Page 68 of The Highseer's Mate

Mydros’ lips press into a thin line, his gaze flicking upward. “And we are supposed to listen to the testimony of Varek’s accomplice? Of the Vrut who helped him betray us all? We are not so dull.”

Paige sucks in a deep breath, her eyes pleading with me for answers. She’s desperate to feel my touch, as am I hers. We’ve been apart too long—the bond can feel it. I can’t even stomach if she were to fall sick again because of my absence.

The room breaks down into arguments, the small crowd of Vruts discussing what they just heard. I can hear the judgment, the faint calls for me to be exiled anyway. None of it matters. All I can focus on is Paige. Everything is for her.

Kylor clears his throat, lifting a hand to silence the room. He demands attention and the clan gives it.

“During the last Thachien attack, we lost a pair of mates.”

His gray eyes slide to me as a numbness spreads through my limbs.

“Varek himself remembers what it was like to lose his father to Thachien hands and then his mother to a broken bond. But we all remember what that attack did to our numbers,” Kylor says.

The room goes eerily silent, despair thickening in the air.

“We lost fathers. Brothers. Children. There have been no spryts born in the last twenty years. This cannot go on.” Kylor frowns. “Perhaps Varek encountering his mate, and four other females, eclipses his clouded decision making.”

Mydros’ stare snaps in the direction of Kylor. His eyes blaze with fury.

“Perhaps Varek is wise to put the future before the present.”

“You can’t be serious,” Mydros seethes.

I raise my chin, puffing out my chest. “I will accept whatever punishment the council sees fit to give, but it is important that my people know, I only thought of my family, my clan, and our future.”

My gaze drifts to Paige. I can’t be sure of what Kylor, Elyra, and Mydros will decide, but I am certain that my actions were just. I was awarded the spot on the council, the position of Highseer, because of my fairness. My battle prowess. But also my moral sense of justice. It never faded—it just rooted to a new guide post.

If I must leave, Paige will be safe with the clan. Draxel will protect her along with his own mate. She will be with her friends. She will find happiness again.

And I will live on, clinging to the memory of holding her in my arms, petting her pretty hair, and loving her with all of me.

Chapter 26

Paige

Ican’t breathe.

The council members have left the chamber to deliberate. I’m dizzy and dying to go to Varek, but the hunters around him will not let me pass.

All I can think about is what he said earlier. Spryt. He means baby, right? He’s already thinking about our future family. My heart cracks a little as a new panic sets in. I don’t want to—I can’t—be alone and pregnant. I mean, he’s my mate. He’s supposed to be with me every step of the way.

Lara chews on her bottom lip as Nicole pulls me in for another hug. They don’t understand, but my fear must be written all over my face.

“What did that hunter guy say? The one with the shining chest?” Nicole asks.

“Draxel,” I name him for her. “He talked about Ryan. That she’s his mate. And that Varek shouldn’t be punished for what he did because he did it for me.”

Nicole smiles, her eyes squinting at the edges. “See? Everything is going to work out.”

I shake my head.

Kylor walks in first, and Elyra and Mydros are right behind him. My heart stalls and I swallow down the lump in my throat. The anticipation—all this damn waiting—is going to send me into an early grave.

The council assumes their position in the chamber and Kylor addresses the clan. “We have discussed. In our history, and in my lifetime, I have never witnessed a Highseer abuse his position of power in such a wicked way.”

I swallow hard.

“The council will not allow members of this clan to act selfishly, for to their own gain, in direct aggression to the rest of our numbers. It would be chaos if we turned on each other–abandoned our fellow Vrut for our own desires.”

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