Page 64 of Bound in Flames

Her breathing quickened, and panic filled in her eyes. “Dex, I?—”

“No.” I cut her off, my voice a low growl. “No excuses, Cleo. You’re better than this! The clan is counting on us. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for them. Do it for the children you can hear laughing on the eve of battle. For the warriors who are sharpening their blades, knowing they might not survive the night. They need to believe that their shaman is strong enough to fight with them.”

Her chin quivered, and pride flooded me as she straightened, and drew in a deep breath. “I’m not strong like you, Dex. I don’t know how to be.”

“Yes, you do.” My voice softened but lost none of its intensity. “You’ve been strong since the moment I met you. Strong enough to survive your father, and to stand up to me. Strong enough to wield a magic that terrifies you. Strong enough to love me despite our differences. Youarestrong, Cleo. And tonight, you’re going to prove it. Not just to the clan, but to yourself.”

Tears glistened in her eyes, her lips pressing together as she fought to steady herself. “Are you scared?”

I hesitated for a heartbeat, the truth catching in my throat. “Terrified. But I don’t let it show, and neither can you.”

Her gaze held mine, searching for something—reassurance, strength, anything to hold onto. I gave it to her, pressing my forehead to hers and allowing the bond between us to pulse with a quiet power. “You’re not alone in this, Cleo. Whatever happens tonight, we face it together. You and me. Do you trust me?”

Her nod was small, almost imperceptible, but it was enough.

“That’s all I ask.” I brushed a strand of hair from her face. “When you can’t stand tall alone, lean on me. That’s what mates do.”

We stood there in silence, the weight of the night pressing down on us. I watched as determination returned to her eyes, the steel that I knew had been there all along.

“I can do this.”

Pride swelled in my chest, sharp and fierce as I leaned down to press a firm kiss to her forehead. “That’s my girl.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, and I felt her shoulders relax, just slightly, as she drew strength from the embrace. The shadows stretched longer, the sun dipped closer to the horizon and they creeped toward the stronghold like dark inky tendrils. The battle was coming, and it would be brutal.

“Dex,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “If it comes down to it, if I lose control... please don’t let me hurt them.”

Her words sent a bolt of cold fury through me, shattering the peace. “No. We will not speak of this again. Please, don’t ask me to do that.”

“You have to.” Her hands tightened on my tunic. “If it’s between me and them—if it’s between me and you?—”

“Stop asking me to let you go. You aremine!”

Her tears fell freely as she ran her fingers along my face, cupping my cheek. “You may not get a choice.”

“How am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to sacrificemy mate?How am I supposed to let you go? I won’t do it!” I shook my head, anguish tearing into my chest.

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Because you’re the Chieftain, and this is bigger than us. I do not wish to survive if it means losing those important to me.”

I stared at her in disbelief, my chest tight with a thousand emotions I couldn’t put into words. She was asking me to do the impossible, to choose between my duty and my heart, and I hated her for it, even as I loved her more fiercely than I thought possible.

“I can’t promise that, but I can promise that I will fight for you, Cleo, and I will find another way to protect this clan. I swear it.”

She closed her eyes, a sad smile ghosting her lips as she leaned into me, her forehead pressing against my chest. “You can’t save everyone, Dex.”

“Watch me.”

“If something happens… I love you, and I’m so sorry. I really wanted to see the clan return to the valley where we belong.”

I whispered promises of protection, and of the future, as we embraced, terrified this could be the last time I would hold her in my arms. Her warmth seared into my skin, a stark contrast to the cold fear clawing at my insides. My arms tightened around her instinctively, as if by sheer will alone I could keep her safe, keep her here—away from fate that threatened to rip her from me.

I buried my face into the crook of her neck, breathing in the familiar scent of her hair, soothing the raw ache gnawing at my soul. The soft rise and fall of her chest beneath my own was a silent rhythm that soothed the storm raging inside me, yet it did nothing to quiet the guilt festering deep within. The weight of secrets kept and choices made pressed in on me, suffocating in their silence.

Each whispered promise felt like a threadbare shield against the inevitable. I murmured against her skin, the words hollow even to my own ears. How many times had I sworn the same? How many nights had I held her like this, desperate to keep the darkness at bay, knowing deep down that I was powerless against the tides of fate?

My fingers trailed up her back, mapping the delicate ridges of her spine, committing them to memory. She felt so small in my arms, so delicate. The thought of her standing alone against the shadows twisted something sharp in my gut. I had failed her, and still, she held me as if I was her safe harbor, her protector.

She didn’t know how much I had kept from her. The truths I swallowed down, the burdens I carried in silence, hoping toshield her from the weight of fate. But could she feel it? The tremor in my hands as they had roamed over her, the way I aggressively claimed her, desperation and fear of loosing her making my orc nature rise to the surface.

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