Page 56 of Flameborne: Fury (Emberquell Academy #2)

“And I knew that to be true. But not for me. I don’t know if it’s because she’s a woman, or because my dragon is the Primarch. Perhaps both. But Bren and I are bonded as surely as the dragons. Hear me, Diaan: It hurts me to be apart from her. She fills my thoughts, even now.”

Bren leaned harder into me, her breath shortening, but she was listening. I pressed on.

Diaan stared at me, baffled. “…surely you must see that someone of my age and experience could give you so much more—”

“I have everything I need. Everything. She is mine, and I’m hers, Diaan. I’m sorry. I pray you and Alexi can find—”

“Reject me if you will, Donavyn. But don’t insult me with pity.”

I clenched my jaw. “I hold no pity for you. Only a genuine desire not to harm you, Your Majesty.”

She flinched like I’d hit her.

Even though I feared her reaction, I sucked in a breath and let Bren see all of it—Diaan’s question of her value, and my response. My question of Diaan’s discretion, and her flippant declaration of her husband’s likely response when he heard this.

Whore. It was a word that had been used against Bren. Weaponized against her precious heart, and the Queen threw it around like salt to a meal. I hated it, but it only affirmed Bren had been right in her concerns about the assumptions people would make. Even the Queen herself.

“Then you understand my hesitation on Bren’s behalf?”

She gave me a look like I wasn’t playing fair, but then she nodded. “I do. And in light of that, I won’t share her secret unless she proves unworthy of the trust.” She tipped her head and gave me a measuring gaze. “Is she worthy of the trust, Donavyn?”

“Do you think I’d withhold this from Alexi if she wasn’t? I only agreed to it for her benefit because I’m confident she’ll prove her worth and in the wake of that, the declaration will change nothing.”

Diaan’s lips thinned. “Delay as little as possible. Alexi trusts and respects you, but he doesn’t take kindly to being kept in the dark, no matter the consequences. And his retribution, if he finds out to his detriment, will be swift and powerful. Are you sure you’re willing to risk that for her?”

I was offended by the disbelief in her tone. “Of course!” I growled.

Her expression was truly confused and surprised. “But, why?”

It was my turn to be stunned. But luckily, the answer for Diaan was precisely the same as I’d given Bren when she asked.

“Because she’s mine.”

Bren whimpered and clung to me. For a time we were thrown back into that tumult, the crashing wave of emotion—and Bren’s fear, affirmed by the Queen’s comments of what her husband would think, was galvanized. But I whispered to her. Reminded her. Pleaded with her.

“She lashed out at you because she knew I’d chosen you. That you were the one I wanted,” I whispered to her, fingers curled into her hair and holding her to me. “Anything she said was cruelty. Her pride at being rejected. It didn’t come from me, Bren.”

“I know,” she whispered back, nodding, but still clinging tightly. “But in the moment—”

I pulled back far enough to meet her eyes, holding her head so she couldn’t turn away.

“I’ll speak to her. I’ll speak to both of them.

If she’s going to lie like that, I can’t trust her to keep this from him.

And I don’t want her twisting my words—or yours—to him.

I have to tell him, Bren. I’ll ask him to keep it quiet.

We’ll ask for that protection from the Furyknights until you’ve proven yourself.

But I won’t let them belittle you. I don’t care who the fuck they are. ”

She stared at me with fear in her eyes. I felt the conflict churning in her—fear against love.

I shook my head. “Don’t fear this. It’s the truth. The truth is never the wrong thing to speak, or do. You’re mine, Bren. I’ll never be ashamed of that, or deny it.”

She blinked and bit her lip, a wave of gratitude washing over the other emotions boiling in her. Her eyes welled, but tears didn’t spill. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Then thank God that I do.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Thank you,” she breathed.

I sighed. “Bren, I’m not—”

“I’m not only thanking you for the Queen. It’s for the rest as well. For not seeing everything that’s happened as a blight on me.”

