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“Tessa.”

“Theon,” she parroted.

He was done messing around. She made him feel like he had no control. The Source bond was jerking in his chest, demanding he close the distance between them, despite having just carried her to the vehicle minutes ago.

“Tessa, do not make me force this. Come here.”

And that’s when Tessa lost her fucking mind.

Her hands came up into her hair. She grabbed fistfuls of the golden locks and pulled, tilting her head back and screaming in utter rage and ruin to the heavens.

“Holy fuck!” Luka cursed, swerving over to the side of the road. Big, fat drops of rain had begun falling against the windows, sounding like rocks each time one hit. Theon’s eyes were wide as he watched his Source utterly fall apart.

“Theon, do something!” Luka barked, staring at Tessa in disbelief. “She’s going to rip her hair out.”

“Tessa, stop it!” Theon snapped, flying across the seat and reaching for her wrists. But that caused her to grimace, and instead of screams of rage, she cried out in pain, keeping her hair firmly in her grasp. The rain was pouring now, making all the noise in the vehicle chaotic. Theon had to yell to be heard over her screaming and the pounding rain. “Tessalyn, stop it! Stop!”

Her screaming ceased immediately, and she released her hair, collapsing against him. He gathered her into his arms, leaning into the seat and resting his head back, closing his eyes as she panted against him. This would forever go down as being the longest day of his life, and he’d had some pretty shitty days.

Eventually, the rain let up some, and Luka eased back onto the road. Tessa’s breathing evened out. He was exhausted. He couldn’t imagine how Tessa felt. Although to be fair, Theon and Luka had made it a point to sleep most of the afternoon yesterday before the Selection Ceremony began. Neither of them had been entirely sure how the bonding would play out, but he knew neither of them had expected anything like this.

Mile after mile passed, and Tessa didn’t stir in his arms. He couldn’t get the image out of his head of her pulling at her hair and screaming. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her doing just that, so he gave up on closing them, watching the familiar scenery pass by the window.

Tessa had become so still, he thought she had fallen asleep. So when her voice drifted up to him, hoarse from screaming, as they neared Sinvons Lake, he stiffened.

“Is this how it’s going to be? When I don’t act the way you desire, you will just entrance me?”

His jaw clenched. “If you would simply listen when I ask you to do something, this would not be an issue, Tessa,” he finally ground out. He felt her tense at his words and try to push away from him, but he tightened his hold, keeping her in place. “Don’t, Tessa. Don’t do this. The bond wants us touching right now. It is how it strengthens and forms.”

Still she struggled against him, and Theon couldn’t believe she was fighting him on this yet again. “For the love of the gods, yes! If you are going to act like a petulant child, I am going to treat you like a petulant child. Stop or I will force you to stop.”

She sucked in a sharp breath at the words and stilled in his arms. After a full minute of silence, he heard her whisper, “As you wish, Master.”

Luka was shaking his head, his shoulders tense and eyes fixed on the road, clearly disapproving of everything that had just happened. Theon rested his head back against the seat once more, closing his eyes. He had a Source, yes, but so far, that was the only thing that had gone according to his plans.

6

TESSA

She slept off and on for the rest of the drive. At least when she was sleeping, she didn’t register the pain. When she was awake, she wanted to peel the skin from her bones. Tessa was certain that would be less painful than what she was currently experiencing. The sunlight hurt her eyes, and she longed for the darkness of night. She was freezing despite the layers she was wrapped up in, so she thought she might have a fever too. She didn’t know for sure. Being Fae, she’d never experienced what true sickness felt like, but if it felt like this, she pitied every mortal in existence.

She’d stopped fighting with Theon. It was too exhausting, and he was right. Being close to him eased some of the physical discomfort. Internally, though, she was screaming at his touch. He made her drink water throughout the trip, insisting she needed to hydrate. He offered her food— fruit, cheese, crackers. She turned it all down. She said it was because she was nauseous, but she really just had no appetite. He would ask how she was feeling, but when her answer was repeatedly “fine,” he eventually stopped asking.

She made no requests to stop again, but Luka made sure they did anyway. Every hour without fail, he’d pull into the next available stop. If she slept through the hour mark, he stopped as soon as he realized she had woken. Sometimes the stops were just pulling off on a side road. She would walk among the trees in only Theon’s sweatshirt that stopped mid-thigh and the flip-flops Luka had purchased for her, clutching the blanket tightly around herself. Another time, they stopped in Rockmoor, one of the few widely known cities in the Arius Kingdom. Theon disappeared for a while there. The cord inside her may have had a fit, but she had breathed easier for the first time since her name had been called at the Pantheon. He returned with a pair of loose linen pants. He helped her slip them on, then slid the flip-flops back onto her feet. One would almost think he was trying to make up for being a complete dick.

The Ozul Mountains were beautiful though. Not bleak and dreary like she’d always assumed they would be. She couldn’t remember being anywhere outside of the Celeste Estate and the surrounding forest it was nestled in. She’d been to Arobell, of course, the capital city of the Celeste Kingdom. But the Fae Estate was located on the outskirts of it, right on Lake Moonmist. She’d tried to breathe in lungfuls of the fresh mountain air whenever she could, but her throat and chest hurt too much, so she’d ended up just pulling the hood of the sweatshirt up to block the sunlight from her sensitive eyes. When they got back into the vehicle, she’d immediately fallen back asleep. Even ten minutes of walking made her exhausted.

“Tessa.” There were fingers trailing along her cheek and jaw, and the blanket was being tugged off her. “I need you to wake up, beautiful.”

Tessa forced herself to open her heavy eyelids and found Theon’s emerald gaze fixed intently on her. She blinked at him, confused as to why he was waking her up when all he’d done the entire day was tell her she needed to rest. A soft smile tilted at the corner of his mouth. He brushed hair off of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

“What’s happening?” Tessa murmured, her voice thick with sleep.

“We will be home in the next hour.”

Home.

If she had the energy, she’d scoff at the term. Her home was with Dex and Oralia, with Brecken, Lange, and Corbin. Arius House would never be her home. Rather than say any of that though, she opted for silence and just stared back at him.