Chapter Fifteen
Rogue
Seeing Ara this morning did something to me.
I could feel the mate bond pulling at every fiber of my being, even as I actively avoided her. Seeing her also craving my touch only solidified it. It took every ounce of strength I had to not bend her over the rail in front of every guard and claim her as mine the second we locked eyes.
And it wasn’t one-sided. I could see the heat behind her eyes, the restraint in her muscles as she resisted the urge to run to me, just as I did to her. She wasn’t oblivious to the bond, even if she didn’t know what it was yet. She felt it all the same.
As soon as she disappeared out of sight, I marched out of the castle, taking to the sky, needing space from her. Needing my own air. Just her scent set my body on fire and it was everywhere in the castle. Taunting me. Tempting me.
When she watched me land last night, I had caught her scent and it had overwhelmed me, allowing the bond to drive me forward. I just had to be closer to her. Touch her. Feel her.
If she hadn’t slapped me, I would’ve taken her right there in the courtyard. I would’ve shoved her against the wall and claimed her, biting the delicate spot at the base of her neck as I filled her, marking her as mine. Marking me as hers. I would’ve made her scream my name so loud, every Fae in Ravaryn would know who she belonged to. Who I belonged to.
My cock hardened at the thought, and my jaw clenched painfully tight.
She had more control over my own body than I did and she didn’t even know it. She invaded my every thought, my every dream, my very being. It was maddening.
I knew the bond would only grow stronger with each passing day, pulling us together until it was impossible to resist, but knowing it and experiencing it were two entirely different things. And none of this could even matter until I figured out how to tell her about Evander and Vaelor.
My stomach twisted at the thought, but I couldn’t force the words from my mouth, knowing it would hurt her. But I also knew not telling her would hurt her more. Thus, restarting the turmoil of warring thoughts.
Thunder boomed in the distance as a storm blew in, snapping me back to reality. Combined with the setting sun, the sky darkened quickly.
With gritted teeth, I returned to the castle.
As soon as I walked in through the doors, her scent consumed me, as if she had been here recently. An insatiable hunger ripped through me—a starvation only for her.
Making a beeline for her chambers, I climbed the steps two at a time. Smoke rolled off my skin in waves, heating the stairwell just like it had in the entryway this morning.
I threw open her door and stopped dead in my tracks. The room was empty.
My heart beat faster, a sinking feeling in my gut.
Striding to the library, her scent was everywhere. She had been here today, all day.
Entering Alden’s study, his face told me everything. He stood slowly, raising his chin, and I slowed my pace, gaping at him.
“What did you do?”
“She had a right to know, Rogue. She had the right to decide her fate.”
My spine stiffened with betrayal, a scowl twisting my face.
“Where is she?”
“She wanted to leave,” he said and my chest ached, nearly sucking the breath from my lungs. He didn’t waver as I stormed to him, accepting his fate. I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air as smoke filled the room with a white haze.
I glared into his eyes, but he wasn’t apologetic. He stood by his decision, wrenching the knife of betrayal in my gut, and I dropped him. He fell to his knees, gasping.
Every emotion I’d suppressed came rushing back, crushing me. The pain in my chest was overwhelming, suffocating, as I backed away, bracing a hand on the doorway.
Alden had betrayed me.
She had wanted to leave. To leave me.
Of course, she did.