumbled, frowning.
Why the hell wasn’t my power working? Aunt Mira gently brushed my hand aside, examining the mark, her brows furrowing in concern.
Surprisingly, Aiden didn’t leave. He grabbed the chair beside the cot and sank into it, arms folded, but his eyes didn’t leave me.
“You can go back, you know,” I muttered, not meeting his gaze.
“I’m fine right here.” His voice was quiet, but it brooked no argument. And then he was just… there, watching as Mira dabbed at the bite with a soothing salve. Her fingers were steady, but my mind was racing.
She moved to examine my side next, pressing gently. I flinched. “You’ve got at least two broken ribs,” she announced grimly.
“I’ll fix them,” I said, bracing myself.
I placed my trembling hand against my side and focused.
Light bloomed beneath my palm—then crack.
The sound tore from me in a strangled cry as my body jolted.
Sweat beaded along my brow, vision blurring at the edges.
Across from me, Aiden flinched. It was subtle—barely there, but I felt it through the bond before I even saw it.
A second later, he reached for my other hand and gripped it tightly.
His thumb traced slow, steady circles against my skin, grounding.
Anchoring. For a moment, the contrast hit me so hard it almost stole my breath.
It hadn’t been long ago we’d been ready to kill each other.
And now he sat beside my bed in the medical ward, holding my hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Like losing me would ruin him. I squeezed back without thinking.
After a moment, the pain receded. The light dimmed.
My breathing steadied. I sank into the pillows with a shaky exhale.
“Come back tomorrow so I can change the gauze,” Mira said gently, but it was hard to focus on her words when Aiden’s hand was still holding mine like he was afraid I’d disappear.
This bond was clearly affecting him. Because not once had Aiden ever touched me like this, the realization scared me and… comforted me.
“Rynlee!” Alaric’s voice cut through the haze. He rushed over, dropping to the bedside and placing a hand on my shoulder, concern etched into every inch of his face. “Thank the gods, you’re okay. What happened?”
“She got bested,” Aiden replied sharply, pulling his hand away and rising to his feet in one fluid movement.
“Bested?” Alaric repeated, his gaze narrowing.
“She took her eyes off her opponent. He used that to his advantage,” Aiden explained, his tone clipped.
His gaze dropped to where Alaric was now holding my hand.
The muscle in Aiden’s jaw twitched. Just once.
I hesitated, then remembered Jasmine. The way Aiden smiled at her. I tightened my grip on Alaric’s hand.