Page 63 of Bound in Flames

“What about to me!” I demanded, my voice sharp with anger.

“You changed everything! At first, I thought I could ignore our connection, but you pushed right through the walls as quickly as I could put them up. Now I see it was inevitable. I can’tbreathewithout you. I can’t think straight! You’re not just my mate, Cleo—you’re my weakness!”

His pained voice tugged at my heart, but I refused to let them soften the edges of my anger as I pulled from his grasp. “And you think that makes it better? That admitting you’re a slave to your emotions somehow justifies keeping this from me?! You lied to me!”

“I was trying to find another way!” Dex roared, his voice echoing off the stone walls. His hands fisted at his sides, his entire body radiating frustration and desperation, his voice dropping into a whisper. “Do you think I want this to be your fate? That I haven’t spent every waking moment searching for another way? I won’t let this prophecy take you from me. I can’t.”

For several long minutes we stared at each other, neither of us speaking. My breath came in shaky bursts, my chest heaving with emotions. “Arna told me the earth chose intentionally. Fate intervened.”

Dex’s eyes narrowed in confusion as he stared at me. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. She said my bond with you doesn’t make me a human shaman anymore, I’m a part of the Blackfoot Clan. She thinks that becoming one with the clan may have been my other option.”

Dex’s fists unclenched, his shoulders sagging as the fight seemed to drain out of him. “Gods, I hope she is right,” he whispered. “But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up looking for another way. I won’t let the prophecy decide your fate, Cleo. I can’t lose you.”

I shook my head, the knot in my chest tightening as I looked at him. “And what if there isn’t a chance, Dex? What if this is the only way?”

His gaze hardened, his golden eyes blazing with defiance. “Then I’ll make one. Even if I have to tear this world apart to do it.”

I stared at him, wanting to believe him, to trust that he could find a solution, but the doubt lingered.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’m not.” His hand reached for mine.”I will not be the reason for your death. If it wants to have you it better be ready for me as well.”

The raw intensity in his voice sent shivers through me, and I let him pull me into his arms. “Please, swear you won’t keep anything from me ever again. I would have given everything for you, Dex, and still would. Right now I need space to think.”

I felt him nod above me, trailing his blunt fingers across my back out of habit, hesitant to let me go. But even as I leaned into his warmth, the weight of Arna’s words lingered in the back of my mind, a reminder that some battles couldn’t be won. I pulled from his grip and turned, hurrying away for some privacy to find my center again.

Chapter 32

Dex

The valley lay cloaked in shadow, the fading light casting an eerie stillness that pressed down like a physical weight. I could feel it—the oppressive pull of dark magic creeping closer. Across the stronghold, orcs moved with unspoken urgency, the scrape of metal and low murmurs creating a charged, expectant atmosphere. Weapons were being sharpened, armor secured, prayers whispered to the ancestors and the Gods. I knew they felt it too: the grim finality of what lay ahead.

But tonight wasn’t just about the battle ahead. It was about her.

Cleo stood at the edge of the stronghold, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as though warding off an invisible chill. The twilight painted her features in muted tones, but even in the fading light, I could see the tension etched into her posture, the way her shoulders rose and fell with each shallow breath. She was barely holding it together. I had royally fucked up.

I strode toward her, the quiet tread of my boots against the stone amplifying the silence that hung heavy between us. This wasn’t the time for softness, not tonight. The clan needed their shaman—and their Chieftain—to lead. There was no roomfor doubt or fear, not when hundreds of lives rested on our shoulders.

I stopped short of touching her, the distance between us charged with the weight of unspoken words. “Cleo,” I said, my voice cutting through the thick silence. “We need to talk.”

She turned, her green eyes meeting mine, wide and glassy with the fear she wasn’t even trying to hide. My jaw tightened as frustration clawed at my chest. This wasn’t her. Not the fierce, defiant woman I knew. Not the mate who had stared down Shadow Hounds and wielded wild magic with a fire that had left me in awe. This—this trembling shadow of herself—was the fear talking. And I wouldn’t let it take her from me.

“Whatever’s going on in your head, you need to squash it.”

Her lips parted, a soft, trembling breath escaping, but she didn’t speak.

“You can’t let them see you like this,” I continued, my tone softening. “Do you understand? The clan is watching. They need to see strength, not fear. You’re their shaman, their healer. If they see you falter, it’ll spread like poison, and they’ll lose faith.”

Her eyes flicked down, her hands twisting together in anxious energy. “I’m scared, Dex.”

“I know you are, we all are.But what matters is that you stand tall, that you show them you’re ready. Even if you’re not.”

Her head snapped up, her gaze locking onto mine with a flicker of defiance. “And if I can’t?”

“You can. You’ve stood against everything that’s been thrown at you and you’re still here. You are their shaman, and my mate. You are part of this clan, and tonight, you need to act like it. Whatever fear you feel, whatever doubt is clawing at you, bury it.”

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