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My soul is… unsettled. It’s moving. Reaching, like it’s trying to expand outside of me. Like it’s casting a net.
Looking at Kai, I open my mouth to ask him if it’s normal for the soul to be unstable after returning from the Lost Land, but as soon as our eyes lock, our souls merge.
Mine tangles with his, and his fuses with mine.
The two become one in the most joyful, satisfying moment of belonging.
In an instant, everything that’s ever happened to me makes sense. The question, ‘why?’ is no longer a wonder in my mind because the answer is right here.
All along, I was being led to Kai. Our destiny was written eons before we existed, and it will go on forever after we’re gone.
“We’re fated mates,” Kai declares breathlessly, while I laugh so obnoxiously, it’s more of a cackle.
Bright sparks go off in the air around us.
The little fireworks are because of the bond solidifying. The display is produced the first time a fated pair makes love. Our celebration is just happening a little later than usual because it couldn’t occur until we returned to Valora.
Before I have a chance to admire the glittering, Kai mauls me. Engulfing me with his embrace and rolling us so my back is on the ground, he peppers me with kisses.
His lips go from my lips to my forehead to my cheek. “My mate, my wife, my love. You’re my fate, and I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.” More kisses. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I say, happier than I’ve ever been. “You chose me. You chose me without the bond, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He moves his mouth to my neck. “Still, I should’ve known. There were so many signs. Your alluring scent, the undeniable attraction, my inability to control my cock.”
I moan because the cock he just mentioned is rock hard and notched perfectly between my legs, and I’m getting super turned on. “Okay, okay. But I’m just as guilty as you for being clueless. The way I reacted to you in the beginning should’ve given it away.”
“I guess no one could’ve seen this coming.” Kai licks my throat, but he stops abruptly before lifting his head. “Wait. That motherfucker.”
“What?”
“Armand. He knew we were mates. Remember when he peered at us through his magnifying glass? He could tell. That’s why he set the deal up the way he did—if he won and I had to execute you, I would’ve died eventually, too. Or vice versa. If I’d given myself to his gem, I would’ve been sentencing you to death as well. He never intended for either of us to survive at all.”
Now that our souls are linked, I can sense Kai’s outrage through our tether. Before, I felt it externally, but now it’s inside me.
Boiling.
Although I can’t read his mind, I know he wants to go back and finish Armand off.
“Hey.” I lovingly tug on his beard and remind him, “We won. We beat him, despite his best efforts to take us down. Honestly, we shouldn’t be surprised by his cunning ruthlessness. What’s important is, he can never hurt us again.”
“You’re right.” Kai calms with a few cleansing breaths. “You’re mine now.”
“I always was. For as long as I’ve lived, I’ve belonged to you. We just had to find each other.”
He caresses my cheek while gazing at me with pure adoration. “If only we’d met before this, we could’ve avoided so much suffering.”
We both stiffen at his lamenting because it spurs an astonishing thought—Armand isn’t the first person to interfere with our bond.
It’s ridiculously unbelievable that our paths didn’t cross a long time ago. For suns’ sake, Kai and I lived in the same city during the early years of my captivity.
If he’d moved up in ranks like he’d planned, he would’ve been invited to the palace with the other promoted warriors. After taking one look at each other, the bond would’ve automatically freed me from Zarid’s forced matrimony.
Zarid would’ve had no choice but to let me go, even as the highest ruler. In the fae world, one law is revered above all others—you can’t keep fated mates apart.
But he did keep us apart.
Somehow, he found out that Kai was my soul mate, and he wanted to preserve his pride. He didn’t want to be a king who had to give his queen to a lowly warrior.
