Page 33 of The Highseer's Mate

She can barely move, but her hands raise and wrap around me, clinging to me like she might die if she lets go.

“Please,” she whimpers. “Take the pain away.”

“Paige, I—”

My mate grunts in agony. Her eyes flutter shut again and I can’t take it any longer.

“Save her!” I shout at the healer across from me.

Selvara’s eyes snap to mine. “She is feeling the bondburn.”

I shake my head. “But she’s in pain? She’s not—”

The bondburn doesn’t manifest like this. The bondburn is not something to fear. It’s inconvenient, sure, but it shouldn’t have caused her to collapse in pain. To pass out and cry out for me like this.

“She is not Vrut,” Selvara says calmly. She gets up and goes to her many pots, gathering materials as she continues. “In Vruts, the bondburn is much like an aphrodisiac. It stimulates arousal and pushes two mates into making the bond official. It is pleasurable. Annoying.”

Paige has a sheen of sweat all over her body. Her hair sticks to her sweaty neck and her breath is ragged, like she can’t get enough air.

“Her body has recognized that she has a mate. But you two have not bonded and her body is rejecting itself.”

“Rejecting itself?” I cuddle her closer to my chest, practically still holding her in my arms as she lies in the hammock.

Selvara uses a rock tool to grind up some dried herbs. She’s too calm, working too methodically compared to my heart pounding in my ears.

Paige shivers against my chest.

“You need to mate with her,” Selvara says plainly.

Anger rolls through me as I look down at the limp creature in my arms. “You think I’m not dying to make her mine? To claim her in front of the rest of the clan and end my misery?” I ask.

Selvara shrugs her shoulders, her back still turned to me as she finishes making something I’ve never seen before.

“Until you bond with her,” she says, turning with a small bowl in her hand. She pours a splash of water into the bowl and moves it side to side, mixing up the mixture inside. “This will wake her. It will take away the pain.”

“For how long?” I wince.

Selvara meets my gaze and shakes her head.

Not long.

I look down at Paige. My mate is too pale—the usual pink color of her cheeks is all but gone. Her lips are nearly white. Pain lances across my chest as I look down at her.

I did this. I allowed this to happen.

Selvara joins me at the hammock and I raise Paige’s head enough to allow her to drink. The dark gray, chalky mixture dribbles down her chin as she grimaces.

“I know, troublemaker,” I whisper into her hair. She smells like the blooms of the dainty flowers on an aged voralith. A sign of life. Of growth. Of strength. “I know.”

My chest constricts as Selvara forces more of the liquid down. It stings my nostrils and I massage Paige’s throat, forcing her to swallow it down.

“This helps curb a Vrut female’s desires. It will bring your mate back to you,” Selvara says low. She takes the bowl away. “I will bring you another batch. Make her drink every day until she wakes.”

Paige groans as I lift her off the hammock, holding her close to my chest. Just feeling her in my arms helps ease the pain, but I can’t face the fact that I caused this pain in her. I’m the reason she shivers and winces.

Our own unfulfilled bond is killing her.

“Thank you.” I bow my head, the words souring in my mouth. Selvara is the only healer I trust, but I can’t bring myself to look her in the eyes. I’m shamed. Three days with Paige and I am already hurting her. Neglecting her needs.

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