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He has to be mistaken.
“So?” the male snorted.
Njall didn’t even look at me. “You think the Gods will deem you Worthy by destroying a mating bond? A direct gift fromthem?”
The female tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Perhaps not.” Her lips turned up into a rueful smile. “But I guess we’ll find out.”
He looked at me, his eyes spoke where his mouth couldn’t, and I understood.
In an instant, Njall leaned back and kicked the male square in the chest. At the same moment, I let go of my bow and grabbed hers just below the arrow, pointing it up, and kicked back her hand holding the string. The already frayed fiber easily snapped, and the arrow shot off behind me. I yanked the wood from herhand and whipped her across the face. In the span of a heartbeat, I grabbed the dagger at my back and launched at the female. Pinning her hand to the tree with my blade and my other hand around her throat, she screamed. I tightened my hold on her as she clawed at my arm, gasping for breath. I didn’t let go until she fell still, and her body went limp.
Njall had the male held firmly to the ground. The male’s own sword was embedded in his shoulder. Njall’s eyes were filled with hatred as he looked down at the male below him. I breathed a sigh of momentary relief.
We tied each of them up to a tree next to the male they had used as bait, a sacrifice to the beasts. We didn’t linger, running hard and fast toward the mountain, not wanting to get caught by whatever would feast on them later. I pushed through the pain shooting up my leg.
Once we were far enough away that we couldn’t hear their pleading cries, we came to a stop. My hands braced on my knees as I caught my breath, Njall’s words ringing in my head.
‘She’s my mate.’
I glared at him as I walked to his hunched over body, heaving heavy breaths. He straightened, sorrow filling his eyes right before I swung up and punched him in the side of his face.
He grabbed his cheek as I turned and stormed off. He tried to grab my arm but I yanked it out, spinning to face him.
“What the fuck, Njall?” I yelled as I shoved his muscled chest as hard as I could, but his large body didn’t even move with the effort. “Mate? You’re lying!”
He has to be.
My hands shook and my heart raced. I would have felt something. That’s how it worked. Two souls bound together for eternity. Even after death. I would have never admitted it out loud but a part of me wanted the mating bond that I had read stories about. I wanted that unbreakable connection, the loveand passion that blossomed from it. My mind spiraled in a split second. Fear and anger filled me. Tears threatened to escape.
Was something wrong with me?
I inhaled sharply as Njall grabbed my face. “Iwaslying.”
“What?” My shoulders dropped as I reared my head back away from him. “Why would you do that? Why would youlieabout something like that?” I shoved him again, and he released my face but still didn’t move.
“I panicked, alright.” He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the roots. “I’m sorry. I just needed to stall them. I don’t know why that was the first thing to come to mind but thank the Gods it worked.”
“So…we’re not mates?” I breathed.
He huffed. “No, Roav. Trust me, if we were mates, we’d be marked. There’s no way I would have been able to hold back from sealing the bond with being so close to you in that tree last night.”
My gaze briefly flicked to my unmarked arm, the one I had secretly hoped would be marked one day.
A childish dream.
The mark was a symbol of the mating bond—a gift from the Gods, a sacred one. The mating bond was divine, a connection of two souls, and it drove them to each other. As much as I was relieved, a small part of me was also disappointed.
“Well next time, try not scaring the shit out of me without warning.”
“I’ll do my best,” he sighed and visibly relaxed.
“How did you know all of that about the mating bond anyway?” I asked suspiciously. Not many did, seeing as it was so rare and very few records of it.
“Oryn has libraries too, you know.” He smirked.
We walked in awkward silence, avoiding eye contact for the next several hours. The mountain had started obstructing ourview of the sky through the trees as we drew nearer. Being this close, we were able to see the northern side of the mountain, darkened by constant shadow and completely devoid of vegetation all the way to the base.
“We should reach the base soon. Do you think we can make it to the peak by nightfall?” I glanced at him, finally breaking the silence.
