Chapter 26

Paige

I can’t breathe.

The council members have left the chamber to deliberate. I’m dizzy and dying to go to Varek, but the hunters around him will not let me pass.

All I can think about is what he said earlier. Spryt. He means baby, right? He’s already thinking about our future family. My heart cracks a little as a new panic sets in. I don’t want to—I can’t—be alone and pregnant. I mean, he’s my mate. He’s supposed to be with me every step of the way.

Lara chews on her bottom lip as Nicole pulls me in for another hug. They don’t understand, but my fear must be written all over my face.

“What did that hunter guy say? The one with the shining chest?” Nicole asks.

“Draxel,” I name him for her. “He talked about Ryan. That she’s his mate. And that Varek shouldn’t be punished for what he did because he did it for me.”

Nicole smiles, her eyes squinting at the edges. “See? Everything is going to work out.”

I shake my head.

Kylor walks in first, and Elyra and Mydros are right behind him. My heart stalls and I swallow down the lump in my throat. The anticipation—all this damn waiting—is going to send me into an early grave.

The council assumes their position in the chamber and Kylor addresses the clan. “We have discussed. In our history, and in my lifetime, I have never witnessed a Highseer abuse his position of power in such a wicked way.”

I swallow hard.

“The council will not allow members of this clan to act selfishly, for to their own gain, in direct aggression to the rest of our numbers. It would be chaos if we turned on each other–abandoned our fellow Vrut for our own desires.”

Kylor’s beady eyes dagger Varek, the weight of his words pressing down on the both of us.

Mydros raises his chin and blinks slow, a smile creeping across his face.

“This cannot be tolerated. Will not.”

Hushed whispers erupt around the room. I press my hand to my chest as it constricts, that familiar ache spreading fast.

“With the future in mind and the testimony of Draxel, as well as the human’s remarks, we have come to a decree.”

I suck in a sharp breath and lock eyes with Varek. My heart races in my chest.

“We believe it unfair to harshly punish Varek for lying in this manner. Ultimately, Varek has increased our numbers by five and blessed us with the opportunity to grow even more. To create new life. And for that, he will stay a Highseer.”

Varek’s eyes widen.

“He is sentenced to a lifetime devoted to his mate and their union and will sire many heirs,” Kylor says. He turns and eyes me, his expression unreadable. “And because Paige has offered herself up for punishment too, the council has decided that she will help translate for the other females, integrate them into our society, and help them encounter their rightful mate.”

All the tension releases from my body and I can breathe again. A slow smile drags across my lips and Nicole pokes me in the side.

“What? What’s he saying?” she asks.

I shush her as Kylor continues.

“The human females are too important to lose and we fear it would be reckless to exile a mated Vrut male if the bond is as strong as we have learned today.”

Mydros stalks out of the chamber at once. Kylor bows his head in respect and Elyra follows.

“Our word is final.”

Kylor and Elyra both turn and place their hands on a luminite gemstone embedded within the rock. The luminescence pulsates as if alive and then the two older council members exit.

A silent beat passes and for a second, I don’t believe it’s real. The hunters around Varek undo his shackles and they fall to the rocky ground in a heap. Varek turns to face me, his chest shining bright like the sun.

I take off.

My stomach flutters with each step I get closer. He’s free. He’s mine. And we can stay.

When I’m close enough, I jump into his arms. He catches me, wrapping me up in his hold and swinging me around in a circle. His head falls to the crook of my neck and he inhales deeply. I giggle as his nose tickles beneath my ear.

“Oh, troublemaker,” he whispers against my skin. He presses light kisses all over my skin, any inch of me he can.

“Mate,” I say as I hold him tight.

A growl rolls from his chest and he hoists me up higher. I wrap my legs around his waist and grin. The muscles in my cheek burn and ache from all the emotion, but I can’t help it.

Everything that I was afraid of, everything that terrified me about today is over. He’s mine and the clan is letting us stay.

We get to love each other and he’s still a Highseer.

My Highseer.

“They’re not taking you away from me,” I whisper.

He shakes his head.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” I breathe.

“You never will,” he promises, his thumb brushing the tear that slipped from the corner of my eye.

I lay my head on his shoulder as the fluttering in my chest leaves me light-headed. Varek has changed me completely and all I want to do is bask in the joy that he brings. And a family?

How could something I had never considered before sound like something I can’t live without?

“You should not have offered to take my punishment,” Varek says.

My hands tremble around his neck, stroking his short hair down to his mane. “I would do it again.”

He grits his teeth. “You would be best to obey me, Paige.”

I pull back and cup his cheeks. “You wouldn’t like me nearly as much if I did,” I say.

His frown slowly morphs into a smile. He captures my mouth and everything blurs.

The kiss isn’t slow or tentative—it is raw and urgent. The release of all the tension that had coiled tight between us. Our mouths move together in a frenzied rhythm, lips parting, breaths mingling.

Starved. We’d been starved for each other.

It’s a flood of everything we hadn’t been able to say before.

Relief, passion, the fierce need to hold on now that we have the chance. It’s messy and imperfect, our mouths colliding with more hunger than grace, but it is ours.

Warmth rocks through me and a soft whimper escapes my lips.

Varek freezes. We lock eyes and his are dark—those amber depths shining with something devious.

Suddenly, I’m all too aware that we are still in the Luminary and very much on display.

I lean in and tease his ear, squeezing my legs around his waist. “Take me home,” I say. “I’ve been dying for your touch.”

Varek grunts and begins walking, holding me steady beneath the thighs and teasing up and down my throat with his nose.

“And my bulb?”

I suck in a sharp breath, a fluttering feeling settling between my legs. All of the sudden I do feel empty. Needy. Hot for his touch.

I nod, arching into his muscled chest.

Varek picks up the pace, jogging through the glowhollow to our chamber. We leave everything behind in the Luminary.

Our fears. Our past. Every moment of uncertainty.

All we’re left with now is the fire and passion between us and a future filled with more happiness. Finally, Varek ducks inside our chamber, the leathers heavily falling back into place behind him. He lays me down in the furs and tears off my leathers, tossing them aside. They flutter to the ground half shredded.

“Hey!” I whine as he pushes me down, his hand flat against my sternum.

Varek only chuckles. “A Highseer’s mate will wear leathers that bear my markings. You will receive new ones when I am finished with you.”

“Are you always this demanding?”

He smirks. “I will be this time. If you aren’t carrying my spryt now, you will be after this.”