Page 46 of Bonded By Moons

My mate.

I dash out into the hallway and Artie follows after me. We run together to the ballroom. We turn a corner and I see the golden doors ahead of me. Guards try to stop me from entering, but I encase them in vines and thorns as I slam through the doors with my shoulder. I find Willow on the ground in a crumpled mess of blood, twisted wings, and tattered clothes.

“Will!” I cry out.

He doesn’t make a sound.

“Oh moons, please let him be okay.” I plead.

Artie and I rush to his side and delicately rearrange his torn wings so that his back is no longer crushing them. They’re so fragile and broken now. My heart tears for the beauty that they once were. My hands tremble as I trace the lines that once were.

I kneel next to him and brush his hair away from his face. Leaning over him, I whisper “I’m here now. It’s going to be okay. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Hot tears are running down my face as I take in the sight of my tormented mate. I could feel his pain and agony the entire time he was up there, and now I feel nothing as he lay here.

Artie shouts for another guild member to help hoist Will up onto his feet. Together, we quickly return him to his bedchambers while the healer is called in to begin tending to his wounds. Will passed out from the pain and so they had to have 3 guards help carry his large body.

We entered the bedroom and I let the guards carry him to the bathroom. He’s bleeding still from the wounds in his abdomen and the tears in his wings. This is way more severe than I realized. I pray to the moons that they called on the best healer in the capital.

I sit against the bathroom door as I listen to them shout at each other behind it. They’re attempting to undress him and bathe him, but the prince seems to be waking up now and he’s screaming in pain. My heart is twisting with every yell, shout, and cry. I don’t know how he survived the night and now I feel an immense amount of guilt for sleeping soundlessly while he suffered.

I decided to try sending my love and warmth through the bond, thinking it will reach him and bring him some form of comfort. I hear the tub splashing and he’s growling at all the butler’s trying to help him but slowly the shouts and sounds become less. He must be feeling my touch through the strings of our bond.

Time passes and I slowly fall asleep leaning against the bathroom door.

Someone kicks my foot. “Miss Ember, the healer is here and we need to get into the bathroom now.”

“Oh, of course.” I rub my eyes and yawn. Quickly standing and stepping aside, the guild member ushers the healer into the bathroom and they shut the door again. I hate being shut out like this.

I stand up and pour a cup of coffee. I need something to distract myself while I wait for the results from the healer. It feels like hours have passed and exhaustion gets the better of me again. I fall asleep on the sofa when the healer finally comes out and softly wakes me from my slumber.

“Hello, dear. I have some news to share with you regarding the Prince’s state.”

I groggily sit up and gaze around the room. The bathroom door is open and it seems everyone except the healer has left. I turn around and find my Prince laying on his side of the bed, where he’s resting with a bandaged abdomen and some stitches on his head. I instantly feel a wave of relief seeing him here, in the bedroom with me, safe and sound.

“Yes, please tell me. How is he?” I turn to face her. “Oh, and I’m so sorry. What was your name?”

She laughs softly. “My name is Cleo. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”

I ignore the fact she called me princess even though I’ve yet to complete the bond.“Thank you. So, how is he?” I ask.

“He’s going to be okay. I wasn’t able to heal all of his broken ribs, nor was I able to repair his wings but I did leave several elixirs for him to take for pain.” She says with apologetic eyes.

“I don’t understand, there’s nothing we can do to heal these remaining injuries?” I ask, crossing my arms and glancing back at the sleeping prince.

She sighs. “I’m afraid not. The magic that was used to cause these injuries is nothing I’ve seen before from the king. It was nearly impossible to untangle the damage but I was able to counteract some of the spells eventually.”

“Hmm.” That’s very curious. I knew there was something off about the king’s abilities.

She gathers her things and starts to head for the door, but before she leaves she turns around and says, “There is one thing you could try. Blood sharing is rare but some mate bonds are blessed with the ability to heal one another through the ingestion of their mate’s blood. You could give it a try, it never hurts.” And with that, she turns and leaves me alone with my prince.

I inhale and exhale, dragging my attention back to his sleeping form in the bed. I’ve never heard of blood sharing. It truly must be rare if that’s not something I learned through the markets and vendors of Amara’s Sparkles.

I’m still in my leathers from earlier this morning, and I decide to quickly change into my robe before I approach him. I can feel him again through the bond, like a constant source of heat, as if his neon blue flames are seeded inside my heart now.

I sit down next to him and pull the blankets tighter around him. His stomach has stopped bleeding, but the bandages cover nearly all of his ab muscles. He’s truly handsome, even in this state. His wings are wrapped with bandages as well, and I’m not sure how long the recovery process is going to be. I should have asked Cleo about that. Shit. I got distracted by the blood-sharing idea.

Deciding to give it a shot, I extend my fangs and raise my wrist to my mouth. I slowly pierce two holes in my wrist and taste my blood wash over my tongue. I don’t feel or taste anything special but maybe it will be different for Willow. He’s sleeping still but I only need to get him to swallow a droplet.

Raising my wrist to his mouth, I press my skin against his lips and watch in awe as he slowly drinks in my blood. There’s a current of electricity that flows through my body at the touch of his lips. He reaches his hands to my forearm and secures my wrist against his mouth. Waking from his slumber, his eyes flutter open as they take me in and what I’m doing. He continues to gulp down my essence and color slowly returns to his face. His eyes darken and my lips part as I move closer to him.

---