But not today. I can’t. Instead, I turn on my heel and walk off the field.
This time, he follows.
The air is thick with smoke and sweat, the scent of scorched earth lingering after the fighting session. The soldiers have gone back to their drills. The training grounds are still loud—clashing swords, grunts of exertion, the occasional barked command from Garrick, Jarek, or Rian.
But I don’t hear any of it. Because Thane is following me.
I make it halfway to the barracks before I hear his footsteps close behind me. I could keep ignoring him. Pretend I don’t feel the heat of his gaze burning into my back.
But then—he speaks.
“Amara.”
My heart stumbles at the sound of my name on his lips.
But I don’t stop.
I can’t.
I need to feel like something—anything—is still mine to control.
“Keep walking away if you want,” he says, voice low, rough, deadly calm. “But you and I both know it won’t change anything.”
I freeze mid-step. Because he’s right. I’ve been running from this for days, and all it’s done is make the bond stronger.
Slowly, I turn to face him.
His eyes lock onto mine, fierce and unshaken.
“You need to stop resisting this. I’ve given you time and space, but you’re still avoiding . . . ” He swallows. “The bond. Please . . . can we finally talk about this?”
My chest tightens.
“This? There is no bond, Thane.” The lie tastes like ash.
His jaw flexes, his hands clenching at his sides like he’sphysically restraining himself from shaking some sense into me.
“Then why are you running?”
I glare at him. “I’m not running.”
He tilts his head slightly, the way he does when he knows he’s already won the argument. “You left the training field the moment you realized what happened.”
I open my mouth. Close it. Because I don’t have an answer.
Thane exhales sharply, shaking his head, frustration bleeding into his voice. “I don’t know what this is, Amara.”
He takes another step closer, and gods, he’s too close now. Everything about him presses in—heat, tension, unspoken truths.
“But we need to figure it out. Because like it or not, the realm depends on us . . . both.”
My breath catches.
Duty. Destiny. The path laid out. The right thing.
That’s what Thane does. He puts everything ahead of himself.
Maybe even ahead of me.
