The King’s Tainted Mate
Chapter 82

"Come to me..." My mate invited yet again, but I opted to stand back and behold from a distance that beautiful body that was heavy with child, and yet still possessed enough allure that left me thirsting after her. Denying her request was not my intention. I just did not wish to taint her angelic self with the dark magic I knew now resided in me. Not that I was certain that it was possible for the sorcery to replace it's way out of my body and into hers.

"He cannot do anything to me. Not now and at least not here." She'd kept on saying that, but I had chosen to be cautious still. Because I did not know how far the bastard's sorcery could go, I'd kept my hands to myself even in my dreams. For all I knew, this could be another of Evarius' ploys to get to Shyla. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

But lips, tender and sweet, claimed mine in a lingering kiss, deepening my thirst and drowning my resolve. The hands I'd kept at my sides reached out, burying themselves in the silk of her hair as I answered her kiss.

Just this once... I thought to myself. I would let her go once I got a taste of her. But a taste was simply not enough and I found myself desiring to have her whole. I longed for the warmth of her body, wrapped around me as I drowned in the sweetness of her. "Take me, Elian." She broke the kiss to make her request and I was happy to oblige. Parting her legs gently, I slipped in and instantly found rest for my soul.

My hands grabbing hold of her well rounded hips, I gave of myself. Intent on pleasuring and satisfying her every need and getting my own release while at it. "I love you." Drunk on my mate, the words I'd long desired to speak in her hearing escaped my lips, but like a whisper, they faded into the darkness. Never to inspire the curve of her beautiful lips or the fluttering of her heart at the sound of them.

"You don't look so good your majesty." Evarius' tone was more of a taunt than a concern and if I could despise him anymore than I did, I would have, but only for cutting short the dream I had been having of my mate and dragging me into a reality that was filled with her absence. "Perhaps you should eat something."

I glared, not bothering to behold the food he was offering. It was not what I needed. My connection to my wolf was. Now that I was awake, I was reminded of the emptiness I felt. The emptiness he'd caused with his darkness. He'd not only blocked my mind link, but my connection to my wolf had been weakening and I was afraid that it would merely be a matter of time before I would stop feeling it completely. Then Evarius could kill me senselessly or he'd steer me in whichever direction he wished and I would not have the bone in me to fight back. I would be but a puppet in his hands.

I had wondered if that was what had happened to Zastan. The man was nowhere to be seen, but if his secret trip to Xatis had taught me anything, it was that it was possible to break the binds of Evarius' tether. If only but for a moment. So before my beast went completely quiet, I'd kept fighting for that moment. Even if it was just by the sheer will of mind. I'd held onto the memory of my mate, knowing tearing me from her too would give Evarius exactly what he wished for.

"If you must know, it's not poisoned." A reassuring smile that was as odd as the enemy offering it split Evarius' lips. "She would never forgive me, if when she got here, she was met with a corpse of her mate."

"When she got here?!" Despite my weakened state, my instincts sharpened even when I thought I had not heard him clearly. Shyla was coming?! I'd known his plans revolved around her, but hearing the bastard proclaim that she would be here....wherever here was...l cursed my position even more. I would be unable to protect her. Surely someone in the palace had the sense to keep her from Evarius! But judging by the sinister smile on the bastard's lips, I'd say that was not the case.

"Do not look so surprised or panicked, dear Elian." I swallowed the insult that came with his informal address. "You didn't really think it was all about you, now did you? Well, it was about you." The bastard considered for a moment before continuing. "Seeing how she cared about my mate even when the maiden had betrayed her, I always knew she would willingly do so much more for her mate. Hence my decision."

"Your mate?" The bastard had a chosen mate, but somehow I knew this was not about his wife. And I did not dare think about who he meant, because then it would highlight my own failures and the ease with which I'd let his trickery weave its way into my life. "How long have you known that Myrna was your mate?" Despite my resolve, I asked away anyway, feeling every bit dumb each time I was hit with a memory of Evarius standing up for Myrna. Practically shoving her into my arms. How had he done it? Myrna remained unclaimed and unmarked, so how had Evarius stomached having another wolf touch his mate in his very presence without so much as flinching? Was it sorcery too?

Learning of this new layer about the man left me feeling uneasy because despite aiming to know my enemy, I'd been confronted with facts that only proved how little I knew of him, his capabilities. And that made him twice as dangerous.

"Oh, I do not think we have enough time to get into that. My guests will be arriving soon."

"Soon?" She would be here soon?

Evarius smiled coily at my question. "You didn't expect me to wait for centuries now that what I need is within my grasp, did you?" Wait for centuries? I would take that if it would give me the time needed until I was able to protect her. And now I had what? Mere hours before she presented herself in the devil's lair?

"What are you going to do with her?" I growled, but Evarius just flashed me that sinister smile. "What?!" I growled yet again, to which he only chuckled.

"You and her are truly perfect for each other. I can't fault the moon goddess over that."

"I don't need you telling me what I already know." I sneered at his all knowing tone that was still not giving me what I wished to know.

"True." He shrugged. "But that just makes my decision that much sweeter when you hear it." It would by no means be sweet. I knew that, so I glared, but he merely watched me, amused, before opening his filthy mouth. "Do not fret my king. I won't hurt her if that's what you suppose. What I need from her, she can only grant me willingly, so I will have to claim and mark her. And to do that, I guess I have to be on my best behaviour."

"Mark her?" He was insane! "She's practically your daughter!" I sought to shift and tear his head off at his declaration. That sparked a connection with my wolf. It was a tiny thread, but I grabbed hold with everything in me.

"A minor technicality. I just need what she possesses and then perhaps I might-"

"Might what?!" I growled. The thought of his canines burried deep in her neck for whatever reason, left me feeling more murderous than ever. There was no coming back from being marked. Even if Evarius got what he desired, she would forever be his and no longer mine... Needing to keep that from happening, I pulled at that connection with my wolf, desperately.

"Definitely not let you ride into the sunset, that's for sure."

"You are a fool if you think you can bargain with my life." I sneered. "I'm nothing to her." For the first time I wished that were true. Because then, my being captured would not force her to endure her uncle's lunacy. But last night had proved otherwise. When she'd fought for me and given herself to me.

Evarius probably knew that too, but if only I could convince him that she would not give up herself for me-

"That is the thing about mate bonds. We love those we hate." The bastard wasn't going to bite. "Even more so when a part of ourselves is deeply embedded in us." Embedded? My child! The thought of losing them both to the bastard heightened my desperation and that surprisingly had the connection to my wolf growing unusually. My beast and I stirred and growled. It would be the thing to help me make a startling discovery too.

Evarius flinched! With all his claims about my wolf being useless around here, the man flinched at my furious growls. It was so subtle I could have sworn even Evarius wished I had not noticed it. But I had and something more was already brewing deep within as realization that that was the thing I needed to break the binds of Evarius' tether settled in.

Masking his momentary loss of control and the surprise that came with it, the bastard smiled. "Oh don't look so restless. I happen to be a good host and will probably let you see her when she does get here. And do not worry, your little bastard will be well taken care of too. That is, once all this is over. He's after all my flesh and blood too and a part of my future mate. I wouldn't wish for her to be sad over such a loss." Evarius kept mumbling, but I was no longer listening as I focused on what he'd said. He would let her see me! Of course I knew that I couldn't trust his word, but I hoped he would keep it. Even if it would be meant to flaunt my loss and his victory. Or I hoped Shyla would ask that of him. And however that went, it would be my window. If I was going to save her... them from whatever evil he had planned, that would be my opportunity. And I hoped to the gods that Shyla would forgive me once it was done.