CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Elias

One Month Earlier

I sat in my usual cell, silver chains clasped around my wrists, binding me to the wall. They muted my strength, my senses, and my ability to shift. But it was the wolfsbane constantly flowing through my body that kept me sickly and weak. Without the wolfsbane, my strength would instantly return if the chains fell.

But my captors would take no chances.

I had no idea how long I had been in the dungeon at that point. How long it had been since I felt the sun on my skin or the wind in my hair. My last kill was at least a few years ago.

The current king, Volund, had unleashed me to do his evil bidding. The target was an innocent man from Chatus who refused to make a deal with the king. Citizens from one kingdom were not bound to obey the ruler of another. I was told to kill him in a very specific way, as Volund usually demanded. And I was good at my job.

Very good.

Sometimes years went by before my next assignment. The king kept me chained in my cell, lacing my food with wolfsbane. It made it taste like shit, but I ate it anyway, to survive.

I knew I had been working for the godsforsaken Sprathian kings for at least three centuries. I couldn’t remember how many generations of volatile kings it had been. But the death on my hands for them had to be nearing one hundred. I lost count decades ago.

Trying to escape proved futile. The first half century, I tried many times to flee while on assignment. But that little witch of theirs would always be able to find me. Then they would force me back and torture me viciously again and again, sometimes for weeks at a time. Eventually, I stopped trying to escape. Each time they let me out of my cell for a job was like brief liberation – freedom from my chains, my captors, my torture. I would kill anyone, in any way, to get that minuscule taste of freedom.

I hated doing it. Hated killing innocents. But the freedom it brought me was all I had.

Lycans and witches always got along in the past. But this witch, Sarai, must have been conjured up from the depths of the underworld. She was miserably evil.

Witches were powerful creatures, able to use the elements of the earth to create nearly any spell, complete nearly any task. Sarai, for example, channeled most of her powers through water. That was how she always found me. She could astral project through still bodies of water, and she would do so to find me or communicate with me while out on an assignment.

If the water was moving, like a stream or river, she couldn’t tap into it. But, water was fucking everywhere – ponds, lakes, even fucking puddles. As long as the surface was big enough for her face to fit through, she could use it to connect with me.

I couldn’t escape it. I couldn’t escape the kings. When I tried, Sarai would easily locate me, and they would send their warriors with wolfsbane-laced weapons to collect me. Then they would bring me back and torture me until I broke, forcing me to promise my allegiance.

My head twitched as I heard the familiar sound of footsteps heading towards my dungeon cell. That usually meant some poor servant was bringing me food or coming to clean up my shit. But when I realized I was hearing multiple sets of heavy footsteps, I knew this was going to be another assignment – another small speck of freedom before I would be put right back in here.

The large wooden door to my cell opened, and I stayed completely still. Although most of my heightened senses were depleted while wolfsbane was in my system, I could still recognize the stench of the king. He smelled as though death and decay followed him everywhere.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, your majesty?” I snarled with sarcasm.

Volund stepped through the door, three warriors waiting behind him. He feared to be alone with me, even in my poisoned state. Coward.

“Shut up, dog,” he seethed. With a snap of his fingers, two of the warriors stepped past him to unchain me. I rubbed at my wrists, getting used to the feeling of them being free. “You have an assignment.”

Figured. He always came to fetch me personally when he had a job for me. I think he liked seeing me rot. Or maybe he got off on seeing me in chains. I don’t fucking know.

I stood up, towering over both warriors. They rushed back to their master. Although I was in this dungeon cell for years at a time, Volund ordered me to keep fit, and I happily obliged. It was hard to do so while in restraints and with poison in my veins, but I managed, using my own bodyweight as a tool to maintain my muscle. Volund also made sure I got plenty of shit-food laced with wolfsbane. How kind.

I followed the king and his warriors up to his throne hall. Sarai stood waiting next to Volund’s throne, her black-violet hair cut shorter than the last time I saw her. She eyed me with disdain, malice written on her face. Her gaze turned toward Volund and her expression changed to something of lust. She was madly in love with him, or maybe just obsessed. She had been working for the kings for as long as I had. Longer, even. But with Volund, I could tell something in her was different.

Volund sat on his throne and I stood before them. The three warriors remained behind me, no doubt ready to throw their daggers at me if I made a wrong move. But I wouldn’t. I had done this song and dance many times.

“As I said, you have an assignment. A very difficult one. Perhaps your hardest yet.”

I knew better than to interrupt so I stood there silently.

“The current King of Rimor, Callum, has a daughter. Princess Aurelia. She is your next target.” He nodded his head, indicating I could speak.

“How old is she?” I asked.

“Nineteen. Nearly twenty.”

So not a small child. Thank the gods.

“Her high profile is what makes this job more difficult?” I continued.

“In a way. She is very heavily protected. The king does not let her go anywhere without protection, even in their own home.”

Hm. So she was a prisoner like me, in her own way.

“How do you want her death?” I asked, as I had done so many times before.

“Quick and silent,” the king answered. “I want no trace that you were ever there.”

A clean kill. That was difficult.

Volund continued. “With his daughter’s unexpected death, the king will crumble.”

I raised a brow. “Why not just kill the king?”

Volund’s face fell in anger, but Sarai was the one who spoke. “Don’t question your master, you dog. You do what he says, when he says.”

Volund raised a hand to silence her, and the witch immediately shut her mouth. She acted completely under his control, even though I knew that she was just as lethal as I was, with capabilities far beyond that of a mere human.

I had no idea why she worked for them – what sort of things they promised her. But I knew she was exiled from our homeland nearly a century before the rebellion, for killing her lover, a fellow witch, in a jealous rage. Perhaps the Sprathian king of the time of her exile promised her revenge, or made a deal with her, only for her to be forced to work for them and their successors.

