Page 19 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

“You’re okay. Just stay calm for me as we walk back to camp, where I can keep you warm,” Kieran coos. “I’ve got you. Just worry about staying in my arms and warming up.”

“How did you know she was there?” another male voice asks.

“This is Zayden, he’s another of my friends,” Kieran whispers. “She’s my mate. She pulled the mate bond and led me to where she was without even knowing it. Adeline knew she was in trouble and was calling out to me, and I came.”

“She doesn’t know?” Everett asks. “That she is your mate?”

“She knows, but she doesn’t fully understand what it means,” Kieran explains.

I grumble against his skin. “Tell me,” I weakly demand.

“Not right now, Adeline.” Kieran looks down at me. “You are far too weak, and I want you to remember when I tell you everything.”

I open my mouth to argue, but stop myself. I don’t know what I’m going to remember when I wake up again. What if I’m so close to death that I don’t remember Kieran and who he is to me?

Who he is to me.

I don’t even know that right now. I feel the attraction toward him, but I have no idea why. Is he ever going to tell me? He said we are meant to be together, but that could mean so many different things.

“I will tell you soon,” Kieran reassures me. “Don’t worry about that at the moment. Things are going to change.”

“How do you know she’ll remember this?” Elias inquires.

“I will keep my promise whether she remembers or not,” he snaps at his friends.

I place my cold hand against his chest, trying to calm him. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, but it feels like the right thing to do. He hisses, and I snatch my hand off him.

“Put that hand back.” His voice is gravelly and low. “But keep it under the blanket so it warms up.”

I hesitate, but with one pointed look from him, I set it back on him, feeling the warmth from him start to slowly creep up my hands. I grit my teeth as pins and needles surface, and it takes everything in me to keep my hand there.

“Rest.” Kieran looks down at me. “And keep your hands tucked in. I don’t want to have to remind you again.”

I glare at him but don’t close my eyes. I don’t want to sleep right now, even if my body is begging me to rest. I’m safe in his arms, but I’m afraid that if I fall asleep now, I won’t see him again when I wake up or that death will take me away.

“Adeline, rest. I have you,” he tries to reassure me.

“No,” I weakly reply. “I’m not going to sleep.”

A collective chuckle fills the air, but I don’t tense up this time. They are Kieran’s friends, and he wouldn’t let anyone near me if they were going to harm me, right?

He wouldn’t show me to his friends and tell me who they are if he didn’t trust them.I may not know Kieran that well, but from the little he has explained to me, I know he wouldn’t put me in danger.

“You are going to have your hands full with her.” Zayden laughs.

“Good luck,” Everett calls out. “You’re going to need it when you guys get closer.”

“Already defying the High?—”

“Are you guys done?” Kieran asks. “Don’t you have anything better to do right now?”

“Like sleep? Sure, but we aren’t going to do that until you get back to camp with her,” Elias points out. “While it may be safe, we aren’t taking any chances.”

It’s thoughtful of them to think that. They really seem to care about Kieran and me. Or maybe it is just Kieran who they are worried about, and since I’m with him, they are worried about me as well. I don’t know but whatever it is, they are sweet for that.

“Let’s speed up,” Kieran says. “I want to spend some time with her and get her warmed up before she goes back home.”

His grip on me tightens as he holds me even closer to him.

“I’m going to run. You’ll be safe. Just relax,” Kieran gently explains to me. “We’ll be there in no time, and the fire will warm you when we’re there.”

He places the blanket over my head, keeping me cocooned, as he starts to run. I tense, expecting to be jolted around, but I’m not. There is movement, but it’s so smooth that it starts to put me to sleep.

I bite my lip and continuously blink to keep myself awake. I don’t want to fall asleep yet. I want to talk to him when we get to his camp. I have so many questions to ask him about how he found me. That shouldn’t have been possible, but somehow I managed to call out to him.

“Almost there.” His voice rings out.

I need to hold on a little longer, stay awake for a little longer. But with each passing second, my eyes start to droop, threatening to close for good. Panic flows through me as my body relaxes. I don’t want to fall asleep. The thought of never waking up is circling in my mind.

“She asleep?” Zayden asks.

The blanket is pulled from my face, and Kieran smiles at me. “No, she isn’t.”

Kieran’s friends burst into laughter

“With how tightly you were holding her, I thought she would be,” Everett chimes in. “ Stubborn.”

“Exactly,” I whisper. “I want to talk to you.”

Kieran is still smiling at me, his eyes twinkling with something I can’t make out. “Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t fall asleep.”

Butterflies flutter in my stomach at the notion of him wanting the same thing as me. I was worried he would be mad at me for not resting when I had the chance.

“But I don’t think that’s the real reason,” he murmurs.

My eyes go wide as I stare at him. He knows? “We’re here. I’ll see you guys in the morning when we report in,” Kieran tells his friends.

“Bye, Adeline. Nice to meet you,” Elias says, and the other two call out their goodbyes.

