Chapter 12

Paige

I jolt awake to a chill. My mind is foggy and when I sit up, I realize my leathers are still nowhere to be found. I grab a fur and cover myself up before looking around.

I’m surprised my alien isn’t wrapped around me still.

But he’s not here.

My eyes scan the chamber. His leathers are gone, but he’s folded mine at the end of the furs. Tension eases in my muscles as I reach for them, but where is he? The rest of the room looks the same. A few pieces of intricate pottery line the walls. A pelt tapestry hangs directly behind me, a scene depicting a hunt of some sort.

Where is he?

I slide the furs off my shoulders and put my tunic back on. The furs feel empty without him. This room.

I feel sort of empty without him here.

In my dreams, Varek watched me all night—attentive to every move and sound I made. I imagined him eager for me to wake up. Eager to show me more of his life.

But he’s gone.

I pull myself to my feet and shake off the shadowy longing that settled over my heart. It’s more productive if I focus on the girls. I need to find Varek and ask about them. Did Draxel take food and provisions to them? It’s been two full days which means even if they were rationing food, they wouldn’t be able to stay in the ship forever.

Most of all, had he kept his word? Did Varek keep them a secret from his people?

I step out of Varek’s chamber, looking around to see if he’s there waiting for me. The glowhollows are quiet so I decide to head to the spring to freshen up.

It’s as beautiful as it was when Varek brought me here.

I strip down and swim to the foamy trickle, making quick work of washing my body. I scrub the poultice off my forehead and drag my fingertip along the cut.

“No way—”

I swim back to the edge and get out, drip drying as much as I can before dressing again. The tunic is soft against my clean skin. I sit on the edge of the spring until the water settles and I can see myself in the reflection.

The cut is but a thin line. Barely visible.

I touch it again and blink hard. Am I still dreaming?

Nicole said I would probably need stitches. Selvara only put the paste on my forehead yesterday morning and now it’s as if the cut was just a tiny scratch?

The breath surges from my lungs.

This place is magic.

I finger pick through my hair, the chocolate waves detangling as they air dry, and head back to the main hall of the hollows. I need to find Varek.

I have so many unanswered questions.

If Varek could mate with me, a human, what’s to stop the other Vrut males from mating with humans as well? I need to ask him how this all works.

If he didn’t keep up his end of the deal and the Vruts descended on the other five humans, was there a chance that they might also trigger a mate bond?

Then, we would never be able to leave here.

It’s one thing if I’m stuck here, but all six of us?

I round the corner and suck in a sharp breath as I almost slam into someone.

“Paige,” the male enunciates my name.

My mouth drops open as I look back at him. He’s older and I’ve seen him before.

He bows his head in respect. “Kylor.”

“Kylor,” I repeat, wracking my brain for where I’ve seen him before. Then it dawns on me—he was here the day Varek kidnapped me. He was one of the three who entered the chamber and had a heated discussion with my mat—

With Varek.

“How are you adjusting?” He asks.

I bite the inside of my cheek. What a loaded question. I nod. “Fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”

His thin lips press into a polite smile. His gray skin is thinning, almost translucent. Kylor’s hair is almost completely white, and unlike the younger males who wear leathers on their bottom half with their chests on display, Kylor’s leathers are more of a cloak.

“Well, you are fortunate. Varek is a moral and just male.”

His voice carries such pride and respect.

He continues. “Varek puts his people first and deserves to find happiness after everything he has endured.”

I deflate. “Endured?”

Varek said he won his position on the council through his strength and wisdom, but also his prowess on the battlefield. He didn’t want to go into detail and suddenly I feel guilty for not pressing.

Kylor nods.

I can’t deny the need to know more. To understand Varek better. “Um, what exactly has he endured?”

Kylor hangs his head, his shoulders sagging as he speaks. “His parents were mated. They were so in love and one of the strongest pairings among us. Their union bore six heirs.”

“Any females?” I ask.

Kylor’s face turns solemn.

“No. When Varek was just ten, the Thachiens attacked. Varek’s father barricaded him and his mother inside a voralith to protect them, but they watched as he was cut down. His mother wailed until she was able to go to her mate’s body and then refused to leave his side. She died from the grief.”

My heart stalls, a lash of pain crashing through my chest.

Kylor continues. “Her glow refused to spark back to life without him. She withered until the land reclaimed them both.”

A lump lodges in my throat as I listen, thinking of Varek as just a small boy. He would have been so young. So innocent. And grew up watching his parents love each other so fiercely, only to meet such a tragic ending.

I reach up and press my palm flat against my chest, unable to get over the empty feeling. The painful feeling of not having him in my arms.

“How long ago was that?” I ask. I realize I’m not sure how old my mate even is.

“Twenty-seven years.”

“And his siblings? Where are they now?”

“Among us. But Varek was the youngest and he was never the same.” Kylor shakes the hanging sleeve of his cloak and crosses his arms. “He threw himself into his duties, learning to hunt and protect the clan. He gave up hope of ever finding his mate.”

I think back to the instant we locked eyes in the ship. The moment his widened and his chest lit up. What could he have been feeling at that moment? Was he thinking of his parents?

I rub my chest, the ache getting worse until I can barely breathe.

I need to find him. See him. Hear his voice.

I bow my head respectfully to Kylor. “I’m sorry, I have to go find my mate.”

As I head off, clutching my chest and drawing in deep, ragged breaths, Kylor nods in understanding.

“Yes. The bond does not wait.”

Hurrying down the hallways, I search for Varek blindly. I don’t know where he is, but my body doesn’t care. I can’t stop my legs.

I think of Varek as a boy—terrified and huddling in the voralith behind hanging moss and vines. His mother wailing and sobbing as the threat still loomed.

My poor mate.

And if we were out there? In the marshes along the voraliths and I got the chance to flee? If I was able to run away and never look back…

Could I?

I grunt as the pain intensifies and I nearly double over. I’m clutching my chest and the rocky walls, anything I can to stay upright. The pain grows and flares, searing through me and wrapping around my ribs. It’s like I’m going to explode from the inside out.

I can’t stand the pain.

I need him.

In a last ditch effort, before I collapse to the ground, I open my mouth and cry out. I cry his name as the pain becomes too much to bear and little white dots dust my vision.

“Varek!” I scream.

My legs give out.

“Varek!”