27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ryker
B ack in Narh, I couldn’t stop it. The bond was impatient. I needed her. I had to control myself. Tried desperately not to reach for her through that glistening tether inside of me, the one representative of our bond—like a precious gem shimmering in the light of the moons.
But after I noticed that low-life stalking her and heard what he was planning to do…my instincts kicked in. And once they activated, I couldn’t reverse it. The drive to defend what was mine overpowered any semblance of restraint I possessed.
I hid in the shadows beside a building until he passed by then pulled him in, pinning him to the wall.
I put my hand over his nose and open mouth as he began to scream, muffling the sound, and poured fire down his throat until his lungs were nothing but ash.
Releasing my hold, his lifeless body dropped to the cobbles.
With the act, the bond within thrummed with the compulsion to claim her and mark her as mine, no matter how much I fought it. I followed her, keeping my distance for as long as I could.
That evening, I summoned her, pleading for her to come to me.
I just needed to talk to her. It took everything in me, all of my willpower, to stop myself from claiming her and sealing the bond.
When she came into the alley, I parted my shadows for her, concealing us both within a cocoon of darkness, a world of our own.
Then I saw her.
Her brown hair was twisted into a braid, pulling the hair away from her delicate face.
My gaze locked onto those perfect eyes. They made me catch my breath, their vibrancy shining straight through my chest. I had never seen such color and expression before.
Her irises were a kaleidoscope of green, shifting from one shade to another like the wind tearing through the grass in a meadow.
“It’s you…” I strained out.
Her lips parted as she made a small gasp.
Gods, I want to hear nothing but that sound.
The fragrance of lavender and eucalyptus, mixed with the sweet scent of her arousal, filled my nostrils, my mind, my soul.
I never wanted to smell anything other than that scent.
I braced myself against the wall, trying to prevent myself from snatching her up to take her away from here.
Because if I did, if I so much as touched her, I wouldn’t be able to resist claiming her.
But the bond was much more insistent than I thought.
It was too much. The instinct to take what the Gods deemed was mine overwhelmed me to an unbreakable point.
I couldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do that to my mate.
She took a step forward and I nearly lost all control right then.
I had to get her away from me, I wasn’t strong enough to do it myself.
The word tasted like poison as it crawled its way up my throat.
“Run.”
She hesitated for the blink of an eye before she spun around and bolted out of the alley and down the street. The bond took over with a primal frenzy, and I chased after her, a predator hunting its prey. I forced myself to slow as much as I could, but my control had finally snapped.
NO!
My shadows snaked through the streets, trailing behind her. I wouldn’t do this to her. I refused to treat my mate like property. Not knowing what else to do, I slammed my body into a wall of a nearby building, giving her more time to get away. I needed leave. Even if it felt wrong in every way.
“Theron!” I bellowed down the bond.
A moment later, Theron appeared. He turned his head, taking in what was happening before looking back to me. He lowered his head and softened his glowering eyes, in understanding.
“Get me out of here,” I demanded as I touched his shoulder, holding on to him as if my life depended on it.
He Traveled us to the cave within the Eckterre Mountains in Oryn—the one place that always calmed me.
My body vibrated with energy as the bond roared in retaliation.
My skin tingled painfully, my heart raced, and there was ringing in my ears.
Everything about being away from her felt unnatural, and I didn’t even know her name…
I had fought with my magic to stay out of her mind, and I cursed Xareus for granting me such an atrocious ability.
I sat against the cave wall, the chilled rock cooling my heated skin.
The air was lighter here and I took deep breaths, filling my lungs with the crisp air to settle the savage beast within.
Theron stood on the ledge at the mouth of the cave and lowered his head, looking as if he were ready to set me aflame.
“Why are you resisting? Do you intend to deny the bond?” His voice rumbled in my mind.
“No.” Regardless of Theron’s near-constant foul mood, he was always there when I needed him, always came when I called. And for that, I was grateful.
“Then why?”
“Because I refuse to claim her like some feral animal,” I shouted back, releasing fire around me as I jumped up, my flames unable to burn his body as they licked at his feet. “And because my Nation will suffer if I do.”
He tilted his head. I released a frustrated sigh and told him of what the Sage had threatened, and the village decimated by the Glaev, along with the panel of Sages and Worthy. He stared at me several moments before responding.
“Your fate has been sealed, as has the females. The Gods bound you two for a reason. It would be unwise to deny them.”
“And it would be wise to put her and my people in danger if I did?” I asked.
“I’m bound to protect them and if I bind myself to her, I may be doing just the opposite.
The Gods really fucked me over on this one, Theron.
So unless you have some magical way to break your vow to intervene and stop the Glaev, I don’t really see any other solution at the moment. ”
He didn’t say anything after that.
We sat in silence for a few hours on that ledge under the moonslight and I watched as the stars moved across the night sky. My thoughts jostled around, weighing heavy on my mind. The Glaev, the Sages, the panel, my people, my mate. I had a choice to make. And one that wouldn’t be made lightly.
