Tears tracked down his cheeks, and something inside Tess shattered completely. This wasn’t the controlled prince or the commanding future king—this was a son saying goodbye to his father, raw and vulnerable in a way that made her heart ache.
Without thinking, she reached up and brushed the tears from his face with gentle fingers. His skin was warm beneath her touch, and when he leaned into her palm with a shuddering breath, their bond flared between them like lightning.
“Tess,” he whispered, and then his arms were around her, pulling her against his massive chest as if she were the only thing anchoring him to the world.
She held him fiercely, pouring every ounce of strength she possessed into the embrace. This was what she could give him—not just comfort, but proof that he wasn’t alone in his grief, that someone understood the crushing weight of failure and the desperate need to make things right.
For long moments they held each other in the sacred space, sharing grief and strength in equal measure. Tess felt the tremors that ran through his powerful frame, felt the way his breathing gradually steadied as her presence worked some kind of magic she didn’t fully understand.
When he finally pulled back, his dark eyes were red-rimmed but clear, focused on her face with an intensity that made her breath catch.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said, his voice hoarse but determined. “Something I should have confessed days ago, but I was too scared of the truth and what it meant.”
Tess’s heart hammered against her ribs. The way he looked at her, the careful way he spoke—this was important. Life-changing important.
“What is it?” she asked softly.
“Tess,” he said, her name a reverent whisper on his lips. “You’re my fated mate.”
The words hit her like a punch, sending her stumbling backward even as her mind raced to process what he’d said.
Fated mate.Of course.
It made perfect sense—the instant recognition, the electrical charge every time they touched, the way her body had responded to his with desperate hunger, the strange humming in her blood that intensified whenever he was near.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice barely steady.
“Yes.” The certainty in his voice was absolute. “The moment we shook hands, the mate bond activated. It’s been growingstronger every day, and I can’t deny it anymore. I don’t want to keep running from it.”
“But you believe the human-shifter mate bond is harmful,” she said, her scientific mind grappling with the implications. “Just like Varix claims about your father’s illness. Just like your clan has been conditioned to believe, despite the evidence of your parents’ strong bond.”
Korran’s jaw clenched, but his eyes never left her face. “I know. And I was a fool to let the council’s rhetoric and the clan’s prejudice dictate my worldview for so long. But I can’t deny what’s between us, Tess. I can’t deny what I feel for you.”
The confession sent her world tilting off its axis. Everything she’d thought she understood about their situation, about his rejection, about the impossibility of their connection—all of it rearranged itself into a new pattern that left her breathless.
Queen Lysia knew.
The realization hit her with stunning force. Yesterday, when the queen had smiled and said Tess had “natural queen energy,” she’d been talking about the mate bond. She’d known her son had found his fated mate and was fighting it.
Did Gerri know too?
The thought sent panic racing through her veins. Had she been manipulated from the very beginning? Brought here not just to save a king, but to claim a prince who didn’t want to be claimed?
The walls of the ceremonial hall suddenly felt too close, the air too thick. She needed space to think, to process, to figure out what this meant for everything she’d thought she wanted.
“I need air,” she gasped, grabbing her coat from the chair where she’d left it.
She rushed toward the massive doors, her heels clicking against the stone floor. But Korran was right behind her, his longer strides easily keeping pace as they burst through theentrance into the crystalline winter air. The cold hit her like a slap, sharp and clean after the heavy atmosphere of grief and revelation.
“So what—how is it possible that I’m your fated mate?” she demanded, spinning to face him. “Did Gerri know? Did she seek me out and bring me here because of that?”
Korran’s breath misted in the frigid air as he studied her face. “I don’t understand Gerri’s methods, but she certainly sought you out because you’re the only one who could help my father and prove to this territory that humans aren’t weak. Maybe Gerri knew what she was doing, but does it matter?”
Tess stared at him, this impossibly powerful man who’d just confessed that fate had bound them together, and felt something settle into place inside her chest. Maybe Gerri was a meddling woman with supernatural abilities. Maybe she’d orchestrated this entire situation from the beginning. But the truth was simpler and more profound than any manipulation.
She was here now, on Nova Aurora, falling madly in love with the bear prince of the Northern Dominion. And King Voran deserved justice, regardless of what cosmic forces had brought her here.
Korran watched her with the careful stillness of a predator, his dark eyes reflecting both hope and fear. He expected rejection—she could see it in the tense line of his shoulders, the way he held himself ready for her to walk away. Instead, she moved toward his SUV.
