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I stiffened.Ward?No, something told me he’d been about to saymate, which meant the prince’s guards also knew what I was.
The blood drained from my face as any lingering doubt over what the prince and I truly were vanished from my thoughts. Iknew. Prince Norivun was my mate, and there was no running from that even if he’d killed my family.
I sank onto the couch, breathing hard.
“I’m sorry,” Norivun said gruffly. “Fuck, Haxil. I almost...almost...” Such torment was written across his face.
Haxil sat up, still rubbing his side, but he nudged Prince Norivun. “I know. It’s okay. Instincts in a male can be—”
Haxil cast a wary glance my way before he grunted and stood. He smiled at me sheepishly.
“Thanks for—” He shrugged, as though not sure how to thank me for the fact that my affinity had stopped one of his closest friends from murdering him. “Thanks forthatand for the dinner and conversation. We’ll have to finish it another time.”
I could only manage a nod as the guard limped toward the door, his movements still stiff, but with each step he took, he seemed to heal and grow stronger. By the time he reached the threshold, he’d stopped rubbing his side completely, and his wings didn’t look like razors against his back anymore.
He eyed us over his shoulder. “I’ll just give you two some time. I’ll be in the hall.”
“No,” Norivun said sharply. “You’re to go to the infirmary and have Murl check you over and ensure you’re all right. After that, you’re to take the rest of the evening off. I’ll guard Ilara. That’s an order.”
“Yes, my prince.” With that, Haxil closed the door, and I was alone with my mate.
I sat stiffly on the couch, staring at the crown prince as my heart raced and my breathing grew shallow.
The prince stayed on the floor, looking toward where his friend had lain, had almostdied. He wouldn’t look at me. Wouldn’t answer the questions that my silence asked.
I realized he wasn’t going to admit what happened, so finally I said, “How long have you known?”
His shoulders rose sharply, his wings lifting above his head.
Inch by inch, his chin tilted up until those piercing blue eyes speared right into me, right to the center of who I was.
“Known what?”
His question was weighted, his gaze intense. Everything he felt and knew was in his eyes, but he wanted me to go first. Tradition dictated that males wait for females to acknowledge the bond before acting.
I knew I could deny it, could continue pretending that I didn’t know, but there was no running from fate. Inevitably, it caught you, and I would rather this moment be on my terms than his.
“That I’m your mate?” I whispered.
His breath stuttered, and his wings lifted more as his breathing grew faster. A moment passed and then another.
“My prince?” I demanded.
He met my gaze again, his eyes swimming with barely leashed wildness. It was a look I’d seen so many times in him over the past two months, so—
My breath caught.
Months?I’d been seeing that look on him formonths.
“When did you know?” I repeated but louder.Blessed Mother, had he been feeling the bond that long?
His jaw grew tighter, the muscle flexing in the corner. “For a while.”
“How long? When did you first know?”
He released a breath. “When I brought you here to the castle. That first day when I flew us through the wards, and those two guards were fighting.” His voice turned raspy and low. “It was when the injured one began to die, and I felt your affinity rise. That was when I knew. That was the moment the bond clicked into place for me.”
I collapsed back onto the sofa.He’d known all this time?That meant...
