Page 33 of Ashborne: Defiance

I snarled in response to the irate indignation that rose in him as he fought the very idea, taking his mate with frantic joy, screaming, and his voice echoed for miles.

Writhing against the leather straps that held me in place, I shook my head, shook him off, my body trembling in protest of my own burning skin and aching need.

‘I’m not abandoning her! I’m leaving her free! She’s a fucking noble! She’s innocent and inexperienced and unequipped for any man—least of all me!’

‘And unprepared for your rejection,’ he shot back.

I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. ‘You and I both know, in a few days, she’ll thank me. When she realizes what I fought to avoid. For her.’

‘Voski, you are not—’

‘You told me that, Kham. You told me a mate should be protected. And upheld. And sacrificed for.’

‘Yes—not tormented by your pride!’

‘Pride? How is this pride?’

‘You reject her to avoid revealing yourself.’

A strange, hacking laugh started in my chest and coughed out into the forest. Again and again. I sounded like a madman, but I couldn’t stop it. ‘Pride? You think that’s pride?!’

‘Voski…’ his tone was dark with warning.

I shook my head and laughed again. ‘This isn’t pride, Kham. This is leadership. I’m making choices for her good.’

‘You make choices to soothe your own fear. It will lead both of you nowhere good.’

Then, before I could answer, he lifted his head and screamed, leaving me to lie in the dirt, laughing like a crazy-person, while he wallowed in the pleasure of his mate.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Until I had no energy left for laughing.

I couldn’t make any sound at all.

I counted the heartbeats and tried to calculate how many it would take to reach the end of these torturous days.

The problem was, I wasn’t sure I could count that high.

12. Clarity

~ GRACE ~

When I woke on the sixth day after I followed Vane out of the castle, it was easier to breathe. Even before my eyes were properly open, I knew something had changed.

I blinked awake to glowing leaves overhead, blazing yellows and greens, as bright, warm sunlight illuminated them from behind.

I’d slept all the way into morning?

I rolled over, groaning against the aching in my body and pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen loose from my poorly executed braid.

Which was when I saw, for the first time in several days, that my hand didn’t shake.

“How much pain are you in?”