Page 42 of Queen Takes Triune
I’d live every day dreading that look of doubt. Watching the blackness spread, not in myself, but in my queen. For that was the horror Tanza gave me. Not the taint inside me—but the stain on my bond with my beautiful queen. That blot of black ink would spread throughout our bond, destroying her trust and love, until one day, she would send me away.
I’d lose her.
I’d lose the shining, soft look in her eyes. The smoldering taste of her blood. The fierce rush of her pleasure blasting through our bond. Her courageous stand against anything and anyone who threatened me. The threat would come from inside her, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Until she was gone.
A tear trickled down my cheek and I wanted to die. If Guillaume had still held the knife in his hand, I would have plunged it into my heart over and over. I would rather die now than suffer one second of my queen’s doubt. To lose this paradise of having not just her, but Daire and all the other Blood too.
I couldn’t be alone again.
Not now.
Not ever.
Guillaume gripped my shoulder hard, squeezing like he thought I was going to fall apart. But it was the motherfucking dragon who destroyed the last of my reserves.
“You fucking moron,” Mehen growled, giving me a good shake. “She won’t ever let you go.”
I threw my head back and bellowed with agony. Fear. Despair.
My bear roared and clawed, adding to my pain.
Her bond flared inside me, a beacon to the wild animal tearing me up.:Ezra. You’re my bear and always will be.:
:I can’t.:I panted in our bond, a shivering, sobbing wreck.:I can’t lose you.:
:Come to me. Come to me now.:
* * *
SHARA
Oh Ezra. My poor bear.
I couldn’t bear his pain and fear.
He came to me, crashing through the undergrowth, careless and desperate to reach his goal as quickly as possible. The mighty grizzly was king of the forest and feared nothing.
Except losing me.
He didn’t even hesitate at the door but rushed headlong to fall to his knees before me. Burying his head against my stomach, he wrapped his arms around my waist. I held him, running my hands over his broad shoulders. I combed his thick, curly hair with my fingers.
Daire joined us, pressing close to the big man’s solid bulk and letting out his rumbling purr. Ezra’s shoulders quivered beneath my hands, his back heaving with frantic breaths. But slowly, he started to settle against me.
My first instinct was to quickly scan his body and search for any lingering taint, but I feared that would only alarm him. It was too similar to the nightmares that Tanza had planted in him. I didn’t doubt his commitment to me. I certainly didn’t doubt my ability to heal. I’d already scanned him thoroughly and fed him heavily with my blood. To do so again, with that memory hovering in his mind, would damage him even more, perhaps irrevocably.
I didn’t say anything. He knew how much I loved him. That was what hurt him so badly. He had to accept the fact that I wouldn’t send him away, even if I suspected he was contaminated. I could argue and swear the truth to him, and he wouldn’t believe it. He had tofeelit. He had to know it. For himself.
So I held him, murmuring nonsense to him in a soft, gentle voice as I smoothed my hands in circles over his body. Daire did the same, pressing against Ezra’s back, cuddling against him the way only a purring warcat could do, even in his human form.
Slowly, Ezra’s breathing steadied and he eased against me. No longer shaking and troubled, but at peace.
When his shaggy head finally lifted and his dark eyes met mine, I smiled and reached up to gently tug on his beard. “There’s my grizzly.”
He swallowed hard. “My queen.”
I leaned in close so our noses almost touched. I could smell the spicy cinnamon of his fur, mixed with spruce and sweet tobacco. Holding his gaze, I willed him to believe me with every fiber of my being. “I will never abandon you, and I will never make you leave.”
