She nods once. Solemn. “Yes. I think so.” She steps closer, eyes shadowed with warning. “And I don’t believe it’s the leash that caused it. I think it’s the hellhound himself.”
The ground shifts beneath me. My pulse kicks into overdrive.
“I think,” she continues softly, “that you may one day be forced to choose — kill Draven… or let the world burn.”
Neris growls so loud in my mind it rattles.“I’ll kill her first! She can’t say that! Let the world burn to ash!”
My hand rises to my throat, dry and tight. “No,” I breathe. “No. I can’t. I won’t kill my mate. That’s insane. What the hell are you talking about?”
Camara doesn’t flinch. She meets my anger with sadness. “I don’t know if it will ever come to that. But the hellhound wouldn’t create such a weakness unless he believed it was possible.”
She reaches out and takes my hand. Her touch is gentle, her eyes kind. “You’re stronger than you think, Kassira. You could survive anything.”
“I’m not strong,” I whisper. “I don’t even know why I was chosen to be his mate. Draven is the one who’s strong. I’m…” My voice cracks. “I’m the kind of wolf a teenage pup could take down with one swipe.”
Camara studies me. No pity in her gaze, only certainty. “Strength isn’t always in the body. Draven has that part covered. But your strength… it’s in your mind. In your instincts. That’s what he needs. You balance him. That’s what true mates do. They complete each other — not compete with one another.”
Her words hit something tender inside of me. Six months of silence, six months of feeling like I wasn’t enough… and I startedto believe it. I forgot that I don’t need to have unusual powers in order to be enough.
I exhale slowly. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank her!”Neris snaps.“She wants us to kill our mate, remember? We don’t thank people like that, Kass!”
My smile fades. My spine straightens again.
“I still won’t kill my mate,” I say, voice like steel. “Not for the world. Not for anyone.”
The moment I step out of the room, I grab Draven’s hand and start walking fast. No words. I don’t know where I’m going, only that I need to move. Need to put space between us and what the Priestess said.
“Kass?” he asks, confused, falling into step beside me. “What did she say? What did you two talk about?”
I don’t answer. I need to take him somewhere safe.
“Kassira?”
His voice sharpens. He digs his heels in. Comes to a full stop.
I tug on his hand, but he doesn’t budge. Stupid mountain of muscle!
“Please,” I say, barely above a whisper. “Just come with me. I need you to.”
He studies me for a beat — eyes narrowing, gaze cutting straight through me. Then, with a nod, he lets me pull him again, matching my steps.
It isn’t until we’re standing inside the library, the door clicking shut behind us, that I realize where I’ve taken him.
The silence inside is thick. Heavy with words I’m not ready to say. I turn toward him and without a word, I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on like the world might end if I let go.
He freezes for a heartbeat. Then, slowly, his arms come around me. Strong. Steady. His chin rests gently on top of my head. He doesn’t speak. Just waits. Quiet and patient. Exactly what I need.
I press my ear to his chest. His heart beats strong and sure beneath my cheek. Alive. Steady. As it should be. As it must remain. He can’t die. Not for me. Not because of me. Not ever.
He still has groveling to do. He owes me that. He owes me a lifetime.
Neris is silent in my head, but I feel her grief coiling deep, her anxiety trembling close to tears. She’s terrified. Just like me.
My voice barely rises above the hush between us. “Did you ever take her flying?”
It’s absolutely not the thing I should be talking about right now. But I can’t say the other things. Not yet.
