“Just promise me, from now on you’ll ask me before you transport to Laegenshire. Once you’re there, I know you have to make really quick decisions, but let me be your father while you’re here. That’s it—that’s all I ask.”
The road noise was loud in her ears as the old truck rumbled down the desolate highway, lined with muddy snow piled high from the work of the morning snowplows. Dark clouds threatened in the distance, obscuring the mountaintops.
“Alora, if you hadn’t met Kaevin, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I haven’t changed. I’m still the same man who raised you and loved you as my own daughter for almost sixteen years. Can’t you trust me?”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Do I have your promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Good.” He smiled, giving her hand another squeeze, and she felt the tension melt from her shoulders. Things were okay between her and her uncle, and Kaevin was going to live. For a little while, all was right with the world.
~ 6 ~
“Good morning.” Kaevin hated that his voice was still a bit raspy, though he’d been off the ventilator for two days. He couldn’t see anything, but Dr. Sanders had told him there was still swelling on the inside.
“Hi.” Alora sat down acr
oss the table.
She seemed almost shy. Or maybe she was mad—he really couldn’t tell. Her uncle was out tending the horses while they sat down to breakfast, and it was the first time they’d been alone together since before the fateful trip to Laegenshire. Their conversations had been awkward at best, and her uncle seemed to always be within earshot. She’d held hands with him, but they hadn’t kissed. Not that there had been a need or a private moment. He was acutely aware of the harsh words he’d spoken to her during the battle. Perhaps she’s forgotten.
“I haven’t actually expressed how grateful I am to you for saving my life—for getting me to Dr. Sanders in time.”
She shrugged. “I guess that’s the one bright side of being tethered to me all the time.”
No, she hasn’t forgotten.
“Alora, that wasn’t what I meant.” He reached out to cover her hand with his, but she pulled it away.
“What did you mean?”
“I only meant… Sometimes I feel as if… as if I’m not the same person I used to be. It’s not your fault at all. But before we met, I knew I’d someday be clan chief. I’d prepared my whole life for nothing else.”
“So you wish we’d never met? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, I didn’t say that. You’re my soulmate.”
“Yes, but you wish we weren’t soulmates.”
“That’s not true—I love you.”
“Don’t say it, Kaevin. You don’t even know what that means.”
“So you don’t love me anymore? Because I made a single mistake?”
“Maybe I’m just recognizing that we spoke too fast when we used the L word. We hardly know each other. Your father and my uncle want to dissolve the soulmate bond; they say we’ll be safer from Vindrake. If they find a way to do that, you won’t be tethered to me anymore.”
He ground his teeth together, suppressing the urge to yell. “I didn’t mean those words, and I would take them back if I could. I swear to you, I want to be your soulmate. I’ll never love another.”
“But I’m holding you back. I’m keeping you from fulfilling your destiny. What if you start resenting me for it?” Her lower lip trembled as she spoke.
He stood and held out his hand toward her. “Please, Alora… come sit beside me and talk to me.”
His heart clenched as she stared at his hand. One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. He dropped his hand.
“Never mind—”