How will he survive this? How will we survive this?
Before she could formulate any plan of escape, Veyrik reached over with lightning speed and jabbed something sharp into her arm. Fire raced through her veins for a split second before her body went completely numb.
She could see, could hear, could think—but she couldn’t move a single muscle. Even worse, the mate bond that had been humming constantly between her and Damon suddenly went silent, as if a wall had slammed down between their souls.
What did they inject me with?Panic flooded her mind even as her body remained completely unresponsive.How is Damon going to find me if he can’t feel me through the bond?
The SUV sped toward the dock, carrying her away from everything she’d just found.
THIRTY-FIVE
DAMON
Damon’s legs pumped hard against the ground as he chased the black SUV carrying his mate, his lungs burning with each desperate breath. The vehicle’s taillights grew smaller in the distance, but he refused to stop, refused to accept that Kaelith—his best friend, his brother in all but blood—had just ripped away the only good thing to enter his life in a century.
This can’t be happening again.
The betrayal sliced through him like a blade. Kaelith, who had sat with him through countless dark nights after the raid. Kaelith, who had been the only constant in a world that had taught Damon that trust led to death.
How could you do this?The question screamed through his mind as his feet pounded the dirt road.After everything we’ve been through?—
Then it hit him like a freight train. The mate bond, which had been humming constantly between him and Isla, suddenly went silent. Damon stumbled to a halt, his hands flying to his chest where the bond should have been singing. Panic flooded his system, turning his blood to ice.
What did they do to her?
His dragon roared under his skin, demanding he shift, demanding he hunt down the vehicle and tear apart anyone who dared touch his mate. But his body wouldn’t obey. Instead, his knees hit the dirt road with jarring force, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. The air wouldn’t come. His lungs seized, refusing to expand, and black spots danced at the edges of his vision. His hands clawed at his throat as if he could physically force oxygen into his body.
She’s still alive,his instincts whispered.
But the panic attack crashed over him like a tsunami, dragging him back to that night a century ago. He could see his parents’ lifeless bodies again, could smell the smoke and blood that had filled the estate. Could remember standing at the ancient ceremonial grounds days afterward, staring at the graves of dozens of clan members who had died because he’d trusted the wrong person.
Kaelith had been there too, through all of it. Even had found Damon standing at the cliff’s edge three days later, ready to end his suffering. Had talked him down, had promised that life was worth living, that Damon was needed.
You saved me just so you could destroy me yourself, didn’t you?
The betrayal cut deeper than his uncle’s had, because this time he’d known better. This time he’d had a century to learn that trust was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Yet he’d given it anyway—to Kaelith, to the mate bond, to the hope that maybe he could have something beautiful without it turning to ash.
Tears soon tracked down his face as he knelt in the dirt, his powerful frame shaking with sobs that came from a place deeper than grief.
This was devastation, pure and complete.
“Damon!”
The voice cut through his spiral. Footsteps pounded toward him, and suddenly Evelina was kneeling beside him, her hands gripping his shoulders with surprising strength.
“Snap out of it,” she commanded, shaking him hard enough to rattle his teeth. “I need you present. Now.”
Damon blinked, trying to force air into his lungs. Mikal appeared at his other side, his usually jovial face grim with concern.
“Kaelith,” Damon gasped, his voice raw. “He took her. The mate bond—it’s silent. I don’t know if she’s?—”
“She’s alive,” Evelina said firmly. “If she weren’t, you’d know it. Now breathe, nephew. Deep breaths.”
Damon forced himself to follow her instructions, drawing shaky breaths until the world stopped spinning. Evelina and Mikal helped him to his feet, and he swayed slightly before finding his balance.
“Why?” The word came out broken. “Why would he do this?”
Evelina’s green eyes hardened with fury. “I heard quite an interesting tale from some elder clan members. Kaelith went to them recently, pleading his case for becoming Alpha assuming you were killed in that ambush. Since you survived, his plans clearly needed adjustment.”
