35. Chapter Thirty Five

Itrudge back down the mountain, my boots crunching in the snow as I make my way to where Nero sits with his back propped up against the trunk of a tree. The tips of his membranous wings catching the glint of moonlight. I shake my head as I think only weeks ago we were hunting down rogue shifters. Now look at us. Outcasts of the kingdom, hunted by my very own stepmother. A prince without a throne to call his own.

And with a shifter as his fated mate.

A deep tug pulls in my chest and I glance back towards the cave. Should I tell her? Does she suspect?

"Dragon got yer tongue, mate?" Nero drawls from the ground as he stretches his arms behind his head and casts his gaze to the sky. "Have you ever seen anything so majestic?"

"Haha, funny," I scoff, kicking loose snow at him with the toe of my boot.

"Hey! Don't pick a fight ye canna win." He protests. Nero looks at my crestfallen face and instantly sobers. "But seriously mate, what"s on yer mind?"

With a sigh, I sit on the ground next to him, razing my hands across my face and through my hair. "What do I tell Sybil?"

"About yer obsessive need to match yer tunics to yer undergarments?" He waggles his eyebrows at me and I punch him in the arm. "Ow! Ye dinna have to do that."

"Don't be an ass. I am talking about the mating bond." My heart races in my chest at the thought of telling her. "Do you think she knows?

"She's smart. I wouldn't put it past her to suspect," he says. "The bond has snapped into place for sure then?" He picks up a rock and tosses it, skipping across the small pool of water.

I rub at my chest. If I reach inside, I can discern an almost palpable thin golden thread that is alive. It thrums with her essence, and I swear I can feel her emotions if I concentrate on it long enough. "I… think so. The night after the battle, when she fell into my arms, I felt this energy connecting us. It's like an invisible thread connecting our souls."

"They say powerful emotions push the deepest magic," he replies.

"What if she–" I pause as dread clenches at my chest "–denies the bond?"

Nero raises an eyebrow at me before glancing at the water and back at me, causing heat to rise in my cheeks and groin.

"A moment of physical interaction does not equate to her agreeing to be bonded to me for life as my mate." My heart jumps into my throat in hope.

"She'd be a fool then."

"I have treated her terribly. I abducted her from her home, from everything she held dear only for her to be tortured, thrown in the dungeon and now on the run for her life after losing the one friend she's made."

"Aye, but ye also saved her. Ye put everything ye have ever believed in yer whole life to the side for her. There is good in ye, Aramis. I have seen it since we were wee lads. It is up to ye to decide what side ye fight from now on."

With a sigh, I clasp him on the shoulder. "You're right. I have to tell her. Everything." I rub at my chest as an odd sensation takes form.

"Are ye okay there, mate?" Nero's body tenses, his brow furrowing.

"I don't–" but my words are cut off as the ground beneath us shakes violently and a loud whumph fills the air.

"What was that?" Nero and I are on our feet in an instant, grabbing our bags and heading up towards the caves. A loud scream pierces the air.

"Sybil!" I yell. I run as fast as I can, dodging branches as I head directly to the cave. My chest burns from the exertion, but it doesn't matter. I have to get to her.

"What is that?" Nero and I come to a sudden stop, breath heaving. Before us, where once was the opening to the cave, a giant mound of snow blocks the entrance. I immediately begin digging at the ice with my bare hands. I gather the winds around me to blast the snow away when I'm abruptly grabbed by the back of my collar and yanked into the air. The beating of wings is overshadowed by another whumph as a cascade of snow covers my progress.

"Let me go!" I yell, feet dangling in the air. I have to get to her. I have to free her! There are so many things I must tell her.

"Aye," Nero grunts under my weight. "As soon as ye calm down and think with yer head. Ye nearly brought the whole mountain down on us." He slowly lowers us both to the ground but maintains a grip on my shoulder.

"You don't understand!" I growl.

"I ken more than ye think, lad." Nero steps before me, meeting my gaze. "We can't risk causing a cave in and injuring Sybil."

I close my eyes and concentrate, reaching for that tiny golden thread tying us together. I mentally send my power across it and feel it hum in return, full of life and curiosity. "She's alive," I say in wonder.

"Aye, and I suspect she feels you in kind," he says.

"What do we do now?"