I wanted to groan and held her tighter. “Bren, you are so much more than that day. Or this one.”

“And that’s why I’m thanking you. You didn’t just love me through it. You’re willing to forgive it.”

A burst of anger at those bastards—and the Queen—met a chilling calm in my chest. But I knew there would be time to address the true villains here. Right now, it was my mate who needed me. And she didn’t need my blind rage.

I took her hand and twined our fingers, resting them on my thigh.

“You have nothing to be forgiven for,” I said quietly. “Not the Queen’s dishonest words, not that bastard who put you in that situation—”

“I don’t want to bring him into this,” she said quickly, but she didn’t turn from me. Didn’t remove her hand. She simply spoke the truth. Her mind skittered away from him—but not before I remembered the name she’d forgotten to obscure: Talon.

But my mate babbled, crying happy tears. I yanked my attention back to her, but I reeled.

“…I’m happy, Donavyn. This is incredible. When you saw all that, felt it all, lived it with me and still looked at me with love in your eyes… God, it healed something in me.” She let go of my hand, pushed up, off my lap, to kneel facing me, and she smiled like the world was right.

I blinked and swallowed, stunned speechless, trying to pull myself together at the same time love rushed into the bond and I embraced it.

“Me too,” I managed gruffly because my joy in her fought the sheer rage that wanted me to roar out of here like a dragon Primarch and take that fucker down.

I took her hand again, clenching my teeth, focusing on the warm rush between us, rather than the cold rage I yearned to unleash.

“I want you to promise me that if you’re ever afraid, or you meet someone who hurt you, or anything… you tell me.”

She took a deep breath, staring down at our hands. But she nodded. “I will.”

“Give me your word.”

She looked up and met my eyes. “I do, Donavyn. I will. But I can feel how angry you are and I don’t want that to be how you live. You’ve helped me be able to breathe. I don’t want to feel better at the cost of your peace.”

I shook my head. “Having you close feeds my peace, it doesn’t steal it,” I said, demonstrating by putting my shaking hand at the center of her chest so the bond thrummed.

She smiled and placed hers over it. But I wasn’t finished.

I didn’t want to steal this from her, but she needed to fucking say it .

“You can tell me, Bren,” I said intently. Willing her to tell me. “I know they were Furyknights. And that is a cancer that needs to be cut out of our ranks. I cannot in good conscience allow any man to carry the honor and responsibility of our status when they’re willing to—”

“He’s not here, Donavyn. I’ve looked. I was wary.

But he’s not here. They’re not here—at least, none that I recognize,” she said quietly.

“One was a man I grew up with. The others… I don’t even know their names.

Please. I want to move on and keep healing and…

” She blew out a breath, then let go of my hand, but her eyes were downcast, and I sensed the zing of something uneasy in her chest. Something she still wanted to hide from me.

Kgosi’s words echoed to argue with me. I wanted to scowl.

A mate protects their mate in whatever way is needed. She showed you the truth, Donavyn. That’s what was needed to renew the bond.

A downside of Kgosi’s age and perspective was that when he wasn’t in the throes of his bond-need, he was often far too patient, in my opinion. I ground my teeth.

‘Donavyn?’

I looked up quickly and froze in her gaze.

“Don’t bring him into this,” she whispered. “I’m happy. You’ve healed a piece of me I never thought I would get back. That’s why I thanked you. And that’s what I need right now.”

I sighed and swallowed back the burning rage. “Me too,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I did want to live in this bond, in this unity. But knowing that bastard walked free, and was admired —

I pulled her into my lap, and she smiled, curling against my chest, even when I muttered and held her so tightly against me it must have been difficult for her to breathe.

But I needed her touch as well as her heart.

I needed her to ground me. I needed to have the reminder that she was here, in my arms, not in his talons.

And I needed to not let her know how desperately I fought to go to war and kill that fucking bastard with my bare hands…