Unable to stand being so far from her any longer, Theron took me back to Torx before disappearing off to wherever it was that he went.
I made sure that my mate would not feel me through the ground, staying up in the trees, as I tracked her down and kept my distance.
Watching as she lay in that field of grass all night.
I followed her, the male, and the Spirit the next day as they crossed into Ulrik, where they met up with a female then began to travel southeast toward Riyah.
They stopped that night to make camp, and I nearly lost my mind when all of a sudden my mate and her Spirit Traveled away.
It wasn’t far, but it was enough that the bond was rubbing me raw, like a blister constantly chafing.
Certain they would return soon, I waited out of sight of their encampment and watched the interactions of the male and female—hoping to discover that this female had an intimate relationship with the male and not my mate.
But all they did was argue and bicker and taunt each other—nothing to indicate that they were involved.
I hated waiting. It gave me too much time to think with nothing else to do, and my mind wandered to what was happening back home in Oryn.
Jolting me from my thoughts, the male began shouting obscenities at the now returned Spirit, and my mate lay there unmoving.
It felt like a stone had been dropped into the pit of my stomach.
I nearly went to her, needing to do something.
I needed to know that she was okay. But before I moved to whisk her away to the nearest healer, Theron’s voice sounded in my head.
“He has commanded that you not interfere, and trust that he would not allow harm to come to her,” he said, sounding annoyed.
“Who?”
“Her Fylgjur.”
My mate’s Spirit guardian was staring right at me through the shadows I had conjured to conceal me. I didn’t know if he could actually see me, but he obviously knew I was there if he had contacted Theron to give me the message.
“Alright.” I nodded, though he couldn’t see me, and some of the tension eased in my shoulders.
I knew he was right. Spirit guardians were there to protect their Worthy’s life.
Which meant that those that were with her were of no threat to her either.
I settled in for the night, resting with my back against the trunk of a tree with my legs stretched across the limb.
Even knowing that she had her Spirit to watch over her and protect her, I still wished it were me.
But I pushed the feeling away, and let sleep take me.
Nearly two days later, she finally woke.
She had been seated in front of the male when they rode.
My teeth clenched at the thought of his body touching hers, rubbing up against her backside with his arm wrapped around her.
With a snarl, I distanced myself further to where I could no longer see them.
But I could still feel her, the bond pushing me to be closer, and was able to follow that feeling.
I continued to keep my distance, not wanting to see her with another males hands on her when I craved her so desperately.
But she came to me…
She’d answered my call. And she hadn’t seemed afraid. If she cared for this other male, would she have done that? Or was it solely because of the bond, driving her to me beyond her control?
Well into the night, a feeling of being yanked through the bond, woke me. I sat up, instantly awake and completely aware of my hardened cock pressing into the seams of my trousers.
Is she…aroused?
Excitement coursed through my veins, but for only a moment. I broke out in a cold sweat. My breathing became quick and shallow.
She’s aroused. And she’s with him.
This had to end. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t continue to follow her across the damned continent forever and feel her want for another male.
My eyes narrowed and I took off, intending to stop her actions long enough to get her to deny the bond and release me from my misery.
I wouldn’t invade her mind again. Not without her approval.
I had more control of myself now, the mating bond seemingly pleased with our proximity after our encounter in that alley in Narh.
I called to her, gently caressing that glimmering bond as I approached.
Then I noticed that she was sitting outside of that stone tent with a book propped up on her folded legs. Alone.
She isn’t with him. She’s…reading.
I smiled and huffed a breath of relief that she wasn’t bedding the male.
I stopped, close enough to see her but far enough away to be concealed by my shadows. But the moment I stepped onto the grass, her head snapped up in my direction.
I had thought that she might feel me, but I didn’t know from how far away. My mate knew I was there but ignored my attempt to reach her through the bond. She was sitting in the grass as she leaned against the wall of the tent.
I envisioned her for a moment. I pictured her sitting just as she was then, with a book in her lap and leaning against my chest as she told me of the fantastical worlds and adventures that she lost herself in.
That vision evaporated the moment she stood, facing me. Shaking my head, I knew that I couldn’t hear her deny me, no matter how much I needed her to. I wanted to go to her. She knew I was there, she felt me and she wasn’t running away even after what I said to her back in Narh.
I couldn’t ask her to deny me. I didn’t want her to. If she wanted me the way I wanted her, we would find a way without endangering my people. I needed to go back to Oryn and see what Arra had discovered.
I surrounded myself with shadows before calling for Theron to take me back.
Leaving now was a small price to pay, to suffer the distance once again, but if she accepted this, it would be worth it.
I would remove all obstacles, no matter how challenging they were, if she wanted this.
I’d take on the panel. I’d stop the Glaev.
If she wanted this, then nothing would stop me from having her.
I couldn’t resist the bond much longer. It wanted her. I wanted her. And I knew that I would only crave her more and more.