I'LL KILL MY MATE!

I didn't come here to steal, I didn't train for four years to steal.

"I would never, Alpha."

"No," he said softly. "I don't think you would."

The Beta cleared his throat. "Alpha—"

"I'm coming." But Adrian's eyes stayed on me for one more heartbeat. "This evening, then."

I fled.

I made it to the servants' wing before my legs gave out. Collapsing against the rough stone wall, I pressed both hands over my mouth to muffle the sound threatening to tear free.

No. No, no, no—

The mate bond was a living thing inside my chest, a golden thread pulling me back toward his quarters, toward him. My wolf paced frantically, whining, desperate to return to our mate.

Our mate who had murdered our entire pack.

"Isora?"

I looked up to find Asher striding toward me, his warrior's training clothes dusty from the morning drills. The concern on his face nearly broke me.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head, not trusting my voice.

"Then what—" He stopped, eyes widening.

 "Your wolf. I can feel her. Kira’s—"

"We need to talk," I managed. "Now. Somewhere private."

Understanding and dread crossed his features in equal measure. "The old storage building. Five minutes."

He left first, and I followed after counting to sixty, my hands shaking so badly I had to clasp them together.

The storage building was abandoned, used only for broken furniture waiting to be repaired. Asher was already there, pacing like a caged animal.

"Tell me," he said the moment I closed the door.

"The bond." My voice cracked. "It snapped."

He froze mid-step. "What?"

"The mate bond. When I looked at him, when our eyes met—" I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold the pieces together. "He's my mate, Asher."

"No." The word came out flat, disbelieving. 

"Not him. It can't be him."

"You think I wanted this?" The words erupted from me, four years of control shattering. "You think I chose to be bound to the monster who killed my parents? Who slaughtered my entire pack?"

Asher crossed to me in two strides, gripping my shoulders. "We leave. Right now. We pack what we can carry and we run—"

"No."

"Isora—"

"I said no." I pulled away from him, my voice dropping to something cold and hard. "I didn't survive four years in the wilderness, didn't train until my fingers bled, didn't walk into the enemy's fortress just to run away now."

"You can't fight a mate bond." Desperation bled into his voice. "You know what it does to wolves who reject it. The pain, the madness…"

"Then I'll be the first to survive it."

"And what happens when his bond snaps?" Asher demanded. "When he feels the pull toward you? What then?"

"Then I'll be ready." I'll kill him.

"Will you?" He gestured at my shaking hands. "Because from where I'm standing, you can barely keep yourself together."

The truth of it burned. I was coming apart at the seams, my wolf screaming for a mate I could never have, my body aching for a man I needed to kill.

"I'll handle it," I said.

"How? How do you handle being bound to someone you hate?"

"The same way I've handled everything else." I met his eyes, let him see the ice that had kept me alive. "I'll bury it. I'll use it. And when the moment comes, I'll put an arrow through his heart and watch him bleed." Just like my parents bled that night.

Asher stared at me for a long moment, and I saw the exact moment he realized I meant it. That I would rather die than accept this bond.

"I can't lose you too," he said quietly.

"You won't."

"Promise me." His hands found mine, squeezing gently. "Promise me you won't do anything reckless. That you'll be careful."

I wanted to promise. I wanted to give him that comfort. But lies between us had never worked.

"I'll try."

It wasn't enough. We both knew it. But it was all I had.

A knock on the storage building door made us spring apart. A young servant boy poked his head in, eyes wide.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there's a message for Isora. You're wanted back in the Alpha's quarters. He's asking for you specifically."

The bottom dropped out of my stomach. "Now?"

"Right now, miss. He sent me to find you."

Asher's jaw clenched. "I'm coming with you."

"You can't. Warriors don't accompany servants."

"I don't care—"

"Asher, please." I touched his arm briefly. "I need you to trust me."

"That's not the problem." His voice was raw. "I trust you. It's him I don't trust."

"One hour," I promised. "If I'm not back in one hour—"

"I'm coming for you. Pack rules be damned."

I nodded, turned to follow the servant boy, but Asher caught my hand.

"Isora." His eyes searched mine. "Whatever he is to fate, you remember what he is to us. What he took from us."

"I remember," I whispered. "I remember everything."