But then when Volund took the throne, she formed an unhealthy obsession with him. Gods knew why. Maybe because his soul was as black as hers. He was the worst of the kings yet, by far. Other poor souls he threw into the dungeon – ones who never survived long – told me of the things he did to his people. Whipping them for speaking out of turn. Hanging entire families for not being able to afford his insane taxes. He was the epitome of evil.

“I need the king alive for reasons that do not concern you,” Volund sneered .

“How long do I have?”

“With the task being more difficult than your usual assignment, I will give you a few weeks.”

A few weeks of freedom. “When do I leave for Rimor?”

“Now. You’ll have enough time for the wolfsbane to leave your system by the time you reach the Stone City.”

He was right. Since I was only ingesting the poison through food, it wouldn’t be long before it left my body. It was when it was in my bloodstream that it could take much longer to dissipate.

“My warriors will give you a pack with enough items to last for a short while. Sarai will check in when I order her to. If you are not back in a few weeks, you know what will happen.”

I watched as a sinister smile spread on Sarai’s face, and I only gave her a death-glare in return. She was the sole reason I was trapped in this cycle. Maybe someday I would have my revenge.

I reached Rimor, but found it more difficult than I imagined to get to my target. Volund was not lying when he said the Rimorian King kept a tight leash on her. Whenever she was out in public, which was rare, she was surrounded by a fucking squadron of soldiers. So much so that I couldn’t even see her face. And I couldn’t kill the guards to get to her. My orders were to make a silent kill and leave no trace. So I decided to scope out the castle instead and find a way in. Killing her in her sleep seemed like the best option for an inconspicuous death.

It took a few nights to memorize the patterns of the guards outside Rimor Castle – when they had shift changes, how many guards walked which perimeters at what time, and so on. Once I had it down, I scaled the castle walls until I found an open window that I could slip through.

The window appeared to lead to a kitchen. My inhuman sense of smell could tell something had been burnt earlier that day. They must have opened a window to waft out the smell and forgot to close it. Once in, I made my way through the halls, hiding in the shadows as guards passed.

The castle was like a damned maze, and I had to find the princess’s bedroom before the sun rose. After over an hour of searching, I began to smell a new scent – something that seemed sweet, delicate and…familiar. I followed it, more out of my own curiosity than anything. I scaled the twisted steps towards the top of the castle and was lucky to find that the scent led to her bedchambers. I knew it was hers because multiple guards were posted at its door. Of fucking course. I hoped I was lucky enough that her bedroom had a window I could get to from the outside.

That would end up taking another hour of searching. I went back out the kitchen window to scale the castle walls from the outside, shifting my nails into claws to dig into the castle stone. I checked window after window, room after room. There were so fucking many of them. But finally, I began to smell that sweet scent again, coming from high above me on the east side of the castle. I saw the window it had to be coming from, the one near the top of the tower, and climbed towards the strange, intoxicating scent. Whatever she had in there smelled immaculate.

I scaled the walls higher, propelling upwards with strength and speed no human could replicate. The scent grew stronger as I got closer to her window, and I was eager to figure out what it was. To my surprise, her window was cracked open slightly and I gently pushed it open further so I could enter. I finally made my way into her bedroom which was barely lit by a few candles. I didn’t need them, as my lycan eyes had the ability to see in the dark. I saw her form asleep under her covers, her face covered as she tossed and turned like she was having a nightmare.

I could have made the kill right then and there so easily, but something about that scent was driving me fucking mad. I had to figure out what it was. I sniffed at the air, only to find the scent coming from her bed. Perhaps they washed her sheets with some sort of rare fragrance only a king could afford. That’s how delectable it was.

I stepped closer, my senses going wild, and I gently reached for her blanket. I pulled it to my nose, careful not to wake her. Hm. The scent was strong on the sheets, but that wasn’t the source. What the fuck could it be?

Dammit. Did it even matter? I was here to kill. Volund gave me weeks, but it only took me one – a few days to travel to Rimor then a few days to find and kill her. Maybe I should have waited longer, soaking in my freedom while I had the chance.

I looked down at her body. “Make her death clean and silent,” Volund had ordered. Those were my favorite kind of kills – when he wasn’t too specific. I could virtually kill her how I wanted, and make it quick and painless so the target didn’t have to suffer. Sometimes Volund’s demands were far more merciless.

Strangulation would take too long, and possibly alert the guards outside her door if she made any noise. A stab in the neck or heart would be quick and quiet, but would have too much blood. I decided I would have to break her neck. With my lycan strength, it would be easy to snap her delicate human bones, and there would be no blood. I just had to make sure I did it quickly while she slept.

I stepped over to the edge of the bed where she continued to toss and turn under the covers. Maybe it wouldn’t be easy after all. Did she always sleep this restlessly? I reached my hand to pull the covers down so I could see the fragile neck that I was about to snap. As I pulled the blanket off her face, I was hit with unimaginable grief.

As I saw her face for the first time, I watched in horror as small tendrils of golden energy began to swirl from my body into hers. It was like waves of silk made of gold, floating through the air, with rainbow hues reflecting in every direction. The waves flowed into her skin, her hair, her lips.

She was fucking beautiful. And that sweet scent I had been smelling began to overwhelm my senses. It was her. The intoxicating scent was her the whole time. And that’s when realization struck.

The magic that floated around us was undeniable. She was my fated mate.

I stumbled backwards, my back hitting the stone wall of her room. Fuck. FUCK . I…I couldn’t kill her. Could I?

I didn’t know what to fucking do. I tried to think for a moment.

I should just kill her – sever the bond before it began to set, then go back to my miserable life.

But then I would never get to know her. Never get to see why the gods chose her for me.

I took a step forward and stared at her, her brows furrowing like she was dreaming of something unsettling. My instinct to protect her, to calm her from her nightmare, immediately rose to the surface.

No , I growled in my own head. You need to kill her . But as I stared at her gorgeous features, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Shit. Volund gave me a few weeks, and it had only been one. I had time to decide. I didn’t have to do it tonight.

