Page 35 of The Highseer's Mate

His soft skin. His warmth.

“You passed out.”

“Why?” I ask.

He shakes his head, still holding me close. His fingers draw circles on the small of my back while he nuzzles the top of my head. “Because of me.”

That doesn’t make sense, but nothing in my life really makes sense now. “How long ago was that?”

Though I don’t have pain, my entire body feels groggy. My muscles are sluggish and fatigued. I feel like I’ve been sleeping for ages.

“Four days.”

My eyes go wide and I pull back, looking up at him. “Four days?”

What the fuck?

Four days have passed since that conversation with Kylor? I’ve been here now for a week.

And the other women? Are they safe? Were they able to contact Control?

I start to blurt out the first question I can. I need to know they are okay. “How are—”

Varek sighs. “We need to mate.”

I shake my head, processing his words that don’t make sense at a time like this.

“If we don’t mate, you will get sick again.”

“Sick?” I wasn’t sick. My chest hurt like it was going to explode. If that’s what made me pass out, that has nothing to do with Varek and it certainly has nothing to do with our mate bond. For someone who is supposed to care about me so deeply, he’s choosing a strange time to press to get into my pants.

We have more serious issues—like the fact that I need to know what’s going on with the five human women I asked him to protect.

“The bondburn,” he says. “You have the bondburn.”

I wait for him to continue—his words make no sense.

“Your body recognizes me as your mate but we haven’t fulfilled the bond. The bondburn is hurting you. Killing you. Rejecting you as a way to speed up the mating. The only way to cure it is…”

“Fucking,” I murmur.

His brows knit like he doesn’t understand the term.

“Mating,” I clarify.

He nods. “I need to claim you. Make you mine to ease the bondburn, or else you will just get worse.”

I pull back further, thinking this all over.

So my body—even though it’s human—somehow recognizes Varek as my mate and is now trying to kill me for not having sex with him? This can’t be real. I literally can’t wrap my head around it.

I shake my head and pull my legs beneath me. I push to stand but my muscles go wobbly and Varek is there to steady me. “How are the others? The humans. Are they safe?”

“Paige,” Varek says, his tone demanding. “Look at me.”

I use the reserves of my energy to stand up all the way, this time finding my balance on my own. “Answer me. I want to see them. Make sure they are okay. Take me there.”

“Mate,” he says, his voice laced with anger and desperation. “You can’t. You’re not going anywhere until we take care of this.”

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