This chapter ended up being pretty long before I was happy with it so didn't have time to write a 2nd one today. Double update tomorrow for sure. Thank you for reading!
AlaricDawn paints her skin golden as I watch her sleep in my arms, still joined from our last coupling hours ago. The mate bond pulses with contentment, memories of the night flooding through me - her gasps of pleasure, the way she trembled beneath my touch, how she finally overcame her shyness to take control.I thought Sage lying naked beneath me, looking up at me with so much trust and adoration while I brought us both to orgasm, would be the most gorgeous sight I’d ever see. But watching her find her confidence, riding me with her head thrown back and her silky blond hair grazing my thighs while she took her pleasure from me… that was fucking stunning. The memory of that vision has me growing hard inside her. I should pull out, she’s probably sore, I took her so many times and wasn’t always gentle. But even so, I can’t bring myself to separate from her. Not yet. Through our bond, I feel her peaceful dreams, her absolute trust in being vulnerable with me like this. My beast rumb
SageAncient dust tickles my nose as I lean closer to the faded text, excitement building as I translate the archaic language. Through our bond, I feel Alaric's amusement at my complete absorption in research."You missed lunch again." His voice makes me jump as he sets a tray beside me. "And dinner.""I found something." I pull him down to see the text, not even tempted by the food despite having forgotten meals. "Look at this - 'The Trial of True Mates.' It was used in ancient times to prove mate bonds beyond any doubt."His hand traces patterns on my back as he reads over my shoulder. Through our bond, I feel his interest sharpen at certain passages."A ritual to demonstrate the depth of connection?" He frowns slightly. "What's involved?""That's what I'm trying to figure out." I gesture at the scattered texts. "The descriptions are fragmented, but it seems to involve some kind of shared trial. Something that proves the strength of the mate bond itself.""And these warnings?" His fi
SageDawn mist curls around our feet as Alaric and I kneel facing each other in the sacred grove. The ancient texts were specific about this part - the ritual preparation requires perfectly synchronized power at sunrise."Ready?" he asks softly.I nod, pushing aside a slight wave of dizziness. Probably just the fasting required for cleansing. Through our bond, I feel his momentary concern, but I send back reassurance.Our hands join as power builds between us. The texts described this as "weaving two souls into one tapestry," but nothing prepared me for how it actually feels - like our very essences are intertwining, strengthening with each shared heartbeat.A sudden chill runs through me, breaking my concentration. The power wavers."Sweetling?" Alaric's thumb strokes my palm. "What's wrong?""Nothing." I force a smile. "Just lost focus for a moment."Through our bond, I feel his skepticism, but he doesn't push. Instead, his power wraps around me like a warm blanket, steadying me as w
AlaricHer terror hits me through our bond like a physical blow. I'm moving before conscious thought, abandoning the border patrol reports as her consciousness starts to fade."Sage!" My roar shakes the library windows as I find her crumpled beside ancient texts. Through our bond, I feel her slipping away even as I gather her into my arms.The book fallen beside her catches my eye - a page about poisons used to break mate bonds. My blood runs cold as I read the symptoms listed: fever, chills, weakening powers...Everything she's been trying to hide from me."I need healers!" My voice carries command that brings them running. "Now!"The healing wing erupts in chaos as I burst in with her limp form. Her skin burns against mine even as she shivers uncontrollably."Her powers are fighting something." The head healer's hands glow as she examines Sage. "But I've never seen..."Through our bond, I feel Sage's strength ebbing. Feel how her healing abilities war with whatever poison runs throug
Alaric"She crossed the northern border two hours ago." Garrett marks the location on our map. "Traveling fast, but leaving an obvious trail.""Too obvious." My fingers trace the route. Through our weakening bond, I feel Sage's fever climbing higher, each moment we waste costing precious strength. "She wants us to follow.""Almost certainly a trap." Garrett meets my eyes steadily. "But we're running out of time."He's right. The healers say the poison spreads faster now, targeting not just Sage's body but the very essence of our mate bond. Each hour brings us closer to losing both."The council demands—" An elder starts from the doorway."The council can burn." Power rolls off me in waves. "This is what they wanted, isn't it? Their precious traditions preserved by breaking our bond?""My King—""Get the fuck out." When he hesitates, my roar shakes the walls. "All of you. Out!"Only Garrett remains as I study the map. Letters we intercepted suggest Eris has the antidote, or at least kno
AlaricThe cabin explodes into chaos as we attack. My warriors move with perfect coordination, but something's wrong - the Northern wolves react too quickly, too prepared."Underground!" Garrett's warning comes just as the floor beneath us shifts. Hidden tunnels, escape routes we didn't know about. Through our weakening bond, I feel Sage's heartbeat faltering as precious time slips away."Find her!" My roar shakes the cabin's foundations. "Tear this place apart!"But Eris's guards are everywhere, fighting with desperate determination. Not just protecting their lady - buying her time. Through the battle haze, that detail nags at me. Why delay instead of retreat?A familiar scent catches my attention - fresh, close. Without hesitation, I crash through the hidden panel it leads to, following steep stairs into darkness.Eris waits in a candlelit chamber, her perfect composure intact despite the battle above. "My King." Her smile holds victory. "So predictable.""The antidote." My beast ris