I realized I needed to leave quickly, before I let my emotions take over. I quietly strode over to the open window, and climbed onto the windowsill. I decided to look over to see her once more, but as I did so, she shot up in her bed, sweat lining her brow. My body stiffened. GO , I tried to tell myself. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t help but stare at her and the golden energy of the mating bond, only visible to me, that danced between us.

Then, she noticed me. I stared into her emerald-green eyes, unable to look away. But when she finally moved, darting down and reaching for something beneath her bed, I forced myself out the window and climbed down the castle wall as fast as I could. Then I ran. I ran back to the shitty little inn Volund barely gave me enough money to pay for. And I couldn’t sleep that night – only thinking of her.

Daylight came and went, but I still found myself frozen in the room at the inn, inner turmoil eating away at me every second. I couldn’t make up my mind. Kill her, or let her live? If I killed her, the job would be done, and Volund and his evil witch would force me back. Even if I went back willingly, I’d only be sent to my dungeon cell, chained to the wall for years until they needed my skills again.

But if I didn’t kill her…if I let her live…then what? Volund would still find and torture me for disobeying, then possibly find someone else to do his dirty work. She’d die anyway. Or maybe her father would keep her safe. Maybe there was a reason he was so overprotective of her. I was living proof of that.

I slept on it another night before I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to see her again. Maybe if I looked at her one more time, my mind would be set. If I decided to kill her, at least I knew I could make it quick and painless for her.

It didn’t take long to reach the castle. I attempted to force her beautiful face and sweet scent out of my mind, to no avail. When I arrived, I was shocked to see a silhouette of a woman scaling down the castle walls towards the ground. I recognized her immediately by that delectable smell of hers. Intrigue mixed with worry hit me as I watched her take slow, calculated moves to climb down the castle. Why was she sneaking out?

I observed her every move until she reached the ground. She must have been very strong to be able to scale that tower as a human. For me, it was effortless.

She was an easy target now, alone on castle grounds in the middle of the night. I could kill her now, and make it look like an accident. Like she tumbled out of her window. But…where was she going?

For the second time, curiosity got the better of me. I decided to follow her, interested in learning what the hell a princess would be doing sneaking out of her own castle.

I followed her to an old theater that appeared abandoned. The princess looked back every step of the way as if she sensed me, but I was quick to hide in the shadows. When we reached the theater, she entered through the front door, and I climbed up the back wall into a window on the upper floor.

I jumped onto the ceiling beams and walked to the ledge. There she stood, sparring with a man twice her size and maybe twice her age. I held back a growl, seeing the man as an immediate threat, only to quickly learn that she was familiar with him. Friendly, even. “Uncle,” she called him.

My overprotective rage subsided. I watched them spar for hours, the uncle teaching her new things along the way. She was sneaking out to train.

Something like pride hit me, and I immediately forced it down. No. She was a target. I could not have any feelings towards her other than that. But I found myself watching every move she made, finding awe in her strength, her speed…and in the curves of her body.

Shit . I was fucked.

I forced myself out of the trance and left, but remained behind the building, their voices now too muffled to hear through the thick walls, even with my advanced hearing. But before long, it sounded like they were getting into an argument. When the princess left, I could practically feel her anger seething in her. I followed her back to the castle, the instinct to protect her overpowering my thoughts. By the time she scaled the tower back up to her bedroom, I realized that, once again, I hadn’t killed her. And in that moment, I knew I couldn’t fucking do it.

Another night went by and I found myself still in Rimor, still trying to come up with a plan. I couldn’t kill her, I was certain of that now. But if I didn’t, Volund would have her killed somehow, and I couldn’t protect her – not when he could always find me.

Maybe if I could find a way to kill Volund, the princess would be safe. I could go back to Sprath, and lie to the king by telling him she was dead. Then before he drugged me with wolfsbane, I could claw out his fucking throat. Then Sarai would more than likely kill me. But that was fine. It was worth it, if it meant the princess remained alive. Maybe we weren’t destined to be together. Maybe I was destined to protect her, and that was the only reason the gods created the mating bond between us.

I had made up my mind. Kill Volund and die in the process. I had certainly lived long enough. It would be a valiant death for me, to die after removing scum like him from the realm of the living. He had no heirs to take his place that I knew of, and whoever took over would have no lycan to do their bidding because I would be dead. Maybe Sarai would finally be free of her bargain, or whatever the hell was keeping her tethered to Sprath.

Before I left Rimor to head for my death, I decided I needed a stiff fucking drink. I headed down a number of blocks to an old, dusty alehouse called the Cracked Hoof. I ordered an ale and made my way to the back of the building to sit alone, away from the loud, smelly patrons.

The stench of the place was absolutely rancid, and I cursed my lycan sense of smell. But then, something glorious broke through that stench. Something sweet and floral and delectable.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me , I thought. She was here. I knew it immediately.

She walked in, and with all the chatter of the patrons, I had to tune my hearing to focus on what she was saying to the barkeep. She was asking about the Forest of Torment, which is what the humans called Zolmara these days.

Why the fuck would she want to go there? And why was she desperate enough to come to a place like this to find someone to take her?

I became distracted when I heard one man who sat near me say to his equally disgusting friends, “Look at that pretty little thing,” before standing up and heading towards her.

I watched her face turn to pure disgust as the man talked to her. Then, when he grabbed for her breasts, it took everything in me not to jump from my seat and shred him to fucking pieces. But the princess held her own, knocking the man to the ground with force before holding a dagger to his throat. She didn’t need me. She could take care of herself. Admiration boiled in my gut.

The princess left, taking the man’s dignity with her, and he stumbled back to the table near me, his friends in tow. He leaned on the table and stared towards the door. “That little cunt will fucking pay,” he seethed. “Grab your weapons and follow her.”

