Page 99 of Lord of the Lone Wolf
Kitsuki took back control. “How did you know about that?”
“I could see everything,” Maseo explained, his voice gaining strength. “When my soul was being torn away, I watched from above. I saw you take out the pendant, which glowed when you made your wish.”
Guilt washed over Kitsuki. “It was meant for you to use. Your mother entrusted it to me for your protection.”
“And you used it to protect me as she intended.”
Kitsuki glanced down at the silver orb, which now hung visible outside his tunic. It burned with Corina’s power, undiminished by the wish he had made. “It seems your mother’s gift is more enduring than I expected.”
“Her love was always stronger than my father’s hatred.” Maseo shivered, trembling with a cold that seemed to come from within. “I can feel where he shredded my soul.”
Concern flooded Kitsuki anew. He pulled Maseo closer, one hand moving to the back of his neck in a protective gesture that felt as natural as breathing. The urge to comfort and shield his unclaimed mate was overwhelming. “His taint will fade. Your soul was stronger than he expected.”
“What did he mean about my magic?” Maseo murmured against Kitsuki’s shoulder.
The dragon king frowned, stroking Maseo’s hair in a comforting rhythm. “I do not know. Ishibiya is a master of deception. He may have been trying to unsettle us.”
“But what if he wasn’t lying?” Maseo persisted, pulling back to look at Kitsuki. “He said I had power. But I can’t use my father’s shadowmancy or my mother’s wishmancy. The closest thing I have to magic is healing faster than a normal human, but that’s nothing compared to a full shifter.”
Kitsuki’s dragon growled at the distress in Maseo’s voice, then pushed forward to take control once more. Without thinking, he cupped Maseo’s face in his hands, forcing the half-wolf shifter to meet his gaze. The gesture was intimate and possessive, speaking of bonds not yet acknowledged. “Whatever power lies within your soul, it is yours alone. Not for your father to use or Ishibiya to steal. Yours.”
Maseo’s eyes, haunted by the trauma of his near death, searched Kitsuki’s face. “But what if I can’t use it? What if it’s sitting there, waiting for someone like Ishibiya to take it?”
“Then we will protect you,” Kitsuki’s dragon promised, his thumbs brushing Maseo’s cheeks. The words carried the weight of a mate’s vow, even if Maseo could not yet understand their full meaning. “Our sister might know more about this. We can ask her.”
A small, wry smile tugged at Maseo’s lips. “Do you think she would give us a straight answer?”
The unexpected question startled a chuckle from the dragon king. “No, probably not.”
Their faces were too close, considering the promises he and Auslin had made to wait. But the need to complete the trinitybond overwhelmed Kitsuki after coming so close to losing Maseo. Kitsuki leaned forward, drawn by the power of their unclaimed mate.
But they had agreed to wait, and despite every instinct screaming at him to claim his mate, Kitsuki would honor that promise. “You should rest. Your soul needs time to heal.”
Maseo nodded, a flicker of disappointment crossing his features before he masked it. “Thank you for saving me.”
“I will protect you,” Kitsuki said, making no effort to hide the depth of his feelings. Let Maseo make of it what he would. “Always.”
Maseo’s breath caught at the intensity in Kitsuki’s voice. “Why risk yourself for me?”
It was a question that deserved honesty, although Kitsuki couldn’t give him the complete truth yet. “Because you are more precious to me than you know.”
“But you have Auslin,” Maseo said, voicing the complication that hung between them. “Your bondmate.”
“Yes,” Kitsuki agreed, the single word holding the weight of his love for the man who had changed his life. “Auslin is my heart. That will never change.”
“Then what am I to you?” Maseo asked.
Kitsuki searched for the right words. “Someone whose loss would destroy me.” He paused, meeting Maseo’s eyes. “Beyond that, there are things that must wait to speak of until after we win the war.”
It was not the whole truth, but it was all he could offer without betraying the oath he had made to Auslin. Yet even as he spoke the words, Kitsuki knew that watching Ishibiya stealing Maseo’s soul had changed something fundamental. The mate bond might not be complete, but his heart had already claimed Maseo as surely as it had claimed Auslin.
Maseo studied him for a long moment, then nodded, accepting the partial answer. “I understand. The war comes first.”
“Yes,” Kitsuki said, grateful for Maseo’s understanding even as his dragon raged against the delay. “But after…”
“After,” Maseo agreed. In that single word, Kitsuki heard acceptance, hope, and perhaps the beginning of returned affection.
Outside the tent, the war raged on, with all its dangers and uncertainties. But in their small sanctuary, there was only the warmth of growing bonds and the relief of survival.
