5. Kye

Chapter 5

Kye

I t's getting harder and harder to stay away from Apryle, to give her the space she demands. I watch her every moment I can. Over the past few days, I've observed her while keeping my distance, but I want to be there for her, especially since I've noticed she doesn't have much sense of self-preservation—a concerning trait to have, considering we're at war.

I've never cared about protecting anyone before, but she has me on tenterhooks every moment that passes without me by her side.

As I enter the main hall, as usual, Apryle's scent fills my nose, and my gaze snaps around the room, searching for her. I expect to see her sitting at one of the tables with her coven, or even with the males from her group, but she's with Callum, Beck, and a few of the others, including Archie and Ayden, on the far side of the room.

She's wearing dark combat pants and a high-necked, long-sleeved shirt that clings to every inch of her body in a tantalizing way. I'm not sure if she knows how tempting she is, and I know I shouldn't look, but my gaze is drawn to the gentle slopes of her breasts.

Fuck me. My cock twitches in my pants—until I notice she's strapping knives to her body.

It takes my mind a moment to understand what is happening. The bags, the weapons, the fact that everyone is dressed in black—Callum is preparing to send a party out and Apryle is going with them.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

Fear erupts inside me, turning into anger. My nostrils flare as I curse her out in my mind. My little mate is capable, but purposely putting herself in danger scares the crap out of me. She won't be careful, and no one else will have her back the same way I would.

I charge across the room, trying not to unleash the fury folding through me as I come to stand at Apryle's side. I can tell she knows I'm there. She can definitely sense my emotional state too. I don't know how to stop that from coming through our bond.

Her shoulders stiffen, and she refuses to acknowledge me as she secures a wicked-looking Bowie knife to the sheath at her waist. Despite her irritation through our bond, she unconsciously drifts toward me, soothing my wolf whether she realizes she's doing it or not.

"I was just going to send someone to find you," Callum says, clearly not sensing the danger emanating from me. "I got word of a group of hunters patrolling a town near here. You up for taking them down?"

Normally, it wouldn't even be a question. I have never feared my mortality and the possibility that one of these missions could end my life, but then I never had a mate before.

Apryle, who was so easily overpowered by Beck, wants to go out and fight hunters, trained soldiers who will kill her if she's lucky. If she's not, they'll capture her and use her to breed their little army.

Not. Happening.

I ignore Callum, looming over Apryle as I wait for her to look at me. When she doesn't, I grab her wrist, ignoring her squeal of protest as I pull her away from the group.

She tries to fight me, putting all her weight into her attempt to twist free, but when she can't, it just proves that she is not safe out there without me.

As soon as we are a distance away from the group, I let her go, and she shoves me hard in the chest, anger rippling across her face.

"What is wrong with you?"

I know I should be focused on defusing the situation, but instead, I get lost in trailing my gaze over the soft slope of her nose and the fullness of her mouth. There is a slight smattering of freckles on her cheeks that I didn't notice the last time we were together.

"Are you even listening to me, Kyson?"

I like her smart and sassy mouth. I wonder what it would taste like. Images of pushing her onto the ground and burying my dick into her tight heat fight against thoughts of parting her creamy thighs and licking every inch of her sweet cunt.

Her cheeks flush and I grin as her lips part so she can pant a little. I affect her, despite her denials.

"Stop thinking like that." She folds her arms over her chest.

"I can't. You're mine, Apryle. My wolf, my body—both want to claim you."

That heat on her face spreads through her thoughts, and I'm relieved my feelings are not one-sided. "I'm not an object, Kye."

"I don't see you as one, but you are my mate—just as I am yours. I know you don't really want to fight this, so why are you?"

Her mouth opens, then closes again, words failing her. "Don't analyze me."

I reach out, brushing a shorter piece of her hair that hasn't been secured in her tie from her face. In a second, I find that Bowie knife pressed against my throat.

Having a sharp object against a vital part of my body should worry me, but I'm more impressed by her speed.

"If you pull a weapon, you should be prepared to use it," I tell her.

Her teeth grind together. "What makes you think I'm not?"

To drive her point home, she presses the blade into the soft flesh under my jaw, and I smell the blood before I feel a drop roll down my throat.

"Why are you armed?" I don't mean it to come out as rough as it does, but I don't soften my tone either.

"Isn't that obvious? I'm going on the mission."

The growl that erupts from me is feral. Apryle's eyes flare wide, and she steps back, holding the knife in front of her. The terror reflecting back at me is not feigned or acted. She is scared. Her thoughts through our bond also mirror her body language, and that's what forces calm into me. She should never be afraid of me.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Right." She licks her lips but doesn't put the knife away.

"Apryle, I'll never hurt you."