One oaf picked up a knife that was on the table, and the other a hatchet. “I’m going to make her scream,” the leader said, face still red from anger. My own anger boiled inside.

They weren’t going to fucking touch her .

I slowly stood and subtly followed the men out the door, hiding in the shadows like I did best.

The three men made their way to her, and I watched as the princess held her ground, not an ounce of fear marking her features. She was brave. The three men stepped towards her, but I couldn’t dare let them get any closer .

“The lady asked you to leave her alone,” I said, attempting to mask the pure rage I was feeling. I easily defeated the three of them – careful not to kill them, as much as I wanted to. But I didn’t want to scare her away.

Or did I? I should have kept her far away from me. I should have scared her off so she would never want to see me again. But instead, I agreed to take her to fucking Zolmara. I don’t know why I offered. Something about her trying to make the journey on her own put me on edge. She would never make it to the abandoned city alive. No human could, if the rumors were true.

It had been centuries since I left Zolmara. Although abandoned now, the princess seemed dead set on getting there for gods knew why. Before it was abandoned, witches put wards and spells on it to keep others out, protecting any secrets of our immortal way of life that may have remained inside.

I agreed to take her, not just to see my old home, but to make sure the princess was safe. She offered me money. I would have gone for free, but she couldn’t know that. I asked for an absurd amount, thinking she would bargain, but she actually accepted. And that was that. I would take the princess to my old home.

Aura. That was the name she gave me, although I knew her true name to be Aurelia. But I liked Aura. It tasted sweet on my tongue.

When we shook hands just before separating for the night, another piece of the mating bond clicked into place immediately. Hot, wild energy jolted into my hand as I touched her skin for the first time. I held my breath and pretended I felt nothing, when in reality the pleasure of her touch could have put me over the fucking edge.

I spent that night contemplating my decision to escort her to my forgotten home. I should have just left Rimor and stuck with my original plan to kill Volund and likely die at the hands of his witch. But then, an idea struck .

What if I could break through the wards the witches put over Zolmara and use them to my advantage – keep Sarai from being able to find me. From finding Aura. If the wards around Zolmara kept humans out, maybe they blocked out other spells too.

It was worth a shot. And on the way there, I could ensure Aura was safe. I went to sleep that night with hope in my heart for the first time in centuries.

We began our journey with my only intention being to get to Zolmara and keep her safe. She wouldn’t tell me why she wanted to go there, but I didn’t pry, for fear that she’d start prying for information from me. She did that anyway, with her incessant questions. She was stubborn. But I adored it.

Shit. I didn’t want to fall for her. I decided the only reason the mating bond was there was so that my instinct would be to protect her. When this was all over, we could part – gods be damned. I didn’t deserve love. Fuck the gods for trying.

But slowly yet surely…I fucking fell for her, against everything in me trying not to. I noticed more pieces of the mating bond slowly fall into place overtime. I first realized I could sense her emotions when she saw the stars. She told me she always wanted to see them, unmuted by the pollution of city lights. So I tricked her into filling my canteen, knowing full well there was a clearing less than two hundred feet away where she could see the night sky in all its glory.

I don’t know why I did that. But…I was glad that I did. Her emotions were so strong when she saw the stars, I could feel it through the bond – pure happiness and innocence. Pure bliss. I couldn’t help but smile, soaking in her emotions as if they were my own.

Then, I noticed I could feel her pain, although a lessened version. When she slipped in Rebellia River, I felt every slam into the rocky bottom, and every burning sensation as her lungs begged for air. That was the first time I shifted around her – the only way I could reach her was to go full-wolf and follow her along the river. I saved her just in time, my own lungs feeling relief as she took that gasp of air. But she had seen me in my wolf form. I lied through my teeth, swallowing the guilt I felt that she probably thought she was going crazy.

I carried her back to our packs, her body so light and delicate in my arms. The energy from the mating bond poured into my skin, and that was the first time I had to stop myself from kissing her.

Fuck the bond.

By the time we got back to our packs, I could already see the bruises forming all over her arms, and I felt responsible. I should have just carried her across the river. I should have found another route. I should have…I should have let her stay in Rimor where she was safe. What the fuck was I doing? Was it too late to go back? Then, she thanked me for saving her and fucking hit me with, “You’re a good person.”

“No,” I said, although it came out as more of a growl as the wolf inside began to resurface. I pushed it back down. I was not a good person. I had done horrible things to innocent people – hundreds of years and dozens of death by my own hands, following orders of corrupt kings just so I could get my own brief taste of freedom. I was selfish. I was evil. I didn’t deserve love. I knew it, and she had to know it too. But before I could tell her, a scream broke through the trees.

We found the sisters in a clearing, the younger one dying from poison. Aura did everything in her power to help complete strangers. She was everything I wasn’t – good, pure, selfless.

Fuck. No. There went that admiration again, igniting my feelings for her. This wasn’t love. This was just the bond. I had to ignore it as best I could.

Aura saved the younger sister’s life like the extraordinary person she was. And she somehow convinced me to take them to Chatus, against my better judgement. But I couldn’t say no to her, her beautiful green eyes filled with determination. She was strong, beautiful, stubborn – probably as equally as I was. So we took them, barely escaping being caught by her own father’s soldiers.

When I thought we were in the clear, I sensed terror coming from Aura. I ran to her only to find her being held by a soldier she called Horus. We fought – the soldier being more skilled of a fighter than any other human I had ever sparred with. If I were human as well, he likely would have bested me. And because I hadn’t noticed him grab for his sword, he would have bested me with his blade if it had been made of silver and if Aura wasn’t there. Instead, it was steel, and any wounds would have healed within seconds. But Aura didn’t know that. She fucking jumped in front of it to save me.

My own arm burned as I felt a numbed version of her pain where she had been slashed. She tried to save my life. No one had ever shown me such kindness, not in hundreds of years. I stopped everything to help her, and Horus let us go – or at least, gave us a head start. He warned me, demanded me to protect her at all costs.