SageThrough the poison's haze, a familiar scent cuts sharp as a blade - Blackthorn territory, power, and something darker. Even half-conscious, my body recognizes the threat."Such a waste." Cassius's voice reaches me through the fever. "All that potential, turned to ash by your own stubbornness."I try to move, to call for help, but the poison has spread too far. My powers flutter weakly as he approaches the bed."You could have been extraordinary, you know." He checks the healing wing doorway - empty, guards mysteriously absent. "If you'd only chosen the right path. The right mate.""Never." The word comes out barely a whisper."No?" His smile holds winter frost. "Did you really think your precious king could protect you? That love would overcome generations of carefully laid plans?"Through our broken bond, I try reaching for Alaric one last time. Feel only empty silence where his presence should be."The ancient healing packs weren't destroyed for being too powerful." Cassius pull
AlaricSage's powers shimmer with new strength as she heals another warrior's training injury. Through our enhanced bond, I feel how differently her abilities work now - not just healing, but understanding the very essence of what she touches."Extraordinary," the head healer murmurs, watching golden light spread from Sage's hands. "The way she adapted to the poison... I've never seen anything like it."I haven't either. Since that night, our mate bond has grown stronger than I thought possible. Even without a mating mark, every touch, every shared thought carries deeper meaning. Even now, across the healing wing, I feel her satisfaction as the warrior's wound closes completely."My King." Garrett's arrival draws my attention. "We found something at the cabin."He hands me a stack of letters - correspondence between Eris and Cassius, carefully coded but damning nonetheless. Through our bond, I feel Sage's interest as she finishes with the warrior."They've been planning this for weeks,
Alexander"They found her, but she's not exactly rolling out the welcome mat."Dominic drops a report on my desk, interrupting my third attempt to write a diplomatic response to the Northern territories. I've been staring at the same paragraph for twenty minutes, my mind constantly drifting back to last night with Lyra."Vega's niece?" I ask, pushing aside the draft to read the new report."Karina," he confirms, dropping into the chair across from me. "Lives in a tiny settlement called Blackstone Ridge at the edge of the Northern territories. Our messengers found her, but she told them—and I'm quoting directly here—'to go fuck themselves and the royal horses they rode in on.'"I can't help but laugh. "Sounds like she inherited her aunt's charming personality, if not her politics.""She's a healer," Dominic continues, "which makes her refusal more complicated. She's not just rejecting royal authority; she's rejecting what she sees as interference in healer business."I lean back in my
Lyra "I'm glad," I tell Kieran, meaning it despite the complex emotions churning beneath. "That you have someone to talk to."He looks surprised, then grateful for my response. "It helps," he admits. "Figuring out my place here, now that everything's..." he gestures vaguely, "different."The word encompasses so much—our relationship, our community's situation, our very identities shifting in this new context. I reach across the table to touch his hand briefly."Some things aren't different," I tell him. "You're still important to me, Kieran. That hasn't changed."His eyes meet mine, conflict evident in their green depths. "Just important in a different way now."I can't deny the truth of this observation. Before I can respond, a palace page appears in the doorway, bowing slightly when he spots me."Healer Lyra, Prince Alexander requests your presence in the royal study. He says it's regarding tonight's ritual."Kieran withdraws his hand from beneath mine, the moment broken. "You shou
Lyra The royal sanctuary glows with morning light filtering through its glass walls, illuminating Queen Sage as she tends to rare plants with her own hands rather than delegating the task to servants. She looks up as I enter, a knowing smile touching her lips."Lyra," she greets warmly. "You look well this morning."Something in her tone tells me she's perfectly aware of why I might look "well," and I feel heat rise to my cheeks again. "Thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty.""Sage, please," she corrects, setting aside her gardening tools. "At least when we're alone. We're family now, after all."The casual acknowledgment of my place in her son's life—in the royal family—leaves me momentarily speechless. I've been so focused on the complications of court politics that I hadn't fully considered the simpler truth: I've gained not just a mate but a family connection.I kneel beside the spiral pattern of silver-blue blooms she’s tending, assessing their condition with a healer's eye. "
