That strange bruise in the center of my chest? Still there. A dark blotch of pain that never fades. It should’ve healed in seconds. Instead, it’s spreading. Deepening. The High Priestess gets here in a few days. She better have answers, because I’m not in the mood to guess whether it’s a magical infection, a curse, or a countdown to my fucking death.
I’ve been watching everyone. Every movement. Every word. Nothing suspicious yet — no tells, no magic scents, no misplaced glances.
In the meantime, I help Kass with her research in the library. Scrolls, grimoires, ancient tomes. Anything we can get our hands on. I try to stay near her as much as possible.
Seven hours.
That’s the longest I can be apart from her before the leash starts rotting my brain again. Before I start forgetting that I have a mate.
That panic? It never leaves me.
So I stay close. As close as I can.
And I feed her, too. Constantly. You’d think it’s the mate bond making me do it — instinct, hormones, obsession — but it’s not. She loves food. Good food makes her happy. And I like watching her be happy. So now, when she’s deep in study mode, the cook is under strict orders to go crazy with the most delicious recipes he has. And I bring each one of them to her.
Even Draxis is playing his part — or so she tells me. Apparently, he’s taken to hunting for her.
And for Neris, of course.
Yesterday, he dropped three dead deer at her feet in a matter of minutes after shifting. Neris was thrilled. Kass was… not. She’s banned her wolf from shifting around Draxis now, ever since that idiot tried to mark her — and Neris nearly let him.
So now they're grounded. No contact. Until Kass says otherwise.
The pain of the broken bond follows me around every second. Twisted and deep, settled in every fiber of my being. I can’t help but feel frustrated. Pissed off. Not with Kass, but with the whole situation. Why the fuck did this have to happen to me?
When I find that witch who put the collar on me — who forced me to betray my mate, to hurt her — I’ll tear them apart. Slowly.
And then I’ll do it again.
A sudden stab of pain slams through my chest. Sharp. Blinding. All my muscles seize.
I grit my teeth and dig my fingers into the dirt.
“Did you accept it immediately?” Kassira asks suddenly. Her voice is quiet, but sharp. Like she’s been holding the question in for a long time. “No questions asked?”
I turn my head to look at her. “Accept what?”
She meets my gaze, eyes steady. “What the High Priestess told you. That you had no Mate Spark. That there was no one meant for you.”
I exhale slowly, the memory wrapping cold fingers around my heart. “No,” I whisper. “I didn’t.”
My eyes drift back to the sky, the clouds unmoving. “I still had hope. Even after she told me I was mateless, I held on. Told myself maybe she was wrong. Even if no other Priestess before got it wrong, maybe she was the first one.” My voice drops lower. “But then I didn’t shift. And that… that broke something in me. Sent me into a spiral. Ate away at my confidence, my pride.”
I pause, remembering the way the loneliness used to scream in my ears with every birthday that came and went.
“But I still hoped,” I murmur. “Twenty came and went. By then, most shifters already know. Already meet. Already bond. But I still waited. Then twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-four. At twenty-six. That’s when I stopped hoping. That’s when I agreed to the arranged mating. Told myself it was my duty. Told myself I just had to accept that there really was no mate for me.”
I glance at her again. “What about you? You’re twenty-six now. What did you think when twenty hit and you still hadn’t met your mate?”
She gives a small shrug, but her shoulders are tense. “That I was just… unlucky.” Her voice is steady, but I can hear the weight behind it. “Part of me wondered if my mate was dead. That would explain the silence. I kept going to the pack’s Priestess, begging her to check my Mate Spark. Make sure that it didn’t dull, that it still shone.”
She looks down at her hands. “It always did. Bright, she said. Brighter than most. I just had to be patient. She told me my case was rare. But my mate was out there.”
Her voice tightens. “I waited for you for so long. And then you rejected me. Sent me into exile. Alone with the pain. Neris,too. We were devastated. Then bitter. And then angry.” She sighs. “I understand it now — the collar, the spell, all of it. But the memory is still there.”
“I know,” I say, voice low. Then I shift, push up on one elbow, eyes fixed on her. “But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up. I won’t. You’re mine, Kassira. And I’ll do whatever it takes to earn you back.”
She chuckles — soft, almost disbelieving. Like she doesn’t want to smile but can’t help it. “We have bigger problems to deal with right now.”