“Always,” I answered without even thinking. And I meant it. Against everything I told myself, I couldn’t stop myself from falling for her. The mating bond was strengthening with every passing day we spent together. It was giving me feelings I couldn’t have. Someone as pure as Aura could not be with someone like me. Gods be damned.

But the next few days went by, and I found myself falling…hard. Fuck. She wasn’t just beautiful and strong. She was funny, smart, kind… I had never met anyone like her, not in my five hundred-something years of life. I lost track. Even before I was forced to work for the Sprathian kings, before Zolmara had fallen, no one from my life compared to Aura.

On a night after a long day of me training her to better her fighting skills, we were making camp when a familiar ringing in my ears began. I wondered if Aura heard it too. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was too quiet for a human to hear, and what wasn’t. The ringing noise was Sarai, calling to me from the water. It had rained heavily the night before, and I couldn’t avoid the many puddles that pooled throughout the woods.

Fuck . She was checking in for the first time on this assignment-gone-wrong. It made sense since I had been gone for over two weeks at that point, with no word.

I excused myself, knowing full well Aura sensed something was off. But I couldn’t let Sarai see me with her. I walked off in the distance, following the ringing sound that echoed off the trees. Once I felt I was far enough from Aura, I bent down to face one of the many large puddles. Within a moment, my own reflection was replaced with Sarai’s face.

“There you are,” she spat. “I was expecting to find you in Rimor when I scried for you.” Scrying was a type of spell witches could use to locate anyone or anything. “But you’re in the middle of the forest, nowhere near the Stone City,” she added. “Trying to escape again, dog?”

Shit . I couldn’t let her think I was trying to escape or she would tell Volund and he would send his guards after me. Then they’d find me with Aura. And they’d kill her.

“I am not escaping, I am tracking the target,” I said quickly.

“Why the hell is the princess so far from Rimor? Why haven’t you kill her?” Her voice reminded me of a serpent – hissy and lethal.

“The princess escaped from Rimor before I could complete the job,” I said. It wasn’t necessarily a lie. “I’ve been tracking her.”

“You should have easily caught up with her with your abilities, dog.” She and Volund used that insult a lot. “A lycan such as yourself should have quickly found her and killed her by now.”

“She’s not alone.” Also not a lie.

“The king says you have one week left to make the kill, or we’re dragging you back to your cell for some fun.” She smiled wickedly. By fun, she certainly meant torture.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Kill. Her.” The demand was slow and daunting.

“I will,” I growled. “I just need more time.”

“You have one week.” Then with that, Sarai’s face disappeared. As soon as it did, I heard a twig snap and smelled Aura’s sweet, intoxicating scent. I whirled around and came up on her, angry that she followed me. No, not angry at her. Angry at the situation. I was so quick, I made her jump – then I cursed myself for using my inhuman speed in front of her.

Somehow, I convinced her I was just talking to myself, but I wasn’t sure she fully believed me. As we walked back to camp, I tried to come up with a new plan. Sarai and Volund were becoming impatient, and Sarai certainly sensed something was amiss. It was likely they would figure out what was going on before we made it to Zolmara.

I thought about where we were located, and realized Monuvia wasn’t far. After Zolmara fell, I had heard rumors that some witches may have fled to the City of Streams. If I was lucky enough for that to be true, maybe I could enlist a witch’s help to shield me from Sarai’s scrying spells. Or at the very least, shield Aura. I never tried this before, unsure of how a witch would react to a lycan. It had been centuries since the rebellion… But I had to try. For Aura’s sake.

Aura reluctantly agreed to go to Monuvia, and we made it to the City of Streams within a few days. When we arrived, Aura decided to partake in some sort of ceremony they were having. I watched her dance all night, completely entranced by the way she moved her hips. I tried to force the lust deep down, but I couldn’t help it. She was so gods-damned beautiful. Everything about her screamed at me to take her as my own. To make love to her until she screamed my name. But I couldn’t.

She smiled and laughed with the Monuvians and accepted their drinks, slowly becoming intoxicated. And that night, we shared a bed. I should have said no, knowing full well that I wanted to claim her – wanted to set the mating bond. She smelled sweet and exquisite, and the energy that poured from her skin into mine made my pants tighten. It was addicting.

When she reached up and brushed her hand on my cheek, the beast inside nearly forced himself to the surface. I wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off and claim her right then and there. I wanted to feel every inch of her. I wanted to hear her moan my name. I wanted to bring her to climax again and again, feeling her pleasure as my own. It took every restraint – every fiber of my being – to fight that hunger.

NO . I might have said it out loud as I jumped out of bed. I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t set the bond. I didn’t deserve her.

“You can’t…you can’t do that to me.” I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, so accusatory. But one more touch from her would have sent me over the edge. I would take her as my own, feeling every bit inside of her, fucking her again and again until the fucking sun came up. I would have stopped if she asked, of course, but she was drunk and I wasn’t sure that she would. I couldn’t take advantage of her. I couldn’t do any of this.

The sorrow on her face broke me. But I knew I was doing the right thing. I couldn’t. Fucking. Have her.

I was thankful that the next day she played it off like nothing happened. We went to multiple shops around the city, including an apothecary where I stocked up excessively on bandages and medicines. Aura’s arm still hadn’t completely healed from Horus’s sword, and she even still had bruises from the river. If something happened again, I wanted to have the necessary tools to help her. I didn’t know much about healing, but the apothecary labeled the medicines well. I’d figure it out.

We decided to split up so I could shop for clothes, then we would meet up at a weapons shop nearby. When I entered the Flaming Point, I heard Aura talking with a familiar sounding woman who smelled like… witch . My hairs stood up as I was expecting the worst. If it was Sarai, we were done for. I moved quickly over to her, ready to fight to the death for her, when my eyes were met with a familiar face.

