Page 31 of A Crown of Fates

Yet, even as I think the words, I know she could be right. I just don’t want to admit it, not even to myself.

“I’m sorry, Estee.” My voice cracks and my heart shatters. “I don’t know what’s real.”

I should let her go, but if I do, what will Orix do to her? Will her fate be even worse than being coerced into staying with me? I don’t know, but I need to find my way through this mental upheaval and figure this out before it’s too late for the both of us.

Though, it’s like I’m standing in quicksand. Any movement I make just might be the end of everything I thought I knew. Up, down, right, wrong. Nothing makes sense any longer and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.

“This is where you belong and I want you to remember just how quickly I can break you before you get any grand ideas of trying to defeat me. All you need to do now is make her stay.”

Orix’s presence is gone just as quickly as it comes and when I focus back on Estee, more confused than I’ve ever been, her eyes are wide and she’s gasping for air as she holds tighter to me.

“Mate.”

The single word falls from her lips, just as I’ve been hoping it would, but there’s no joy in my heart any longer.

Not when I know all of this might be a lie.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ESTEE

The bond—the one I’ve so vehemently denied regardless of my attraction to Theo—slams into me with the force of a tidal wave and once the surface breaks, the connection to this man that I’ve only felt glimmers of, roars to life. A part of me thought that maybe I’d never get this moment, that the fractured pieces I’d been teased with, were all I’d find with Theo. Yet, looking at him now, easily losing myself in his gaze, I know he’s been telling the truth the whole time.

“I’m so sorry, Estee.” The frown on his face is the last thing I expect after finally calling him mate.

“I don’t understand.” Instinctively, I step back, feeling as though I should protect myself from whatever he’s about to say. “What happened just now?”

Except I can only manage a few inches of space between us before my wolf rises to the surface, demanding to be close to him. The need to soothe the hurt coursing through him is so strong that my hands tremble at my sides, making me unsure of what I should do.

The tether connecting me to Theo continues to pulse through my veins, tugging at my heart, but the fact that he’s keeping a distance from me now has the rest of me terrified of what he’sgoing to say next. Especially when it feels as though all the walls I’ve so carefully built up over the years have been torn down in an instant, and in their place, a flood of emotions crash into me—joy, fear, hope, but beneath it all, there’s something deeper, primal.

Theo.

Every cell in my body screams his name, demanding to be close to him, to touch him in ways I haven’t even dreamed of yet. I want to wrap myself around his warmth and never let go.

“Orix, the god I’ve somehow tied myself to…” Theo’s body shudders as he seems to struggle for words as he meets my stare. “I’m sorry, Estee. I don’t know if this is real or not. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

“I don’t know why I couldn’t feel you before, but I do now,” I promise him. “You were right about us being mates. Why are you questioning things now?”

Even now, the need to touch him is all-consuming. I can’t fathom this being some sort of fabrication.

“Because Orix was just in my head and the things he said…” Theo grips the base of his neck as he looks away from me. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Minutes ago, after he admitted to killing King Airik, I wasn’t sure I could ever look at Theo the same, but now, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s my mate. And after hearing what he’s been through these last few years, I can’t believe for one second that anything he’s done to get to this point has been filled with malicious intent. Whatever this god is doing, I’m going to find a way to end the suffering he’s attempting to inflict.

I might still need time to process all of this, but there’s no more denying the truth and I need Theo to still believe because the pull I have toward him is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. I know—deep down, in my bones—this is real. Theo isn’t just some stranger I met a few days ago. He’s my mate, and that truthcrashes down around me, tearing apart the very foundation of everything I thought I knew.

The power of his scent—crisp yet earthy, like the woods after a raging storm—fills my senses, clinging to me like a comforting embrace.

I grab Theo’s hands, holding tightly to him. “I may not understand everything you’ve been through or how Orix is connected to you, but he’s not tied to me. I know what I’m feeling even if he’s somehow made you question everything.”

He leans into me, holding me close as his arms wrap around me. “This is what he does. He gives and takes and causes chaos. All for his own entertainment. I don’t want this for you. You deserve better.”

It’s no wonder Theo seemed so broken when I first saw him. He’s been through hell and there’s no end in sight to his suffering. I might have seemed like a light for him, but whatever Orix has done to his mental state now, has just set him back.

My heart wants to be the strength Theo needs to overcome this darkness, but the more logical part of me knows this is something he has to do on his own. I can’t fix this for him, not as his mate or even as an ally. But I can at least stop making things harder on him.

“We both deserve better,” I say confidently. “Once you believe that, everything will change.”

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