Kieran walks into a type of tent where a fire is burning, continuing to hold me close.

“I think there is another reason you haven’t fallen asleep.” Kieran gives me a pointed look as he sets me on the ground next to the fire. “I could feel your heartbeat against me. The way it slowed down like you were about to fall asleep, but it sped right up soon after.”

Clenching my jaw, I look away from him. I didn’t think he was paying that much attention to me, but I was wrong. Why didn’t he say anything at the time?

“What were you so scared of?” he asks, leaning in from where he’s sitting right next to me. “Were you scared that my friends and I were going to do something?”

I shake my head rapidly. That hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Then what was it?” he asks. “No lying.”

“I didn’t want to die,” I whisper, my voice shaky.

“Die?” His eyebrows furrow.

I nod. “I was so close to dying before you came and found me. How did you find me?”

Kieran stands and grabs a long coat, and drapes it around my shoulders before sitting next to me.

“You called out to me, begging me to come to you,” he gently explains. “You may not have thought it was me, but you pulled at the bond we share and opened up communication for a brief second and called out, showing me where you were.”

My mouth hangs open, not completely believing him, but how else could he have found me? He wouldn’t have been able to follow me the whole time without one of the guards noticing. The only other logical reason was what he just told me, which isn’t logical at all when I really think about it.

There is no way I could talk to him in my mind. No way at all. I have no magical powers.

“ Hello .” He looks at me, but his mouth doesn’t move.

Pushing myself back, I snag myself on the coat he placed over me, falling onto my back in the process.

“Wow, you’re okay,” he soothes. “Everything is okay.”

“Yo-you just?—”

“I just spoke in your mind. Do you believe me now?” he asks.

I nod as he helps me sit up. The heat from the fire flitters against my skin, and I try to scooch forward, but Kieran stops me.

“No closer. I don’t want you to burn yourself,” he gently but firmly tells me. “We don’t want you to warm up too quickly and cause any damage.”

He’s right. Last year, when I came back, my mother warmed me up slowly, even though it was painful; she didn’t want to cause any damage by warming me up too quickly. I didn’t want that either.

“I’m sorry for calling you without knowing it,” I whisper, keeping my eyes focused on the flames.

“I’m not,” he replies. “I’m glad you called me.”

When I finally look at Kieran, he is smiling.

“You called, I came. You need me, I’ll come. No matter the circumstances, no matter how dangerous it is, I’ll always come when you call me.” Kieran kneels in front of me.

I didn’t realize I was leaning forward, gazing into those familiar cobalt blue eyes.

His hand grips the back of my neck, keeping me in place so I don’t move. “I’ll always come, no matter the circumstance.”

I suck in a breath, believing every word he said.

“I take care of what belongs to me.” He kisses my forehead, and I close my eyes, taking it all in.

We stay there for several seconds, his lips on my forehead as we just exist in each other’s presence.

“I belong to you?” I finally ask, pulling away.

He smirks. “You belong to me. I belong to you. We belong to each other for the rest of our lives. You can’t do anything about it. Even if you could, I wouldn’t let you. ”

I open and close my mouth several times, trying to come up with something, but I have nothing.

“You don’t need to say anything. I know you’ve gone through a lot tonight,” he gently says. “Let’s lie down so you can get some sleep before you have to go back to your parents’ house in the morning.”

Right. I still have to go back home at the time I would have if I were still walking and he hadn’t run here. Disappointment fills me at the thought of having to go back. I want to stay with Kieran for the rest of my life.

“Come on,” he urges as he helps me lie next to the fire, his body right behind mine.

I let out a sigh of contentment as I close my eyes, taking everything in. It feels natural for Kieran to be this close to me, like it’s meant to be.

“I’ll wake you up when we need to head to your house,” Kieran whispers. “You just relax and get some rest.”

After taking a deep breath in, I slowly let it out, and I relax. My body feels heavier with each passing second, begging to go to sleep, but my mind keeps me awake. I’ve warmed up, but will I easily get cold again and die in my sleep?

“Adeline,” Kieran gently instructs. “Relax and go to sleep.”

I let out a groan of frustration and open my eyes to watch the fire dance. “I’m trying,” I whisper, my voice cracking at the end.

I desperately want to sleep, but I’m so worried. I came so much closer to death this time, and I’m not ready to die. My mother needs me. What would she do if I had died? Would she have been able to do everything that needed to be done?

“What’s got you all worked up?” Kieran asks.

I hesitate for a second. Does he really want to know?

“Tell me,” he urges. “Tell me what’s keeping you from getting the rest you desperately need.”

“What if I get cold again and this time you’re not there to save me?” I whisper before I can stop myself.

Sucking in a breath, I close my eyes and try to calm my racing heart but fail miserably as I wait for Kieran to say something, anything .

“I won’t allow that,” he declares. “You are not going to die, not when I’ve only just found you. I’m going to keep you warm the whole night, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m here for you.”

He wraps his arm around my stomach, pulling me closer to him.