"I want to believe that." But she doesn't. Images flash through the bond, a collective of confusing moments and imprints of her being held down.

What the fuck happened? And where can I find the fuckers who have caused her so much anxiety so I can tear their heads off?

It takes all my strength to keep from exploding at the realization someone hurt my mate. Calm is what is needed in this moment.

I can't make myself smaller, but I try to anyway. "We don't know each other very well, but I hope you can read my sincerity through our bond."

Her throat bobs, her gaze never leaving mine, as if she's scared I'll pounce if it does.

"I can, but I also feel your anger and your fear. It's not going to stop me from going."

Fuck. This is not an argument I want to be having with her.

"It's dangerous."

"So everyone should stay, right?"

"I don't care about anyone else. Only you."

That softens her eyes slightly. "It's nice that you do, but you don't get to tell me where I can and can't go."

"I'm your mate."

"Mate, not keeper."

I should be grateful that she's not denying our bond, but all I can focus on is the fact she's still determined to go.

The muscles in my face are wired so tight everything hurts. "It's dangerous, Apryle. If they catch you?—"

"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for a long time, and I don't need you to swoop in and act like some sort of knight in shining armor. In case you've forgotten, I have magic. I can do things you can't even imagine."

I try counting back from ten, but I only reach eight before my hand collars the back of her neck, the other disarming her of her knife. It's so easy. It scares the shit out of me knowing how unprepared she is. Apryle is strong in other ways, I can sense that, but physically she's no match for a wolf my size.

Her eyes blaze as she stiffens beneath my touch.

"Your power isn't going to protect you against the Order, Apryle. A few spells are no match for their strength."

"A few spells?" She scoffs at me. "I can step into people's dreams, Kye. I can blast you onto your ass right now without so much as breaking a sweat. I can level the entire compound with just a ‘few spells'."

She's pissed, and I don't blame her for that. It was a stupid thing to diminish her gifts, but fear for her safety makes my tongue loose.

"You don't speak to me for days, and now you're sneaking off on some suicide mission to fight an enemy that will do unspeakable things to you if they catch you. You don't want me as a mate, but there they will give you even less choice than this."

She hasn't moved out of my grasp, and I notice she's leaning into my touch as my thumb swipes over her skin. Her eyes are a little heavy and heated as I stroke her back and forth, over and over.

"You want me. You want this, Apryle, you're just scared. So am I."

Coming to her senses, she shakes herself and pulls away from me, leaving the knife in my hand. The determination in her expression is a fucking sight to see, and at any other time I would welcome it.

"I'm not sneaking off," she snaps. "I'm trying to be useful. This fight is all of ours, and if you think I'm going to sit on the sidelines and watch my friends get hurt to change the world for me, then you're wrong. I want my freedom too, Kye. Is that really difficult to understand?"

It's not, and I want to give her the space to explore all of these things, but the thought of her being hurt and me not being there to protect her makes my insides feel like they are on fire. "Good thing Callum wants me to come along too, then."

It's not what she expects me to say. I can tell by the way her mouth moves. Fuck, she looks beautiful even when she's building up to breathe fire at me. "I don't… I don't need you to come."

"Where you go, I go."

The scowl she gives me would melt the ice caps. Her fury doesn't please me, and maybe I am overreacting, but every instinct in my body tells me I have to be at her side.

"That's touching, but I don't want you with me."

"I wasn't asking for permission."

Her mouth flattens into a tight line. "You are so infuriating . Is this what our life is going to be like together? I put boundaries in place and you trample over them? Because I'm not doing years of this."

Hope flares in me that she is thinking of the years ahead of us. Does this mean she's coming around to the idea of our bond?

"There are no boundaries between mates."

This thing between us is not like a normal relationship and she needs to understand that. There is no give-and-take or compromise. There is only ownership. She owns me and I own her. We are two halves of the same soul. There is no need for space , yet she insists on things like boundaries and time to think.

What is there to think about?

"Well, I'm putting some in place, Kye. Starting with this. I don't need your permission to do anything and I'm sure as fuck not going to ask for it. Stay out of my business."

I step into her space, and she recoils, even as she tries to hold her ground and show her strength. I admire that.

"When you willingly put yourself in danger, your business is mine and I'll trample all over your boundaries to protect you. I would expect you to do the same if I were taking risks."

She throws her hands into the air as my eyes gravitate to her dark hair and to her high ponytail. All I can think about is wrapping my fingers around it as I pound into her pussy.

The glare she gives me suggests my thoughts wandered over into our bond again, not that I care if she knows what a depraved asshole I am when it comes to her.

"Do you ever stop thinking about sex with me?"

I pull her against me, our bodies molded to each other as if we were made to fit. The breath she sucks through her teeth morphs into a moan as our bodies react to each other's.

