“My name is not ‘the wolf.’ It is Skender.” A deep voice entered her mind. She heard her indrawn breath as it brushed over her mind like a whisper, caressing, entrancing, and making her yearn for the strength she could hear in it.
“No!” Tenia mentally screamed. She knew her reaction was extreme because she was so shocked at her own instant response to him. Tenia had wanted to curl up in his arms, simply because of the way his voice felt against her mind. She swallowed back tears that she didn’t have time or energy to shed as she checked her mental shields, searching everywhere for cracks. How the hell had he been able to get past the wall she had erected? “I told you to stay out of my head!” She yelled through the bond. She’d never, in her wildest imagination, dreamed she’d experience something like this. Taking a steadying breath and forcing her shaking hand to still, she said calmly to Torion, “It’s cotton candy, a human sweet treat.” She opened it and handed the bag to her son. “My new friend has an obsession with it, and she asked me to bring you some.”
Torion reached into the bag and touched the fluffy candy. His eyes lit up. “It’s soft.”
She nodded. “Tear a bit off and taste it,” she encouraged. All the while, her subconscious was a quiet shadow in her mind, watching for cracks that might let the wolf in. She wasn’t just a prisoner of the Order. She was now a prisoner in her own body as well.
Torion pulled off a piece of the candy, and when he put it in his mouth, he literally groaned. “Mother, this is the best candy I’ve ever had.” His eyes danced with mirth. For a moment, she worried he might become as addicted as Myanin. But she was not about to deny him any sort of joy she could give him. He took one bite after the next, and his grin just kept getting bigger. Tenia couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing his bright smile filled all the dark places inside her with light, and for those few moments she got with him, she felt warm.
“He is your child?” Skender’s voice came again, reminding her of gentle rolling thunder, as if he were trying to keep from startling her but knew it wouldn’t work. She could feel the hesitancy in his tone, like a child reaching to touch a skittish animal knowing it might dart away but unable to resist the desire to feel it, and also the urgency of his need to be close to her. Tenia couldn’t believe how clear his emotions were to her. His own desperation made her breath catch in her throat.
She turned toward the door, her stomach convulsing violently as she fought the mate bond’s need to be close to him and reassure him with her own knowledge that she couldn’t trust him. Not if he was Order loyal. Tenia glanced at Torion, worried he was seeing what she couldn’t hide. But he was once again focused on the paper and had a colored pencil in his hand. She glanced at her own hands and saw them trembling. “You will stay out of my head or I swear I will cut your betraying heart from your chest while you still live,” Tenia promised, and she meant it with every breath inside of her. She had no idea why she couldn’t keep him out.
“You cannot keep me out because your emotions are so strong. It’s hard to close the bond to your mate when feelings are running high,” he explained. “It is a built-in protection mechanism. If you were in distress, I’d be able to feel you and come to your aid.” His voice remained a gentle, calm caress despite the fact she’d just threatened his life.
Tenia physically forced herself to turn away from the door. She felt like a damn robot. Her movements were jerky as she moved back toward her son, who was happily drawing. Her jaw was locked, and she kept opening and closing her hands in some bid to relax herself. “I am not your mate. I don’t want to be your mate. I want nothing to do with you.” As she said the words, a sharp spasm, so painful she nearly cried out loud, knifed through her body. She kept her eyes focused on the joy on her son’s face as he drew, breathing slowly to manage the physical pain that her own words seemed to have caused her.
“Your soul doesn’t feel the same way,” Skender told her, and to her surprise there was pain in his voice. “Regardless of what you think, we are two halves of the same whole. We complete one another.”
“You could never complete me.” Tenia meant it, even as she felt as if she were killing a part of herself. “I could never care for someone who willingly helped the Order.” When she realized what she’d said, her hand reached up to her mouth, almost as if she could shove the words back in even though she hadn’t said them out loud. He would probably tell Alston, and the high fae would put her under tighter constraints. He could keep her from getting to see her son.
“I would never betray you,” Skender’s words filled her mind along with a rush of reassurance. “I would never do anything to hurt my mate or her child.”
Tenia felt as if he’d just poured a soothing balm over a scorching burn. She didn’t understand why, but she knew without a doubt he was telling her the truth. Did it make her trust him? Hell no. But a tiny part of her seemed
