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NO. I might have said it out loud as I jumped out of bed. I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t set the bond. I didn’t deserve her.

“You can’t…you can’t do that to me.” I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, so accusatory. But one more touch from her would have sent me over the edge. I would take her as my own, feeling every bit inside of her, fucking her again and again until the fucking sun came up. I would have stopped if she asked, of course, but she was drunk and I wasn’t sure that she would. I couldn’t take advantage of her. I couldn’t do any of this.

The sorrow on her face broke me. But I knew I was doing the right thing. Icouldn’t. Fucking. Have her.

I was thankful that the next day she played it off like nothinghappened. We went to multiple shops around the city, including an apothecary where I stocked up excessively on bandages and medicines. Aura’s arm still hadn’t completely healed from Horus’s sword, and she even still had bruises from the river. If something happened again, I wanted to have the necessary tools to help her. I didn’t know much about healing, but the apothecary labeled the medicines well. I’d figure it out.

We decided to split up so I could shop for clothes, then we would meet up at a weapons shop nearby. When I entered the Flaming Point, I heard Aura talking with a familiar sounding woman who smelled like…witch. My hairs stood up as I was expecting the worst. If it was Sarai, we were done for. I moved quickly over to her, ready to fight to the death for her, when my eyes were met with a familiar face.

Trybe – a witch from Zolmara, and a very, very old friend of mine. We went to school together as children, she and I being right around the same age. As adults, we remained close friends, and on one drunken night we even slept together. We both had regrets, not for the action itself but because we didn’t want our friendship to be altered. But pretty quickly, we realized neither of us had romantic feelings for each other and nothing ever came of it other than one night of fun.

“Besides,” she had said with a grin all those centuries ago. “There’s still a chance you could find your fated mate someday. I couldn’t possibly get in the way of that.”

I had scoffed at her. Fated mates weren’t common, but also not entirely rare, with maybe one in every dozen or so lycan finding their mate.

My mind snapped back to the present when Trybe gasped my name. I heaved a sigh of relief, but I felt a slight emotion from Aura I didn’t recognize. Was it…jealousy?

Trybe distracted me from dissecting it further as she pulled meinto a tight embrace. Aura reluctantly left so we could catch up, but I could sense her sorrow as she stepped out of the shop.

Once we were in the clear, Trybe squeezed my hand tightly and wiped away her tears with the other. “Elias, what the hell happened to you? We all thought you were dead.”

“I know…” I replied, squeezing my old friend’s hand back gently. “I fled to Sprath, hoping to find safety, but many of the humans there feared me. When word spread that a lycan was in their midst, I was ambushed by the king’s men and taken to him. He enslaved me. Tortured me. Forced me to work for him. At the time, I never knew humans could be so…cruel. I’ve been working for his descendants against my will ever since.”

“Gods,” she whispered. “By working for them, you mean doing what exactly?”

And I explained everything. Everything from becoming their assassin, to their constant torture, all the way to finding Aura – my target – and realizing she was my mate. Then up to the point when we arrived to Monuvia. Trybe listened without interruption, her eyes wide with surprise.

“I took us here in hopes of finding a witch. And here you are.”

Trybe half-smiled. “Here I am,” she replied. “There aren’t a lot of other witches here, Elias. And the ones that are may not want to help you. They want nothing to do with our old life. A reminder like you could bring back old, terrible memories.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t blame them,” I stated simply.

“And no one wants to be on Sarai’s bad side. She is one powerful witch. Even I can’t match her.” Trybe furrowed her brow in worry. “But…I’ll see what I can do to help you.”

I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Maybe if you come with us to Zolmara…”

“No.” She interrupted flatly. “I’m sorry, Elias. I can’t go back there.”

I paused. I should have known that. I shouldn’t have suggested it. “I know. You’re right.”

“But I will try to help. I promise. I can try to whip something up for protection.” She sounded hopeful.

I dipped my head. “I would be forever in your debt. And if you only have enough power to make something that protects one of us, you give it to Aura. Do you understand?”

Trybe paused for a moment. “You love her, don’t you?”

My body tensed. I hadn’t heard it said out loud before, but I couldn’t deny it. “Yes,” I replied. I had no other words.

Trybe smiled widely. “I’m happy for you. You deserve love, Elias.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I wholeheartedly disagreed.

We stayed together for most of the day, reminiscing about our time as children, focusing on good memories instead of the bad. Then we went to a pub for ale and food, continuing the important earlier conversation, when we ran into Aura. She seemed flustered at first, but then quickly grew excited at the mention of archery.

That next morning, we unexpectedly ran into Prince Maksym. The absolute possessiveness I felt over Aura when she seemed awfully familiar with the prince made my wolf begin to surface. It wasn’t until I learned the prince was not interested in her for his own reasons, that the wolf relaxed.

I needed to calm myself. She was not mine. She didn’t belong to me. The mating bond was not set, and she deserved happiness with someone who deserved her – if someone like that could possibly even exist.