I rub my eyes. If I were human, they’d be swollen shut tomorrow.
“Titus,” Galen looks my way, “contain her.”
It’s the way he says it. Like she’s a dog that can be locked away. I don’t move towards Selene. With blurry vision, I take a step towards him. There. I can see you now.Fight me!
Tristen’s shadows drift out from his hands. I can tell by their shade his magic is almost empty. He used too much to conceal us. If I attack Galen, Tristen could take one of the guards, but that leaves Selene to the others.
I can’t risk that.
Is the world shaking? No, it’s my heart, as my mind forces it into a cage for another day.
Selene acts, turning and rushing toward Galen. “Contain me!” She reels back her fist, aiming towards Galen, but she’s sluggish, tapped out. He grabs her wrist, smirks, and kisses her knuckles.
You attack, and you’re dead.I tell myself this over and over again, trying to tamper down the mate bond.
Tristen steps in front of me as Galen says, “You hit my guard again, and I will take these hands and bind them to my bed. Do you understand?” Galen stews. To prove his point, his magic curls around her clasped hand; he grabs the other and binds her hands in vines.
That’s it. I can’t…
Green eyes catch mine. Holding me as Galen holds her. A silent plea.
My lips press firm. This is the only time I will tolerate this. Never again. I will make that clear to Selene tonight. I don’t care if my mate is stronger than me. I care that she doesn’t respect and protect my weakness: her. She uses it against me.
It must take all Selene’s energy to straighten her spine and act relaxed.
Tristen blocks my view again.
“I have enough to deal with!” Galen grunts; he pulls Selene back. “I told you to go to your chambers. It seems you crave my punishments.”Galen’s eyes slide to me. “Burn it,” he orders me. “General,” he snaps, “I said burn the field. My wife needs it no more.”
Selene tries to act unaffected, but this field, covered in wild grass and weeds that masquerade as flowers, was something she had grown to love. It was a cage, but it felt like freedom.
I lower my chin. My chest is tight as I swing my hands behind my back to hide my fists. “King,” the title tastes like ash on my tongue, thick and chalky. “I was not able to have my morning blood; it was poisoned. Therefore, I have no access to my magic.”
“I know of the bloody poison! Gods be damned!” Galen shouts. “You,” he glares at Tristen, “help him get a torch and burn this. I want the field as black as her heart is.”
He jerks Selene and tugs her towards the castle. I know Selene; she would have fought, but she surrendered for me.
I hate it.
I don’t want her to sacrifice anything for me. My skin tightens, the sun pours its heat into every exposed pore, yet a chill snakes down my spine. A dark warning that Selene is willing to sacrifice much, much more.
How do I stop her without offending her, without resembling Galen, who commands and cages her?
Galen’s two guards follow. I step forward. Tristen’s palms land against my stomach. I expect his lecture, his hushed whispers of fury. I almost gave our secret away, killed a king, saved a queen.
Instead, Tristen hugs me. “I am sorry, brother.” His breath is riddled with fury.
“I can not endure seeing that again.”
“You must.” He holds me tighter. “Her life depends on it.”
I grab him, curling my fingers into his clothing. I need an anchor to ground me so I can think! “What kind of man am I to have stood by and done nothing, Tristen? This is not who I am. I can not be this version she forces me to be. I’m no better than a mindless killer who leaves bodies on the field to rot. Where is the honor? She’s my mate!” I cry. “Mine. Yet you all begged me to let another man take her away from me. I listened. I allowed it. I am not worthy of having a mate. I am not a man.”
“Hey! Stop!” Tristen shakes me. “You’re the kind that thinks with his head, not his dick.” He clasps my face as a father would. “You need blood.Herblood. Sure, you could have fought Galen now, but your magic isn’t charged because you spat out the morning ration. Galen would have killed you in under a minute, then me.”
An image of him and me playing tackle flashes in my mind, only this time when I giggle as I hover over him, his lifeless eyes stare at the sky.
Dead. I can’t lose him.
