Page 12 of Guardian's Destiny

"I need to get out of here," I said, swinging my legs over the bed. Shit, I was dizzy. Automatically I kept my weight off my broken ankle, until I remembered the other women using a healing wand on it earlier.

"Hold on, slow down," he rose from thebeanbagchair—far too graceful and easy for a man of his size—and came over toward the bed.

I held up my hand. "Stop!"

"What?"

Is he dense? "Stop!"

He stopped, wearing a perplexed expression. It looked almost… hurt?

"I only want to help you," he assured me.

"Fine, then help me get out of here."

"Where do you want to go?" He creased his brow.

"As I told your friends before, I need to get to Astrionis," I explained. Maybe he hadn't gotten the message from the others yet.

"Sloane, maybe?—"

"Since you already seem to know my name, let's make it fair. What's yours?" I interrupted him.

"Vraax."

Vraax? That sounded stupid, but what did I know?

"Alright, Vraax, can you take me to Astrionis?"

His stance slightly tensed. "Didn't the others tell you about our Soulweb Glyphs?"

"Yeah, I heard the whole story," I admitted. "Sorry about that." I wasn't sure what I was sorry about. "But our species doesn't do with this fated mate stuff. So…" I trailed off, hoping he would get the hint.

"Uhm, didn't they tell you that there's nothing we can do about it, right?" He asked.

"Look, you are an attractive man. I'm sure you can find another woman who would be happy to be your… ah, mate. It's just not me."

As tempting as the man was, I had long ago decided that I would never marry. Never bind myself to a man like my mom had to my dad.

At that, he laughed. Actually threw back his head and laughed. Anger surged through my stomach; the fate of the Pandraxian Empire was hanging in the balance, and he was laughing at me? He just reinforced my belief in why I never wanted to bind myself to a man. They would never take us women seriously. Well, most didn't. I had seen how Daryus took every word of his Empress, Heather, to heart and how Xandros surrendered to Ash. But they were exceptions to the rule. The other alpha males I knew were just that, alpha males, or better alpha holes, as I liked to call them.

"Forgive me," he apologized after an agonizing thirty seconds or so of uninterrupted hilariousness. "I don't think the females explained how this bond works to you."

I rolled my eyes. "They did. Fate brings you together, Soulweb Glyphs appear, which by the way hurt like a bitch, batta-bing batta-bang, batta-boom. I'm telling you it's just not for me. I'm sorry."

He stepped aside. "Fine, leave."

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," I tried. I could have gone easier on him, I told myself as I stepped around him, ready for him to pounce on me or worse. He really was a good-looking man, and during any other circumstances, I would have loved to… explore this mating thing… Well, maybe not mating as in marrying, but mating as in hopping to bed together, that I would have strongly considered.

The door ahead of me opened. So far, Vraax had given no indication that he would try to stop me, so I stepped into the hallway. I figured I would run into the others somewhere and persuade them to take me to Astrionis. I was sure Emperor Daryus would handsomely reward them for their troubles. Theinformation I had would warrant that. Not just the threat of the GTU and the Moggadesh, but protecting Zapharos. He could not fall into the Moggadesh's hands.

The doors had barely closed behind me and I had barely taken four steps away from it, when the damnmatingmarks started to hurt again. What the…

I really didn't have time for this. I stared at my arm, really looking at the marks for the first time. They were actually kind of pretty. They were even swirling around my Eagle, Globe, and Anchor tattoo, enhancing it instead of covering it up.

My legs were getting heavier with every step I took, and the damn marks hurt like they were being carved into me all over again. But I'd be damned if I gave in to it. I had lived through worse. I could do it. I forced another step as sweat ran down my back.Don't you dare give up Sloane, I told myself, a mantra that had fueled me all my life. As a teen, I finally realized that Dad would never acknowledge any of my accomplishments. I went into the military to prove something to him, but in the end, I proved it to myself. There were always going to be men who treated me differently because I was a woman, but I was determined to prove myself the best.

I heard the door behind me opening, and heavy footsteps rushed up to me. "You okay?"

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