Chapter Fifteen
THE HOLDING ROOM WAS too small.
Or maybe it was just Hexius, his presence filling every corner of the space like a caged storm waiting to break.
The L’Alliance officials had been smart enough to give him the largest secure room they had, but three magically fortified walls and bulletproof glass weren’t enough to contain what was building inside him.
Seventeen minutes.
That was how long they’d been “documenting the incident” while his mate was out there.
Alone.
Hurting.
Because he had made her believe he didn’t love her.
“Monsieur Mercier, if you could just—”
“I’ve answered your questions.” His voice came out harder than he intended, but he was past caring about diplomacy. “Three times.”
The Panthera official swallowed hard. “Yes, but protocol requires—”
“I don’t give a fuck about protocol.”
The man took a step back.
Smart.
Hexius turned away before his control slipped further, resuming the pacing that was the only thing keeping him from shifting right here and tearing through the walls. His leopard was clawing beneath his skin, demanding action, demanding her.
Samira.
The memory of her face—devastated, disbelieving—played on repeat in his mind. The way she’d looked at him when she asked that question. The way her voice had broken.
“If you really love me, why can’t you still read my mind?”
Because he’d been an idiot. Because he’d been so focused on what the bond meant politically, strategically, that he’d missed what it meant personally. Because by the time he’d figured out he loved her—truly loved her, not just wanted her or needed her but loved her—it was too late.
She was already running.
And now—
His hands clenched into fists.
Now she was out there somewhere, believing he didn’t want her. Believing the mating bond was just biology. Believing she meant nothing.
The door opened.
Hexius spun, ready to snarl at whoever dared interrupt, but the words died when he saw who’d entered.
Etienne Hirsche stepped in first, his Caro features carefully neutral in that way that meant he was here on official business. Behind him came Alphonse, and the look on his brother’s face—
No.
No.
No, fuck, no.
“I’m sorry, Hexius—”
Samira.
He knew right away that something had happened to his mate.
Something that he had not been able to sense, locked as he was in a prison reinforced by spells that prevented him from sensing her presence.
“Where. Is. My. Mate.”
“Samira was attacked—”
Those were the last words Hexius heard before going berserk.
And if they thought they had seen something earlier, the moment Hexius realized that Samira was walking away from him because he had broken her heart—
It was nothing—nothing at all!—compared to the sight of the Leopard King bursting out of his prison.
It was the most frighteningly violent sight.
But also the most heartbreaking.
Because everyone around him knew...
Everyone around him had heard.
And so they knew the exact moment it was when the spells faded, and his senses were unleashed—
The moment Hexius crashed to his knees—
Even without him saying a word—
They could all feel his chest exploding as agony ripped through the mating bond that chained his soul to a human girl’s—
Samira.
Humans and preters alike started to cry as they watched the Leopard King slowly whiten.
No, God, no.
Hexius could not remember feeling so damn helpless...as he listened to her heartbeat start to fade.
And knowing that he might be too, too far, and too, too late to reach her in time.
My Lord.
My God.
Save her.
Take my life in her place.
Please.
I beg You.