Chapter 36
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Body tense, Kraghol crawled from the soft warmth of Jasper’s embrace. He glanced down at Jasper. Thankfully, his eyes remained closed and his breathing heavy.
Then Kraghol took a deep breath, braced himself, and turned to face his sister. She remained still, eyes glowing red as she stared at Kraghol. For several moments neither spoke. Then she sneered, turned, and strode away.
Lowering his head, he followed her out of the cave. His heart pounded in his chest.
Freya stopped a short distance from the cave entrance and grabbed his arm. “What have you done?” She growled. “Why is a human sleeping in your cave?”
“I…” He looked into his sister’s rage-filled face. He dropped his gaze. “What are you doing here?” he asked, avoiding her question.
She so rarely visited his cave. And never in the daytime! He’d never have kept bringing Jasper to his cave if he’d thought his sister might come by and see him.
“I came to check in on you, since you came by my cave last night. I was worried about you! And now I find you in your bed with a human!” she spat. “So tell me, why?”
A gust of air blew, stirring their fur.
Kraghol stared at the hand gripping his arm. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“You didn’t mean for what to happen?”
Kraghol breathed heavily, trying to find the words, trying to think of how to explain everything without further angering his sister.
And he hadn’t forgotten that he had important questions regarding Jasper’s illness. He’d not wanted to ask them when his sister was enraged. He’d wanted her to be calm. He’d wanted to be able to ask her without revealing the reason he was asking.
That clearly would not be possible now. He’d have to tell her the truth. The whole truth. He needed to come completely clean. He would be unable to hide from her wrath now.
But perhaps this was for the best. Because he could now be completely transparent in why he was asking his questions. Maybe it would help them find the answers to Jasper’s cure.
Taking a deep breath, Kraghol began, “He fell into the pond over there.” He gestured. “I saw him fall. I ran over. He was drowning. So I jumped in and pulled him out.” Once again, he remembered the feel of that small, frail, lifeless body in his arms. “He wasn’t breathing. So I saved him.”
“How?” she asked, voice as cold as the frigid air whisking around them.
He hesitated, then forced himself to continue. “I poured my life essence into him.”
She hissed. Her arm clutching his vibrated. Then she yanked her hand away as if burned. “You poured your life essence into him? Why?”
“What else was I meant to do?”
“Let him die!” she barked.
Kraghol flinched. He shook his head. “I could not do that.”
“Of course you could! You are a krampus! You are not meant to go around saving humans’ lives!” She paused, breathing heavily. “I always knew you struggled with your duty and role as a krampus. I did not realise how much.” For several moments she said nothing; she just stared at him.
Then she strode away. She paced, back and forth. She stopped. Then she laughed, a cold and bitter laugh. “You created a half-mate bond with a fucking human.” She shook her head, as if unable to wrap her mind around it.
“Yes.” Kraghol cleared his throat. He took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. Because even though he despised seeing Freya furious with him, he had to ask his questions. He had to try to help cure Jasper.
“I know that pouring my life essence into him goes against everything we stand for,” Kraghol said. “But I could not leave him to die. I couldn’t. And now he is sick. Unwell.”
She scoffed.
He clenched his hands into fists and pushed on. “He thinks he is unwell because of the partial mate bond. Do you think that is possible? And do you know how to help him?”
She stared at him for several long seconds. Finally she spoke, “Mate sickness occurs when a krampus mates with someone who is not a krampus and when the mate bond is not completed. The non-krampus will sometimes, but not always, get sick.”
“How can I cure him?” he asked again.
She smiled, baring her fangs. “The partial mate bond must be broken. I can help you with that.”
“I thought it faded with time.”
“That is one way to get rid of it.” Her gaze flicked to the cave entrance. “But that won’t work if you’ve spent time together, strengthening the relationship and the bond.” Her lip curled. “Which you have clearly been doing.”
She took a breath. “Luckily for you, I can make a concoction that will break the bond immediately. His sickness will disappear straightaway, and he’ll go back to how he was.”
Kraghol’s lungs constricted. That was a good thing. Jasper being well again was a good thing. He should want the bond to be broken immediately so that Jasper’s illness would go away.
But that would mean Jasper would no longer want him. Or would he? Would he still like Kraghol without the bond? Before, Kraghol had been certain that without it, Jasper would want nothing to do with him. Now Kraghol wasn’t so certain.
“It was a mistake to partially mate the human. But I will help you fix this mistake. I will break the bond, on the condition that you must depart from the forest. Immediately. Go away and forget all about the human. Then you can find a proper krampus mate. And you can leave this foolish mistake behind.”
Mistake. A mistake.
He knew that was what his sister saw Jasper as, Kraghol’s mistake.
But Kraghol couldn’t see it like that. Jasper wasn’t his mistake.
He never would be. He pictured Jasper bringing him decorations and picnics.
He thought of making love to Jasper amongst the furs.
He remembered walks through the snow, holding hands and talking.
He knew the bond influenced his feelings towards Jasper. But he did not believe all his feelings were because of that. He loved Jasper. He loved the joy and happiness Jasper had brought into his life.
And he did not want it to end. He definitely did not want to find another mate. He didn’t want to go away and forget all about Jasper. How could he?
His sister, as if sensing his hesitation, stepped towards him. Then her eyes fixed on the scarf. She snarled. “Take this piece of shit off!” Before Kraghol could move, she snatched at it, tugging it from his shoulders and tossing it into the snow.
He took a step towards it.
But she grabbed his arm in an iron-tight grip.
“Do not forget what you are! You are a krampus! You cannot be with a human! Ever! Whatever games you’ve been playing at, whatever fantasies you’ve allowed yourself to indulge in, they are just that, foolish fucking fantasies.
This ends now! There is no future for you together.
There is only pain and suffering for you and the human. ”
Those words slid over him. And even though he hated them, he knew them to be true. They had no future together. He’d always known that. There was nowhere they could make a life. There would be no happy ever after for them. Only pain.
Still, he did not want what he had with Jasper to end.
But his sister was right. He and Jasper did not belong together. And if he did not break the bond, Jasper would continue to suffer from this mate sickness.
His throat constricted as an agony like he’d never known spread though his veins.
My time with Jasper has come to an end.
“You’re right.” He’d never hated to speak two words so much in his life. “Help me break the bond.”
Footsteps sounded. Kraghol turned. Jasper stepped out from the shadows of the cave. He was fully dressed. Kali followed him. Jasper stared at Kraghol with wide eyes. Then his gaze darted to the scarf in the snow. He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing.
Then he gazed back at Kraghol. “So that’s how we end? Just like that?”