"I'll never stop thinking about claiming your sweet little cunt."

Despite her indignation, I smell her arousal, and my wolf howls his satisfaction.

"If you touch me, I'll cut your dick off." She delivers the threat with a believable amount of fire in her tone, but she can't hide how flushed her skin is or the wild look in her eyes.

"I've told you this before—when I take you, and I will take you, Apryle—I'll have you begging on your knees for my cock."

Her mouth parts slightly, her eyes widening at the crassness of my words. I like that I've shocked her. I want to do it again. With my other hand, I run the pad of my thumb over her plump, sweet lips, watching her breaths quicken.

"You are unbelievable," she whispers, but I don't think her words are a compliment.

It doesn't matter. She will come to me. I can already tell that her resolve to keep her distance is crumbling. But if she wants to keep playing this game, if keeping up this ruse that she is not a willing participant somehow helps her, I'll go along with it. For now.

"When it comes to you, I am," I agree.

"Let's get one thing straight. We may be mates, but I am not yours to do whatever you want with. I have my own mind, Kye. You are not going to hold me back, and you're not going to demand I behave the way you want me to. If you want a robot, then I'm not the mate for you. And if you keep bossing me around," she stabs a finger into my chest, a difficult feat considering how closely pressed together we are, "I'm going to lose my mind. I'm not a?—"

I don't hear whatever she's not because, using my grip on her neck, I pull her in for a scorching kiss. The moment our lips connect, it is like fireworks exploding inside my brain. Every inch of my body vibrates with desire and need. I feel alive in a way I didn't know was possible. It is as if I have been sleeping all these years and Apryle has awakened the real me.

I expect her to shove me back and give me a lashing with her words, but her lust swamps our mating bond. For all her protestations, she is as helpless as I am against the pull of her mate.

She lets out a little whimper as her body presses against mine, her hands slipping under my T-shirt to the bare skin of my back. Her touch lights a fire in every cell in my body, and when she grinds against my cock, I can't stop the growl from erupting from deep in my throat.

My little mate is going to be the death of me. Now that I've tasted her, there is no way in hell I'm allowing her to back off again.

I'm forced to break the kiss so I can draw in a breath. My lungs feel starved of oxygen and my chest is tight, as if it is being squeezed in a vise.

I drag in lungfuls of air as I rest my forehead against hers. The bond thrums and vibrates between us, this small act of intimacy adding another brick to the wall we are building around us.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she says quietly.

"You're wrong," I reply. "This is exactly what we should be doing."

She closes her eyes, and I feel her mixed emotions. "We are about to go into a war that we might not survive."

The thought of that is almost enough to send me over the edge. "Nothing is going to happen to you," I growl out. "I'll make sure of it."

"And what if something happens to you? Where does that leave me?" I take it as another victory that she cares what will become of her if I die. "We need to find someone to undo the bond. We need to go back to how things were before."

I don't want to go back to that. Before Apryle walked into my life, I had nothing and no one. I was empty, a shell, existing only to feed my vengeance.

Now I have the chance to create something meaningful, and I refuse to walk away from this. I can't understand why she would want to either.

"We're going into something dangerous, but you're safer with me at your side, and while that is the case, I'm not going anywhere."

"Do I get a say in this?"

"No."

She rolls her eyes before she tugs out of my grasp. I let her go, sensing she needs the distance and suspecting that if I push it, she'll only hurt herself trying to get free of me.

"I don't need an overbearing wolf breathing down my neck at every moment. And I'm not some damsel who needs saving. I don't want you watching my every move, waiting to save the day as if I can't handle myself. Do you have any idea how patronizing it is that you think this way?"

I don't give a fuck about being patronizing. My only concern is to keep her breathing, and I'll do that however I have to.

I don't like to be vulnerable, to open my wounds to her, but I need to give Apryle something. "I never thought for a single moment I would find a mate, let alone my fated mate. When I walked into this building, you were there. Suddenly, it was as if everything in my life made sense. I felt peace and calm like never before." I reach out, skimming my fingers over the point where a claiming mark would sit. Her skin is soft, almost like silk, and I want desperately to press my lips against her pulse, but I resist. She's not ready for that yet. "I will fight every step of the way for us if that's what you need, but I won't walk away, Apryle. I can't."

"We don't have to be together because magic dictates it. We have choices. The fact that bonds are created with magic means they can also be undone by the same power. Let me talk to my coven, maybe even Callum. We can change this. And then you can find someone who will love you and want you the way you deserve. Because that's not me, Kye. I can't love anyone."

I lift my lip into a snarl, disliking the way she is talking. What the fuck has happened to her that she can't love someone? "Don't test me and the lengths I will go to in order to keep you."