Trybe – a witch from Zolmara, and a very, very old friend of mine. We went to school together as children, she and I being right around the same age. As adults, we remained close friends, and on one drunken night we even slept together. We both had regrets, not for the action itself but because we didn’t want our friendship to be altered. But pretty quickly, we realized neither of us had romantic feelings for each other and nothing ever came of it other than one night of fun.

“Besides,” she had said with a grin all those centuries ago. “There’s still a chance you could find your fated mate someday. I couldn’t possibly get in the way of that.”

I had scoffed at her. Fated mates weren’t common, but also not entirely rare, with maybe one in every dozen or so lycan finding their mate.

My mind snapped back to the present when Trybe gasped my name. I heaved a sigh of relief, but I felt a slight emotion from Aura I didn’t recognize. Was it…jealousy?

Trybe distracted me from dissecting it further as she pulled me into a tight embrace. Aura reluctantly left so we could catch up, but I could sense her sorrow as she stepped out of the shop.

Once we were in the clear, Trybe squeezed my hand tightly and wiped away her tears with the other. “Elias, what the hell happened to you? We all thought you were dead.”

“I know…” I replied, squeezing my old friend’s hand back gently. “I fled to Sprath, hoping to find safety, but many of the humans there feared me. When word spread that a lycan was in their midst, I was ambushed by the king’s men and taken to him. He enslaved me. Tortured me. Forced me to work for him. At the time, I never knew humans could be so…cruel. I’ve been working for his descendants against my will ever since.”

“Gods,” she whispered. “By working for them, you mean doing what exactly?”

And I explained everything. Everything from becoming their assassin, to their constant torture, all the way to finding Aura – my target – and realizing she was my mate. Then up to the point when we arrived to Monuvia. Trybe listened without interruption, her eyes wide with surprise.

“I took us here in hopes of finding a witch. And here you are.”

Trybe half-smiled. “Here I am,” she replied. “There aren’t a lot of other witches here, Elias. And the ones that are may not want to help you. They want nothing to do with our old life. A reminder like you could bring back old, terrible memories.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t blame them,” I stated simply.

“And no one wants to be on Sarai’s bad side. She is one powerful witch. Even I can’t match her.” Trybe furrowed her brow in worry. “But…I’ll see what I can do to help you.”

I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Maybe if you come with us to Zolmara…”

“No.” She interrupted flatly. “I’m sorry, Elias. I can’t go back there. ”

I paused. I should have known that. I shouldn’t have suggested it. “I know. You’re right.”

“But I will try to help. I promise. I can try to whip something up for protection.” She sounded hopeful.

I dipped my head. “I would be forever in your debt. And if you only have enough power to make something that protects one of us, you give it to Aura. Do you understand?”

Trybe paused for a moment. “You love her, don’t you?”

My body tensed. I hadn’t heard it said out loud before, but I couldn’t deny it. “Yes,” I replied. I had no other words.

Trybe smiled widely. “I’m happy for you. You deserve love, Elias.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I wholeheartedly disagreed.

We stayed together for most of the day, reminiscing about our time as children, focusing on good memories instead of the bad. Then we went to a pub for ale and food, continuing the important earlier conversation, when we ran into Aura. She seemed flustered at first, but then quickly grew excited at the mention of archery.

That next morning, we unexpectedly ran into Prince Maksym. The absolute possessiveness I felt over Aura when she seemed awfully familiar with the prince made my wolf begin to surface. It wasn’t until I learned the prince was not interested in her for his own reasons, that the wolf relaxed.

I needed to calm myself. She was not mine. She didn’t belong to me. The mating bond was not set, and she deserved happiness with someone who deserved her – if someone like that could possibly even exist.

It was when we met back up with the Monuvian Prince that Aura revealed her true reasoning for going to Zolmara. She had a dream about a wolf. Me . There was no doubt in my mind that the giant dark wolf that hunted her was me. It was fitting, as that was exactly what I was supposed to do. Hunt her .

Then she explained how her dream led her to a mysterious book. She let me look at it, and I immediately recognized the language of the witches written on its old pages. No one but a witch would be able to decipher those words. But the pictures were no doubt of Zolmara and its immortal people.

Before we left the kingdom, we met with Trybe one last time. She gave Aura a necklace with magical properties. As I predicted, she used a decent amount of her own magic to enchant it, with nothing left in her reserves and not enough time to make something for me. I didn’t care. What was important was that Aura had something to keep her safe, and I would never be able to repay Trybe for that. For helping protect my mate.

As she put it around Aura’s neck, I saw her chanting something in a language only a witch could speak or understand, and I knew she was putting a spell on the chain too, likely to keep it from breaking.

Aura was so confused about the properties of the necklace, no doubt thinking Trybe was crazy. It almost made me laugh.

The night we left Monuvia, we made camp in the forest, and I was thrown off when Aura started bombarding me with questions and accusations.

“One minute, you say you won’t abandon me. You say I don’t owe you anything. Then the next minute, you say you’re only continuing for the money. Which is it, Elias?” The tension in her tone made my body stiffen. I could feel her intense emotions filtering through me, even though they were muted by our unset bond.

She was right, though. I had tried to hide my feelings for her, lying about this just being a business deal. But sometimes my true feelings would surface, and I couldn’t stop them. No wonder she was confused.

Then, my biggest dream and worst nightmare simultaneously came to life when she said, “I think I might be falling in love with you. ”

I don’t think I had ever stood so still before, my body refusing to move. She couldn’t love me. She couldn’t be with me. I was wicked. I was a vile creature. She deserved so much better than me. I could not destroy her life by letting her fall in love with me. As soon as she found out what I was – what I had done to all those innocent people over the centuries – she would run for the fucking hills. I had to stop this now.

