Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You want me safe? Then you take me back to finish what I started.”
Luke’s words struck hard enough to knock Connal’s world out of alignment. The bond slammed against his chest.
Go to him.
Close the distance.
End this.
His mate did not move. Connal had only witnessed one rejected mate in his lifetime. He’d rather be eaten alive by a riftwyrm than go through that pain. But the bond did not recoil. It held fast. It simply refused to settle.
“No,” Connal said. The word came out flat. Final. Because anything else would acknowledge the fracture—and Connal refused to do that.
Silence settled between them, but it was not the clean, controlled silence Connal preferred.
It pressed instead, uneven and insistent, the space between them filled with something that did not belong.
The bond should have resolved this already.
Luke should be at his side, ready to finalize their mating.
The urge came again, insisting the distance between them was wrong.
Close the distance.
Claim him.
End this impossible separation.
Everyone in the room around them stilled. This was not a conversation for all to hear. This should remain sacred between them.
“Clear the room,” Connal demanded.
He realized a split second later that he’d just issued an order to the Consort. Connal ripped his gaze from Luke long enough to meet the Consort’s concerned stare and receive a nod of understanding before he turned and walked through the doorway. The room emptied, everyone following Cosmo’s lead.
Connal stepped closer to his mate.
Luke held his ground.
“I will not return you,” Connal said, his voice even, measured, leaving no room for interpretation. “You are not safe in your world.”
Luke’s expression did not change, but something in him did. Not his stance. Not his breathing. His focus. It settled on Connal with a quiet intensity. Luke wasn’t searching for an escape. He was reading Connal.
The wrongness eased, if only slightly.
Luke tilted his head, studying Connal with quiet deliberation. “You keep saying that.”
“It is truth.”
“Maybe.” Luke’s voice remained calm, almost thoughtful. “But it’s not the whole truth, is it?”
“There is no other truth that matters.”
Luke huffed out a quiet breath, not quite amused, not quite dismissive. “That’s convenient.”
The pull came again. Not demanding. Waiting. Connal did not immediately understand what it asked of him. Luke had not moved closer, and yet the sharpest edge of the tension dulled.
Connal stepped forward before he could stop himself. The distance between them should never have existed in the first place. “You do not understand the danger,” he said, quieter now, the insistence threading through his tone. “You were targeted. That should not happen. It will not happen again.”
Luke didn’t step back.
That, more than anything, gave Connal hope that not all was lost.
Instead, Luke met his gaze directly, his expression steady in a way that felt intentional. “You keep saying that, too.”
Connal’s jaw tightened. “Because it is relevant.”
“Or because it’s the only part you care about.”
The accusation struck deeper than Connal expected. The strain sharpened again, not as chaotic as before, but pointed now, directed.
Connal held himself still, forcing the reaction down. “Your safety is what matters.”
“To you,” Luke said simply.
Connal frowned. “That is sufficient.”
Luke considered him for a moment, his focus sharpening with quiet intent.
The bond responded.
It did not settle into alignment, but it drew closer.
The change stole Connal’s breath. He dared to reach out and place his hand on Luke’s arm.
Luke exhaled slowly, as if settling into something. “You want me safe.”
It was not a question.
Connal nodded once. “Yes.”
“You want me here. You want this…mate thing to work.”
Connal stilled at that, something in the phrasing catching oddly, but the intent behind it was correct enough that he inclined his head again. “It will.”
Luke’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “Sure.”
The tension eased again, not gone, but quieter, as if whatever had been out of place was beginning to settle into something more manageable. Connal accepted the change immediately. Finally, Luke was beginning to see reason.
“Then we have a problem,” Luke continued.
“There is no problem.”
“There is,” Luke said, unbothered. “Because everything you just listed?” He gestured vaguely between them. “Doesn’t happen if I stay here.”
Connal frowned. “You are mistaken.”
“Am I?” Luke’s tone remained even, almost conversational. “Because from where I’m standing, you’ve got a situation you don’t understand, I’m in a place I don’t belong, and people are trying to kill me over something I haven’t finished dealing with.”
Connal’s expression hardened. “That is precisely why you will not return.”
“And that,” Luke said, cutting in smoothly, “is where you’re wrong.”
The bond jolted, spiking sharply before settling again into that same strange, structured tension.
Luke held his gaze, unflinching. “You don’t get what you want if I stay here.”
Connal’s instincts rejected that immediately. “You are here. That is sufficient.”
“It’s not,” Luke said. “Because whatever you think this is?” He tapped a finger lightly against his own chest before pointing to Connal. “It doesn’t work if I’m not on board.”
The dissonance shifted again, not resisting, not correcting—waiting.
“You will accept—” Connal caught himself.
“Not unless I choose it,” Luke said, the interruption quiet but absolute.
That was incorrect. It had to be. Connal’s guts twisted and his chest tightened. The bond was everything.
And yet—
Connal swallowed his outrage and did not respond immediately.
The dissonance did not resolve.
Luke let the silence stretch just long enough to matter before continuing.
“If you want any of this to work, you need me functional.”
Connal frowned. “You are not injured.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Luke’s tone remained even, but the focus behind it sharpened further. “I’ve got something unfinished. Something important enough that someone tried to kill me for it.”
Connal’s instincts reacted immediately, tension tightening through his frame. “That is no longer your concern.”
No, protecting Luke was Connal’s duty now. The rest would follow.
“It is entirely my concern,” Luke countered. “And it doesn’t go away just because you dragged me here…to your castle or whatever this is.”
Connal stepped closer, the bond pulling sharply now. “You will remain here. I will handle the threat.”
Luke didn’t move.
Didn’t yield.
Instead, he met Connal’s advance with that same steady, deliberate focus. “You can’t.”
His mate doubted him? Connal’s expression darkened. “I can.”
“You don’t even know what it is,” Luke said, not mocking, not dismissive—just stating a fact.
Pressure tightened along the bond again.
Connal did not like that.
“Then you will tell me.”
Luke’s mouth curved slightly. “Or…”
Connal stilled.
The bond paused with him, the tension along it held in place.
Luke continued, “… you let me finish it.”
“No.”
The refusal came faster this time, sharper, instinctive.
Luke didn’t react to the word at all. If anything, he seemed to expect it.
“That’s your choice,” he said. “But if I stay here, this doesn’t get resolved.”
Connal’s jaw tightened. “It will be resolved.”
“Not by you,” Luke said. “Not without me.”
Connal held himself still, forcing his thoughts into order.
This was solvable.
It had to be.
Luke watched him, waiting.
The bond shifted again. Not toward agreement. Toward possibility.
Another path. Not the one Connal preferred, but a path nonetheless.
Connal exhaled slowly, the decision settling into place with controlled precision. “If you return,” he said carefully, “you will not do so alone.”
Luke’s eyes flickered, just slightly. “I didn’t think I would.”
“You will remain under my protection,” Connal continued. “At all times.”
Luke considered that, his expression unreadable for a moment before he gave a small, almost amused huff. “I can agree with that.”
Connal ignored the tone. “You will not act without my knowledge.”
“Within reason,” Luke said.
Connal’s gaze sharpened. “There is no—”
“Within reason,” Luke repeated, still calm, still steady. “Or this doesn’t work.”
Connal bit back his objection. “Within reason,” he allowed, the concession sitting uneasily between them.
Luke nodded once, as if that confirmed something.
“You want me safe?” Luke said.
Connal’s focus locked on to him. “Yes.”
“Then take me back to finish what I started.”