Lyra Sunlight streams through the curtains, painting warm patterns across the tangled sheets. I wake slowly, momentarily disoriented by unfamiliar surroundings before memories of the night flood back. The weight of Alexander's arm draped across my waist anchors me to both the present moment and the significance of what passed between us.I study his sleeping face, softer in repose than his usual royal mask allows. Dark lashes rest against cheeks still bearing faint marks where power surges manifested during our separation. The bond between us pulses with contented warmth, stronger and more stable than it's been since the temporary healing at the Cave of Whispers."You're staring," he murmurs without opening his eyes, a smile curving his lips."Just making sure you're real," I reply, surprised by the vulnerability in my own voice.His eyes open then, violet depths focusing on me with an intensity that makes my breath catch. "Very real," he assures me, pulling me closer. "And not going
KieranMira and I sit in silence for a while, watching stars appear one by one in the darkening sky. The distant sounds of palace life—guards changing shifts, servants carrying out evening duties—remind me how far we are from the simplicity of our forest home."I slept with someone else," I admit suddenly. "After Lyra left with Alexander that first time. One of the refugees from the northern settlement."Mira raises an eyebrow but doesn't interrupt."I thought it would help," I continue. "Thought maybe if I could just be with someone else, these feelings would fade or change or..." I shake my head. "It didn't work. Just made me feel worse, actually.""Because you were using them to try to forget Lyra," Mira points out. "That never works.""I know that now." I run a hand through my hair in frustration. "Gods, I'm a mess.""Yes, you are," she agrees with characteristic bluntness. "But that doesn't mean you can't figure your shit out."A sudden flush of anger rises in me. "Easy for you t
KieranThe palace gardens are annoyingly perfect—every shrub precisely trimmed, every flower arranged in meticulous patterns, like nature couldn't be trusted to look good without human interference. I find a secluded bench beneath a weeping willow, as far from the manicured beds as possible, and drop onto it with a heavy sigh.It's been two hours since I quietly slipped out of my chambers, unable to stay there any longer. The thin walls did little to muffle the sounds from Lyra's room, each soft gasp and whispered endearment like a knife twisting in my chest. I knew this was coming—hell, I practically pushed her toward the prince—but knowing something will hurt doesn't actually make it hurt less when it happens.I lean back, staring up through willow branches at the darkening sky. At least the stars look the same here as they do back home. Small comfort, but I'll take what I can get."Thought I might find you out here sulking."I don't need to look to recognize Mira's voice. She's bee
Alexander I’ve spent the entire day in bed with Lyra in my arms and I’ve never been more at peace. As twilight deepens outside the windows, we lie tangled together in comfortable silence. My fingers trace idle patterns on her bare shoulder while her head rests on my chest, directly over my heart. The bond between us hums with contented warmth, stronger and more stable than it's been since the temporary healing at the Cave of Whispers."The power surges have stopped," I observe quietly, realizing I haven't experienced a single manifestation since we came together.She props herself up on one elbow to look at me, her hair falling in a curtain around her face. "The intimate connection strengthened the bond's stability," she explains, unable to completely suppress her healer's analytical tendencies even now. "It's not permanent healing, but it's significantly reinforced the temporary measures."I can't help but laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Only you would provide a tec
Lyra The morning light is a soft intrusion, warm on my eyelids and tangled limbs. I wake in the circle of his arms, the night before replaying in vivid, lingering bursts. My body is a symphony of aches and satisfaction, reminders of just how thoroughly bonded we have become.I shift slightly, feeling the press of his skin against mine, and my breath catches at the heady intimacy of it. He murmurs something in his sleep and pulls me closer, as if even unconscious he can't bear for there to be any distance between us. The memory of our first night together blooms in my mind, a kaleidoscope of sensation and emotion.I remember the way he groaned my name as I collapsed against him, spent and breathless, the echo of our shared release reverberating through the bond."Does it hurt?" he asked.It had, but not in the way he meant. The stretch of him inside me was so overwhelming, so intense, but exquisitely good, and the moment I adjusted, it was as if my body couldn't get enough."More," I
Alexander I close the distance between us in one stride, my mouth finding hers with newfound urgency. Her response is immediate and enthusiastic, her body arching into mine as her arms wind around my neck. I tug gently at her loosened tunic, breaking the kiss only long enough to ask, "May I?"She nods, and I slip the garment from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. My breath catches at the sight of her—strong and lithe from years of healing work, skin pale gold in the afternoon light, the curve of her waist flaring into hips still covered by her leggings. The binding around her chest is utilitarian rather than decorative, but somehow all the more appealing for its practicality."You're beautiful," I tell her, because it's true and because the flush that spreads across her cheeks at the compliment is worth any momentary awkwardness."You're still wearing too many clothes," she points out, fingers already working at the fastenings of my shirt.I laugh, the sound rusty with dis