Page 17 of Bonded

My heart races as I stare back at him. Somehow, he has moved right in front of me without me noticing. “What do you want, Heir Orion?”

Something about him like this—so close, so intent—makes me feel almost cornered, and there’s nowhere I can go. He grabs me in the blink of an eye, pulling me against his chest and pressing something across my mouth. A leaf of some sort. A bitter floral scent floods my senses. I breathe it in, and the room sways as he lifts me into his arms, brushing my hair away from my face. “Did I ever tell you my favourite colour is gold?”

“O-r-rion, what ar-re you d-doing?” I slur.

“You’re coming to my court. It was always the plan, even if no one else agrees. It’s time to show you the Mother Pack.” He tucks me in close to him. “To guarantee your safety, I’m taking my sister back. She may be your guardian here, but she will face trial for what she did in my court.”

“No, Orion—” I try to shout, but my words are a mess. Of course, he ignores me, jumping through the hole in the floor, and the smell of earth smothers us both. I can only let everything tip away into darkness, with his arms holding me to him like I am his as he takes me to his home.

Chapter Nine

My face is pressed against a soft dark purple cushion-like ground. Wait—not exactly a floor. I shakily manage to sit up, still tasting that awful bitter floral taste in my mouth from whatever Orion did to me. That bastard heir kidnapped me and took me to his pack. These psychotic, possessive wolves are going to drive me insane.

There is a chill to the air as I look around, seeing that everything is purple. It takes me a minute to clear the fog from my mind to realise what they are—petals. They stretch up above me, and huge balls of pollen roll softly around in each corner. The air smells sweet but with a crispness to it, like an autumn leaf almost. I’m in the Mother Pack, and even though it’s a place I’ve always wanted to see, I’m still furious that snarky heir kidnapped me to bring me here. I try to think back to everything I know about the Mother Pack, and I remember little other than it is mostly covered in trees and tall mountains.

I have to get moving before Orion gets back and hope Zyran is on his way to find me. I spot a gap in the petals, a small sliver of sunlight streaming through. I stand up, my legs shaky, and my head spins before walking across the very soft petal floor, around the balls of floating pollen, to the gap. I push through the petals, struggling to find the entrance, before I fall straight out, flat onto my face on soft orange grass.

I wince and male laughter echoes in my ears. I tense, knowing exactly who is nearby before I even manage to lift my head and look around. I ignore him, taking in the Mother court for the first time. Of course this pack land has to be magical and beautiful, even with an heir like Orion. Massive trees swallow the sky in every direction, and they are as orange as the grass below. Sunlight blasts through yellow and orange leaves, so high up they form an almost perfect canopy over the land. We’re in a field of flowers, flowers that are as tall as a house, with tulip-like petals spread upwards in deep purple colours, and pollen dances through the air like butterflies. The ground is smothered in orange grass, and the sweet smell fills my senses. How can somewhere this beautiful produce such a bitter heir? Finally, I face the wolf, who is leaning against a petal, smirking at me. “Morning.”

“What the hell did you do? Where is Elizabeth?” I snarl at him, storming over. He doesn’t move, that smirk plastered on his pretty face.

“At the palace. I brought you here to rest before I took you there.” He tilts his head. “A thank-you would be nice.”

“You want me to thank you for kidnapping me and throwing my guardian at the alpha who wants her dead?” I shout. He shrugs for an answer, which makes me wildly angry. “Why would you do that?” I close the space between us and slam my fist into his chest. He doesn’t move an inch. In fact, his lips twitch in amusement, as if he likes me hitting him. What is wrong with him? “You are psychopathic, you know that? You need to go and get Elizabeth! You said she would be safe from you⁠—”

“I don’t have to do fuck all, Princess.” He cocks his head to the side. “Elizabeth is facing her crime, and I did not kill her because of our deal. I might be a bastard, but I held the promise I made you.”

I slam my hands into him one more time. “Your mother is going to kill her!”

He shrugs. “If she is found guilty and untrue by the earth, by the Mother, then yes. You seem to trust her, even when she hasn’t told you what happened, so she will be fine, right?” When I don’t answer, it’s enough for him. “See, even you don’t know. The trial of the Mother exists, and she will face it.”

“I hate you so fucking much, Orion.”

“Come on, I thought we were getting to know each other so well.” He walks around me. “But then, you lied about a lot of things too.”

Shadows leak out of my hands, but before I can use them, vines snap up out of the ground, wrapping my arms tight and pulling them behind my back. More vines wrap around my body, tightening but not hurting me. Orion circles me, hunting me like a wolf hunts a sheep. I’m no sheep. Not anymore. “You were gone a month. Where were you?”

“Were you counting?” I arch an eyebrow. “That’s cute, but I’m not interested in an asshole like you.”

A tic appears in his jaw. “Liar.”

“Am I?” I challenge, even as my heart pounds and sweat trickles down my spine. Even as I can’t even look at him without feeling a tug, something pulling me to him.

He leans into me. “Would you like me to say sweet things like Reed would? He would tell you how much he missed you, how he couldn’t stand a day without smelling your hair, without knowing you were safe. That he is obsessed with you, Meredith.”

“I don’t want what Reed would say. You’re not him, and I’m not interested in him either.” The lie rolls off my tongue.

Orion smirks like he can tell it’s a lie. “Liar. I counted the days we were apart because you are my enemy and everything I want at my side in the same breath. That saying about keeping your enemies close—have you ever heard it?”

“Yes,” I snap, even as I try to understand why he would want me near him. “But I’m not some whimpering human anymore. I never truly was.”

My shadows whisper through the vines, cutting them apart until they fall away around me. “You can no longer just tell me what to do.” I slam my hands into his chest, pushing my shadows into my fists. He moves back a few steps, surprised, the ground rising behind him to stop his fall.

“Want to play, Princess?” He laughs, dark and wicked. He lunges at me like a wolf, grabbing me and pinning me straight down onto the ground. My shadows whisper around us, but they don’t hurt him, to my annoyance. They almost stroke his arms, his chest, his legs, and they stop listening to me. The whispers echo louder and louder as his body fits against mine. He holds my hands above my head in a tight grip, my chest brushing his and his pelvis pushing down on mine. Heat blooms throughout my lower stomach, and Orion growls. He lowers his head to my ear, his lips brushing the sensitive tip.

Before I can say a word, he bites down on my shoulder. Hard. My scream rips through the air—only for a second before he lifts his mouth. My blood crosses his lips and teeth, and he slowly licks it from his lips. “I win. You taste of darkness and sin. You’re marked as mine.”

I try to throw him off me, but he doesn’t move. “I’m not yours! I will never forgive you for Tannith!”