"You killed two panthers." His words came out rough with emotion he couldn't quite contain.
Her hands paused in their work, her eyes meeting his with a burning intensity that made his breath catch.
"They were trying to kill my—" She stopped abruptly, her cheeks flushing as she realized what she'd been about to say.
My mate.
She might not be ready to complete their bond, but her heart had already made its choice.
SEVENTEEN
JADE
The sixth dawn of the Trial of Shadow broke with deceptive beauty across the jungle canopy, the twin suns casting dappled shadows through the purple leaves as Jade assessed their situation with military precision. Three miles. That's all they'd managed yesterday after the coordinated panther attack and Raikar's injury, and she felt the weight of that setback settling in her chest like a stone.
Four more miles to go.
The numbers rolled through her mind as she watched Raikar move with careful deliberation, his jaw tight with the effort of concealing pain. The bandages around his ribs had held through the night, but she could see the stiffness in his movements, and the way he favored his left side when he thought she wasn't looking.
Her competitive spirit, the same drive that had pushed her through military training and martial arts competitions, screamed at the delay. Seven days. That's all Raikar's great-grandparents had needed to reach Lover's Rock, and she'd been so determined to shatter that record, to prove that a human could not only survive this trial but excel at it. Yet watchingRaikar struggle to shoulder his pack and the bow without wincing made her priorities shift.
The record doesn't matter anymore,she realized with sudden clarity.He's alive. That's what matters.
The memory of those crucial seconds by the stream played on repeat in her mind—the coordinated attack, the way two panthers had closed in on Raikar while she fought off the third. She could still feel the resistance of bone and sinew as her knife found its mark, still hear the wet sound of steel parting vertebrae. Three massive shifters who'd come to ensure they never reached the finish line.
Through the partial bond, she could sense his emotions like a low hum beneath her skin—determination mixed with exhaustion, frustration at his body's limitations, and underneath it all, a fierce desire to give her what she wanted.
"We don't need to push so hard today," she said, her voice more gentle than she'd intended as she adjusted her own pack. "If we reach Lover's Rock tomorrow instead of tonight, we'll still complete the trial. We'll still be the second couple in your clan's history to survive this."
Raikar's blue eyes flashed with something that looked dangerously close to offense. "No."
The single word carried all the authority of his rank, all the stubborn pride of a man who wouldn't settle for less than exceptional.
"You wanted that record for five days straight. I won't disappoint you now." He straightened to his full height despite the obvious cost. "We're going to break that record, show everyone exactly what we're capable of, and how strong our bond really is."
The raw determination in his voice sent an unexpected flutter through her chest. This fierce General who commanded an army and faced down multiple attackers was willing to pushhis injured body to its limits just to make her happy. The gesture was both infuriating and deeply moving.
They soon fell into a steady rhythm, slower than Jade's competitive nature preferred but sustainable given Raikar's condition. The jungle pressed in around them with humid insistence, every step taking them higher as the terrain began its gradual ascent toward the cliff-top destination.
"Since I told you about my childhood yesterday," Jade said after they'd covered nearly a mile in companionable silence, "I want to know about yours."
She'd been thinking about it since seeing his photos in his bedroom and since his revelation about wanting the kind of love his great-grandparents had shared. What kind of upbringing produced a man like Raikar—controlled, disciplined, carrying the weight of legacy on his shoulders like armor?
"It was pretty ordinary, I suppose." His answer came after a long pause, and Jade could feel his reluctance through the bond. "My mother was loving. My parents had a stable marriage—arranged, not fated, but they made it work. My father seemed content with that arrangement."
There was something carefully neutral in his tone that made her suspicious. "But?"
"But he was strict. Hard." Raikar's jaw tightened as they navigated around a cluster of thorny vines. "Started training me when I was five years old. Discipline, control, strategy—everything a future General would need. He was molding me to be the perfect replacement when he retired."
The casual way he said it made Jade's heart clench with unexpected pain. Five years old. She tried to imagine a child version of this powerful man, forced into rigid training before he'd even learned to tie his shoes properly.
"I didn't know any different," he continued, his voice taking on that distant quality that suggested old wounds. "Didn't thinkanything was wrong with that upbringing until I started hearing stories from the clan elders about my great-grandparents. About the way they looked at each other, fought beside each other, and loved each other."
He paused to wince as they climbed over a fallen log, and Jade resisted the urge to steady him, knowing he'd bristle at the perceived weakness.
"I secretly vowed that if I ever found my fated mate, if I ever had children, I wouldn't raise them the way I was raised." The admission came out rough, like it had been scraped from somewhere deep inside him. "I'd teach them that emotions and love were things they could express freely, not weaknesses to be conquered."
No wonder he keeps everything locked down so tight.