When she fell asleep, I scouted the area to ensure she was safe. Then I set up tracks, starting a mile or two in the direction of Monuvia and leading to her location, but not so close that she would see them. Occasional boot prints in the mud, broken branches here and there – it was just subtle enough that an experienced Monuvian Scout would take notice, but not too obvious that anyone could find her. She would be safe, so long as there were no enemies in the area. I did another search and found no one.

Then I left. I fucking ran. I shifted into my wolf so I could get farther, faster. I needed to breathe. To think. To get away from her before our feelings went too far and I doomed her. When the scouts would find her, she’d be taken back to her father. She would never forgive me, but at least she would live. Whatever happened to me – torture, death… None of it mattered as long as she was safe.

I ran on all fours until the sun came up, unsure of how much distance I created between me and my mate – tens of miles, at least. I shifted back to human form and sat at the edge of a rocky cliffside, finally catching my breath. Even from that distance, I felt Aura’s sorrow as she awoke and realized I was gone. I tried to push it down and ignore it. She was safer without me. She could go back to her life as if she never knew me. I was a terrible choice for her. Fuck what the gods wanted.

Hours went by, and I continued to try to dull her emotions that swirled inside me. I was surprised that I could feel them from this distance, but the mating bond worked in mysterious ways. As the day went on, I didn’t move from where I sat. I felt like I was mourning her even though she was not mine to lose.

Then a sudden sharp pain hit my temple. I grabbed at the side of my head, wondering what hit me, when I realized…it wasn’t me that was hit. It was Aura.

“ No! ” I screamed aloud, causing birds to scatter through the trees. Someone or something hit Aura over the side of the head. A Monuvian Scout wouldn’t be so stupid as to even think of hurting the princess. No, this was something malicious. And suddenly I couldn’t feel her anymore. Was she unconscious, or dead? She couldn’t be dead, I would be able to sense that, even with the mating bond not fully set.

Immediately, I shifted back to my wolf and sprinted back to where I left her. I’m coming, Aura , I thought, guilt and worry overpowering my senses. If something happened to her…gods, I would never forgive myself. Why the fuck did I just leave her there, in the middle of the fucking woods? Of course she was too stubborn to head back home. And I should have known there was a chance the scouts wouldn’t find her. She was strong, smart, and resourceful. I should have realized how far she would have gone on her own – how she’d hide her tracks as well as I taught her.

But someone else found her. My heart sank at the thought of it being Volund or Sarai or anyone equally as dangerous and evil.

Fear and guilt continued to eat away at me as I ran as fast as I fucking could, ignoring how tired I was. I had never ran so fast in my fucking life, wolf or human form. When I finally reached where I had left her, I immediately picked up on her scent. Even though hours went by, I could still smell that sweet, breathtaking aroma.

I followed it while in wolf-form, knowing my speed and sense of smell were even greater when I was wolf. Soon, I found myself at a lake where other human smells began to mix with hers. I sniffed at the ground, my snout brushing against the rocky shore. Then I found her pack, hidden behind a bush with her bow and quiver – and feet from that, her blood.

No. Gods no, what have I done?! I followed the strange scents that entangled with hers. She was conscious now, and I felt her pain, again and again. Something kicked her in the stomach. Then I felt another sharp pain in her temple. I growled ferociously as I ran, birds scattering in all directions. Whoever it was, I would fucking kill them.

Before nightfall, I found two men scouting the woods, her scent all over them. I stopped and watched them from a distance, not seeing Aura with either of them. But before I could make another move, I sensed an intense fear like I had never felt. And it wasn’t mine. It was Aura’s. Something was about to happen to her.

I howled, causing the two men in my sight to whirl in my direction, weapons unsheathed. I didn’t hesitate. I ran for the larger one, and ripped him to fucking shreds without a second thought, his blood and flesh filling my mouth. The other screamed for him, but I took him down within seconds too. Their deaths weren’t pretty, but they were quick.

More of Aura’s fear shot through me, and I darted towards her scent. Within moments, I found myself at the edge of some sort of bandit camp. And there she was, tied to a tree by her wrists and ankles, blood all over her.

I went fucking feral. I looked around and found a man, blood also all over him, standing at the center of camp with a knife raised as he looked in my general direction. He must have seen me because he quickly turned and ran.

There was no second thought. I lunged for him, ripping him apart like I did the other two. I felt a stinging slice go through me, and I may have yelped, but I wasn’t sure. I kept going, making sure the man I tore apart was nowhere near recognizable when I was done with him.

I finally forced myself to stop, realizing Aura was still in front of me. Fuck. How much did she see? What would she think of a giant wolf killing her captors? What would she think when she realized that that giant wolf was me ? It didn’t fucking matter. I had to get her down. I shifted back to my human form and pulled the knife I recognized as hers from the bandit’s dead fingers. When I reached Aura, she was in and out of consciousness and covered in blood. Maybe she didn’t see anything after all.

I cut her down with her own knife and carried her away, running through the woods at a speed no human could run. I didn’t care. I needed to get her far away, and safe, in case more bandits came back.

I would never fucking forgive myself for this. This happened because I left. Because I was so fucking selfish and needed time to think. Gods. Guilt ripped at my soul so hard, I thought I would be the next to go unconscious.

It wasn’t until Aura awoke and pointed out my wound that I realized I was actually hurt, bleeding deeply from my abdomen. The last bandit must have sliced me with Aura’s knife.

“Silver,” she told me when I asked what it was made of. Fucking hell. Silver. The one metal that could actually kill me.

Although Aura was the one who suffered at the hands of the bandits throughout the day, she insisted on tending to my wound. Even though she was nearly killed, she was worried about me. I couldn’t fathom it. She was the most selfless person I had ever met. I didn’t fucking deserve her.

My body tensed when she asked if I killed them. I couldn’t lie to her. “I’d kill a thousand men if it meant saving you,” I told her. And I meant every fucking word .

I stepped closer, unable to hide my feelings any longer. I couldn’t control myself, couldn’t stop myself from kissing the woman I loved. And that kiss…gods, that kiss.

