Zev snatched his throat. There was no thought or reason, only the need to end him. It would be so easy to snap Cassiel’s neck. One twitch of his fingers and done, the bond would break, and Dyna would be free of this fraud of a marriage.
Cassiel pulled at his crushing grip and Zev only squeezed harder, rendering his face purple. Dyna shouted, her fists bashing against him. He hardly noticed it through his wrath. She was screaming something over and over that he couldn’t process until he noticed her terrified expression, her mouth gaping as she clutched her neck.
“You’re killing him …” Dyna wheezed. Her legs gave out, and she fell against his side, dropping to her knees.
Zev released Cassiel and grabbed her limp arms. “Dyna.”
They both coughed, sucking in ragged gulps of air.
“We are True Bonded, Zev,” Cassiel rasped. He shoved him out of the way and gathered her in his arms. “We feel each other’s pain. What you do to me, you do to her.”
Zev froze.True … Bonded …
The fury returned threefold, washing out the shock. Only for Dyna’s sake could Zev resist thrashing him again. He stood on his feet, his heaving chest rising and falling as he tried to control his wolf.
“If you die, she dies?” Zev growled.
“She would feel as if she had. Breaking a True Bond would shatter her soul, and most have not survived such a pain.” Cassiel wore an expression of solemn sincerity, for there was nothing to fight over because Zev had no say in it.
And like that, he was left completely outside of their circle. Of theirpair. There was no room for three.
Zev marched away, his breath coming in rapidly as anger and anguish hammered through his head. If he didn’t leave, he would kill that damn Celestial. He passed by Rawn, who’d been standing by the edge of the trees. The wind muffled their calls as he headed for a nearby knoll covered in yellow and brown leaves. His footsteps crunched over them as he hiked, focusing on his steps, one after the other. Away from them and everything else.
When he reached the top, a breeze filled the sky with hovering leaves in a dusting of accusation. He heaved in gulps of air, breathing in the moist whiff of dirt and pine, needing something to anchor him. The Madness surfaced from the depths of his mind with a cackle, mocking him for losing the last shred of normalcy in his world. Every reason he had for living was gone.
Dyna’s scent reached him as her light steps ran up the knoll. “Zev—”
“You lied to me!” He shouted. Once the accusation was out, it blanketed over them like the rain on his skin. “You never hid things from me, Dyna. I asked if there was something between you two, which you so ardently denied.”
She winced under his accusation. “I … didn’t lie.”
He shook his head at the spike in her heart rate. “You’re lying to me now.”
“It’s complicated. There was noth—” She bit her lip.
Zev knew as well as she did, saying there was nothing between her and Cassiel would be another lie. He had sensed the makings of something, but he thought that’s all it had been. Makings. Silly thoughts and the pinning for a handsome prince. Friendship confused for affection. This had gone much farther than the beginnings of infatuation.
“We … gods, Zev.” Dyna covered her face. “There is so much we must explain. That I have yet to fully understand, but we didn’t act on it until now.”
Zev clenched his jaw. “This cannot be. I won’t allow it.”
She stared at him. “Why not?”
“Because he’s …”
“He’s what?” Her eyes flashed and her hands balled into fists. “Go on. I dare you to say it.”
Zev’s gut twisted. How could he name Cassiel’s half-breed race as a reason to deny his blessing? That wasn’t the only reason. With her father gone, it was his duty to protect her wellbeing, and in time—a future he hadn’t cared to think about yet—give her hand to another to care for. But not to Cassiel.
The backlash that would occur if he took her to the Realms of Celestials, if this went so much further than either of them was currently prepared for, would be catastrophic. True Bond or not, this couldn’t be. They were merely caught in the moment and not realizing what this would mean for them both.
Cassiel was a prince of Hilos, meant to oversee the Realms. Torule. The High King would never allow his son to be with ahuman.
“He’s a prince,” Zev said instead.
“And I’m a peasant with no wealth or prospects,” she shot back. “You think I haven’t thought of that?”
Zev groaned. “That’s not what I meant.”
