Page 28 of Mane Attraction
“Hey, look at me.” When Xelene met her eyes, Janice’s expression was gentle but firm. “Why don’t you just take it one day at a time? Focus on what you can control right now, which is cleaning up his reputation and helping him become king. Then decide what you’re going to do after that’s done.”
The suggestion was so practical, so perfectly Janice, that Xelene felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. Her friend was right—she could compartmentalize this situation.
“Yeah,” Xelene said, taking a deep breath. “That’s a great idea. I’ll just push this whole mate bond thing aside for now—this business about my soul being bound to Lev’s soul—and focus on the job at hand.”
Janice smiled, and there was something mischievous in her expression that reminded Xelene why they’d been best friends for so many years. “Perfect. Because I have some intel from Benjamin on their pride’s traditions and politics. Maybe throwing yourself into research will take your mind off Lev.”
Doubtful,Xelene thought, but she nodded anyway.
“Yes. Let’s go to the library and go over everything you know about this place and this pride so we can get Lev ready for the Trial of the Sun.” She paused, doing the mental calculation that made her stomach drop. “In five days.”
As they moved toward the door, Xelene desperately hoped that drowning herself in work would help her forget about this messy mate bond situation—at least for a few hours.Though with Lev’s emotions humming constantly through their connection, she suspected forgetting would be impossible.
NINETEEN
LEV
The walls of Lev’s private chambers felt like they were closing in on him as he paced across the Persian rug. The ceremonial jacket he’d worn to his father’s funeral lay crumpled on the floor where he’d thrown it, unable to bear the weight of royal responsibility pressing against him.
His lion prowled beneath his skin, still drunk on the memory of claiming their mate. But Lev’s human side was drowning in a tsunami of regret unlike anything he’d ever experienced—and he’d done plenty of reckless, stupid things in his thirty-seven years.
The completed mate bond hummed between him and Xelene, even from this distance, carrying her emotions straight into his chest. He could feel her actively processing what had happened between them in that royal vehicle, the permanence of a bond she’d never asked for and he’d accidentally thrust upon her. Her confusion hit him in waves, followed by fear, then flashes of desire that made his breath catch.
She’s terrified,he realized, running his hands through his disheveled golden hair.And it’s all my fault.
He’d pictured this going so differently. He would have spent the next week with Xelene, letting her get to know the real manbeneath the notorious reputation. They would have grown closer naturally. He would have revealed she was his fated mate with careful explanation and patience. She would have chosen him willingly. That would have been perfect. Clean. Honorable.
Instead, his lion had marked her when he was lost in the most intense climax of his life, so consumed by the mate bond that he hadn’t even felt his claws emerge. The moment had been transcendent—pure perfection that proved the power of fated mate connections—but it had bound their souls together without her consent.
“Idiot,” he growled to the empty room, his voice carrying the rough edge of his lion. “Always screwing everything up.”
Through their bond, he felt Xelene’s emotions spike with fresh panic, and he forced himself to breathe deeply. She could feel his self-recrimination, which was only making things worse for both of them.
Lev stopped pacing and stared out the massive windows overlooking the pride lands his father had ruled with such discipline and control. The irony was almost unbearable at this point—he’d spent his entire life avoiding attachment and love because he was terrified that once he found something real, he would lose it and end up like his father after his mother died. Broken. Hollow. Existing rather than living.
Now that fear might become reality anyway. He’d finally found his fated mate, the woman his lion had been searching for, and before they’d even had a chance to explore their connection properly, he’d made a catastrophic mistake that might drive her away forever.
She’ll leave,the thought sliced through him like a blade.She’ll pack that perfectly organized suitcase and return to Earth, and I’ll never be whole again.
The double loss loomed before him—not only would he lose his reputation consultant and have to prove himself worthy ofthe crown the hard way, but he would also lose his true queen. The woman who could have stood beside him and made him a better king.
His door burst open without warning, and Lev spun around, his heart leaping with desperate hope. But instead of Xelene’s perfect figure, Benjamin’s familiar frame filled the doorway. His best friend’s green eyes were warm with concern.
“How are you holding up?” Benjamin asked, closing the door behind him with careful precision. “I know today was brutal.”
Lev let out a harsh laugh that held no humor. “Well, on top of dealing with grief over my father’s sudden death, my life just became infinitely more complicated.”
Benjamin’s eyebrows shot up, and he moved closer with the cautious approach of someone expecting bad news. “How could that possibly be? Your father died, you’re about to become king, and you have only five days to prove yourself worthy of the crown. What else could go wrong?”
“I had sex with Xelene.” The confession burst from Lev’s lips like a dam breaking. “In the back of the royal vehicle. After the funeral.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Benjamin’s mouth fell open, and he stared at Lev as if he’d just announced he was planning to abdicate and join a traveling circus.
“Wow, Lev.” Benjamin’s voice was carefully controlled, but Lev caught the undertone of disbelief. “Great timing on that one.”
“It gets worse.” Lev resumed his pacing, his powerful frame moving with predatory grace despite his emotional turmoil. “I gave Xelene my mate mark in the heat of the moment. Completely by accident.”
“What?” The word exploded from Benjamin like a gunshot. “You marked her? Without her permission?”
