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“Fuck, Theon. Think with your head, not your dick. I get that she is more desirable than a male. Maybe you can still fuck her before we leave, but she is not the one for this,” Luka had argued. “Think about this before you make your choice.”

And he had. He’d thought about what he knew about the bond. He’d spent as many hours researching the bond as he had debating options. It would demand closeness— emotionally, mentally, and physically. He knew the Source and Master craved each other on an intense level. More than once he’d caught his father and his Source in…intimate situations. If this bond was going to come to that, he’d rather have it with her than Jaxson Caeso. The bond would make her want that too, so he’d Selected her.

And then she’d tried to godsdamn run from him.

He’d run into Luka in the corridor, two overnight bags in his hands. The male had arched a brow at Theon’s obvious fury, and when Theon had told him Tessa had climbed out a fucking window, Luka had sighed, shoving the bags at him.

“I told you to pick Jaxson,” Luka had said, before turning and setting off to track her down.

Staring out the window now, he watched the scenery pass by. Vegetation was green as one would expect at the end of summer despite the black mountains and grey plains. They just didn’t have to endure the stifling heat some of the other kingdoms had.

Theon turned his phone over in his hand, finding no new notifications. “Have you heard from Axel?” he asked Luka, who was messing around with his own phone and switching the music.

“No.”

“Are you going to be a moody bastard the entire drive?”

“Probably.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Theon muttered under his breath, bringing up his message thread with his brother.

“Don’t bother him right now,” Luka said.

“What if something is wrong?”

“What are we going to do about it from here?”

He had a point. There was nothing they’d be able to do until they were back at Arius House. Axel could handle this, and if he was in the middle of something important, they didn’t need to be interrupting him. He may be gone on business for his father, but he was also working on things for their own plans. If he got caught doing any of that…

Once this Source bond was in place, it wouldn’t matter.

“Once we get home and get Tessa settled, I’ll get in touch with him,” Luka said after a tense moment.

“Yeah, all right,” Theon muttered, flipping his phone over again and checking for any new messages.

Tessa began stirring beside him, and Theon tensed, preparing for the worst. “Get ready to pull over if needed,” he said to Luka, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Tessa’s eyes fluttered open, and she ran a hand down her face. Her makeup was smeared, and she had dark smudges of eyeliner and mascara across her cheeks.

“Where are we?” she murmured.

“We are on our way home,” he answered softly. “How are you feeling?”

She was quiet for a long moment before she answered, “My entire body hurts, and my throat is on fire.”

“Are you going to be sick?” Theon asked, helping her as she struggled to sit upright.

“I… I don’t think so,” she replied, pulling the blanket tightly around herself and putting space between them. The cord in his chest immediately tightened in protest at the distance. He knew they were both in the adjustment period, and that eventually they’d be able to spend periods of time apart without the bond being so intense. But right now, he just wanted her next to him. He wanted to feel her against him to appease the bond.

“Where are we going?” she asked, huffing a piece of hair from her face and pulling him from his distracted thoughts.

“Home,” Theon answered.

“Where is your home located?”

Theon shifted, his fingers flexing as he fought the urge to reach for her. “The House of Arius is in the Ozul Mountains.”

“I figured as much,” she replied dryly. “Where in the mountains?”