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W hen Adric awoke just before dawn, Rosana was curled up in his arms, their bodies spooned together. He watched over her shoulder as she turned the amethyst pendant in her fingers, examining it like it was a fucking diamond.

He nuzzled her temple. “You really like it.”

“Well, yeah.” She rolled over to face him. “You gave it to me.”

She had that soft, open expression that hit him like a fist to the chest. Didn’t the woman know how to protect herself?

He swallowed and touched the pendant so that he didn’t have to look at her face. “You’re not what I expected either.”

She circled his nipple with a fingertip. Petting him again. Like she couldn’t get enough of him.

“What did you expect?”

He shrugged. “A brat. You’re the alpha’s baby sister.” He only just stopped himself from saying spoiled baby sister.

The hand on his chest stilled. “Doesn’t mean I got a free pass. I worked my ass off in the training cave, and I made warrior with the rest of my cohort.”

“I know.” He captured her fingers, kissed her knuckles. “That’s what I’m trying to say. There’s more to you than I expected. You’re smart, tough. Good in a crisis. And sexy as hell.”

A roll of her eyes. “Thanks.” But she resumed petting him.

Tracing his collarbones, teasing his nipples, bumping a fingertip down each rib. He closed his eyes, drifting in a satiated haze, until she touched his pendant.

“Your quartz—there’s a swirl of green inside.”

His whole body jerked—an instinctive reaction. He yanked it away from her.

“Oh, gods.” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

He gave a taut nod. Only another earth fada could know how bad it hurt—worse than a knee to the balls.

“It’s all right. But nobody touches our quartz except family.”

Or a mate.

Because Rosana’s touch hadn’t hurt. It had felt good, like she’d reached inside and caressed his heart.

His breath tangled in his chest.

No fucking way. We are not mated.

Both members of a pair had to agree to a mating. Words had to be spoken, a commitment made before the gods and the clan. But that sea-green thread was the same color as her dolphin’s eyes.

She touched his arm. “You are hurt. I should’ve know better. Merry told me…”

He jolted, jumped out of bed.

“Ric?” She sat up, the quilt gripped to her breasts. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Sorry—I’m just….on edge. But don’t touch it again, all right?”

“I won’t. I promise. But I didn’t know your quartz could change color. Merry’s doesn’t.”

He wrapped his fingers protectively around the pendant. “It’s…unusual.”

In fact, he’d never heard of anything like it. Fada mates shared a special, mystical bond. Earth fada pairs connected through their quartzes—that warmth he’d noticed when Rosana was near—but he’d never heard of it appearing as a twist of color.

But then, he didn’t know any water/earth fada pairs.

If only his parents were still alive. He needed to ask someone about this, someone he trusted. So few of the clan’s elders had survived the Darktime.

Rosana was staring at him. Releasing the quartz, he got back into bed and pulled her back into his arms.

She rested her head on his shoulder, her hand carefully on his waist, far from his quartz. “You sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. Really.” He kissed her temple. “Go back to sleep.”

She twisted her head so she could examine his face and then relaxed back against him again. Her breath sighed out, and a short time later she was asleep.

The fae lights dimmed to a muted peach. They floated above the bed like the last, glowing embers of a dying fire, painting Rosana’s creamy skin a warm gold.

Her inky hair tumbled over them both. He stroked it away from her face.

Her mouth was slightly ajar, the full lips lax with sleep. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open.

She looked so damn young, sweet…in a way he’d never been.

Mate.

His chest tightened, as the man recognized what his cougar already knew. The mate bond had already formed. A few fine-spun, hopeful strands, connecting his heart to Rosana’s.

His stomach sank.

He couldn’t let it happen, couldn’t leave her behind to suffer as his mom had. He had to cut the link. He just prayed it wasn’t already too late.

He slid out from under Rosana and rolled her onto her side facing away from him. She gave a discontented murmur, and he froze until she settled again, head pillowed on her hand.

He waited another few minutes. Then he set his jaw and rejected the bond. It resisted, more than he expected for such a tenuous connection. But the few strands were already intertwined, his a shimmering blue, hers aqua-green.

Behind him, Rosana mumbled unhappily. “ N?o, meu querido, n?o …”

Sweat broke out on his brow. He pulled harder at his blue strands, but they just elongated as if they could stretch infinitely long. Without realizing it, his hand closed on his quartz, seeking strength, energy.

Rosana’s strands wavered, tried to move around the barrier of his fist. And with that, he knew what to do.

He called on the power of his quartz. His cat clawed at him from inside.

Mate , it hissed. Ours.

He ignored it to ruthlessly throw up a barrier between his heart and Rosana’s. There was an almost audible snap as the strands broke, severing the link.

He jolted. It hurt—bad. Like a crater had opened in his chest. The sheer emptiness made the breath whoosh from his lungs.

Rosana whimpered and flung out an arm as if warding off a blow.

He reached out a hand and then curled his fingers into his palm. He ached to touch her, to tell her it would be okay, but he’d lost that right.

He waited another few minutes before slipping out of bed. When he picked up his quartz, the sea-colored spiral had vanished. Sadness swamped him, bone-deep and grim, like the sun setting on his dreams.

He dropped the pendant over his head and glided soundlessly out of the room.