Ecstasy coursed through every vein in my body with pleasure I had never felt before. I ran my hands over her body, relishing in the feel of her against me, my pants immediately tightening. I wanted more of her. All of her. I wanted to devour her.

But I couldn’t. It would set the bond she didn’t even know existed. It wouldn’t be fair to her.

So I pulled away before promising her I would never let anyone hurt her again, and I meant it. She was mine now. The bond still wasn’t set, but she was mine nonetheless. Nothing and no one could take her away from me.

Soon, we made our way to the Shadow Peak Mountains – our last obstacle before it was a straight shot to Zolmara. But it didn’t have to stop at Zolmara. I would go to the ends of the earth for this woman. If she wanted a future with me, she had me. But if I told her what I was and if…if she wanted to run… I would let her. But for now, I would soak in every second I had with her. Every touch. Every kiss.

As we climbed the mountain, I learned that Aura felt the same energy when we touched that I did. I was in complete shock. Only lycans can see and feel the mating bond, I thought. It wasn’t uncommon for them to mate with other immortals, or even humans, but I had no idea the non-lycan mate could also feel bits and pieces of the bond.

That night, we kissed again. If I spent every day of the rest of my life kissing this woman, I would be unstoppable. The joy and ecstasy it brought was unmatched. Her beautiful lips were supple and perfect, and she tasted as sweet as she smelled. It took everything in my being not to rip the clothes from her body, the wolf begging me to set the mating bond in place for good.

But I couldn’t do that to her. I couldn’t permanently set a bond that she didn’t even know existed, without her consent. So I told her no, despite her wanting to move further. I wanted it too, more than anything. But my need to protect her, and my respect for her, vastly outpowered my lust for her. She deserved better.

I was terrified to reveal my identity to her. Terrified that she would leave, which she would have every right to do after learning what I’d done. I should have told her sooner, but…I wanted to relish every second I had with her first, should she decide she no longer wanted me after learning the truth. I was selfish in this, I knew. But I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t sure I’d survive without her.

When we reached the bottom of the mountain, and Aura shot and killed her first deer with her bow, I felt a tinge of sadness and guilt in her. This made me uncomfortable, knowing I had killed a hundred people myself. To me, it only fortified the thought that she would leave after learning about my past. But this only reminded me that she truly deserved better.

Fuck, why was this so difficult? Stay with her. Let her leave. Stay with her. Let her leave. Equal parts selfish and selfless. I wanted both. It was driving me mad.

I fought with her, subtly trying to see how much convincing it would take to get her to change her mind about me. She saw me as someone good, someone pure. I was far from it. I had killed a hundred people and she felt guilty for killing a deer.

For the first time since I met her, I told her a truth I hadn’t been expecting to share. “I’m afraid that if you knew more about me…about the things I’ve done…that you won’t feel the same way about me as you do now.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Elias,” she responded. “Your past doesn’t scare me.”

It should. She might change her mind when I tell her the whole story.

So I decided. That very night, I would tell her. I just needed time to collect myself.

She sent me away to get some space, and I was grateful for her trust. My beautiful, strong, intelligent, extraordinary mate. It was finally time to put it all to the test – to see if the gods were right to bring us together.

I took her canteen and walked to a stream to fill it, collecting my thoughts and wondering where I should even fucking start. But when I looked down, I noticed a small pool had formed between a circle of rocks in the stream. I looked at it and saw Sarai’s reflection – a smug, wicked smile on her face.

Oh gods, no. Aura . I felt a sudden sharp sense of fear that wasn’t my own, but hers. I turned and darted back to her.

Sarai had found us. And Volund came to fetch me himself. He revealed everything to her. Who I was, what I was meant to do to her – and he even figured out that she was my mate. And then he proved it all by stabbing me with a steel blade, knowing I would instantly heal. Aura’s face turned white and I felt the fear that crept through her. There was no way she would forgive me.

When Volund threatened her life – threatened to torture her – I fucking lost it, and lunged for him. But as always, he brought a handful of skilled warriors to fetch me, armed with blades laced with wolfsbane.

I tried everything in my power to protect Aura. But when wolfsbane enters my bloodstream, like from a stab wound, it moves very quickly. I failed her. I promised her I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, and I failed her.

Falling to the ground, immense pain overloaded my senses as the poison seeped in. It might have even been enough to kill me this time. I nearly blacked out when a flash of light forced my eyes open. Aura had used the stone given to her by Trybe, and the enemies around us froze like statues.

Thank the gods for Trybe. Aura now had a chance to flee – a chance to live. Volund would take me back if I didn’t die from the wolfsbane, and Aura could get home and live a normal life.

But…she didn’t flee. She came up to me, and I begged her to run.

“I’m not leaving you,” she shrieked, her beautiful, emerald eyes filled with fear. Fuck. She was so gods-damned selfless. For once, she needed to think of herself and get to safety.

I pleaded with her through blurred vision and searing pain, the poison creeping through my veins and burning like fire. “Aura, please. You can escape. You can live.”

But my selfless mate would not listen. And I was in no state to challenge her. I directed her to head northeast before blacking out completely.

I awoke to find myself lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. When I looked around, I saw Aura, sitting in a chair next to the bed, her gaze fixed on me.

Gods…we were alive. Somehow, someway, she fucking saved us. Saved me .

“Aura…” I whispered, but her expression remained hard and focused.

“You lied to me.” The disappointment mixed with desperation that laced her voice could have shattered me into a million pieces. I had completely failed her. And yet here I was, still alive because of her.

I tried to sit up, but only made it halfway, propping myself up on my elbows. The poison was still very much in my system. I looked at her, too many emotions to decipher taking over her features.

“Please. Let me explain.”

She straightened her posture – my beautiful, tenacious princess. “Then explain,” she demanded.

So I did. I explained. I explained everything .