It was dark already when someone finally moved in the harbinger's quarters.

Selena didn't even hear it at first. She was curled up on the harbinger's bed, the blanket pulled all the way over her head to muffle the breathless cries that kept escaping her throat.

The steps were coming closer.

Selena sat up, pushing the covers away. She couldn't see anything in the dark. No lights were on, not even the dim nightlights that had illuminated the quarters on the night before.

She shuddered involuntarily when a shadow appeared at the door. Seeing almost nothing, Ragnar looked like a gigantic monster, tall and powerful, bathed in darkness. Selena thought she could make out his light gray eyes, burning as they searched for her.

"Stay away," she told the apparition. "Stay away from me."

Her voice didn't sound nearly as strong as she would have liked it to, but there was no helping it. Selena couldn't remember crying so hard since she'd been a very young child. It said a lot that since that time, nothing had scared her as much.

Jake certainly hadn't. The first time he'd hit her, Selena had been scared, that was true. With every time that happened, the tears became more bitter and less afraid. She began to dread being trapped with that man so much more than the physical pain he dealt out.

Pain passed, emotional damage stayed and festered over time.

Ragnar was nothing like that.

From the moment she'd heard she was his fated, Selena had known there was no escape for her. On Luminos, there was nowhere to run and hide. She truly belonged to the harbinger, in a way that Jake had never owned her.

In the midst of it all, the thing that scared her the most was the kiss. It had been so easy for Selena to delude herself into a false sense of security. The gorgeous warlord had gotten the better of her common sense in one day and Selena was honestly terrified how warped her judgment was.

The second she'd understood he didn't ask to touch her – that Ragnar thought he had the right to do it when he pleased – every bit of terror had risen from a depth inside her. One that Selena had never planned to revisit.

What exactly had she done wrong in her life to be the victim of two men like that?

The harbinger didn't stop, approaching the bed with calm, purposeful steps.

Selena climbed back on the bed, pushing the blanket off herself to make sure she could run if she needed to.

"Don't come any closer," she warned Ragnar. "I know you can overpower me, I know I don't have any weapon, but I will fight you with teeth and nails if I have to!"

Not a victim anymore. Not a victim until I keep fighting.

Ragnar stopped next to the bed. With a wave of his hand, some lights came on in the room.

The look in his stormy eyes scared Selena. It was wild and boundless and she couldn't say exactly what he was feeling. Only that it had taken him over completely.

Selena was scrambling away from him before she realized she was moving. The harbinger's savage appearance had utterly bypassed any conscious thought and hit straight at her survival instinct.

"Stop."

Selena obeyed against her better sense. The deep, powerful voice seemed to nail her to the spot, keeping her there until the harbinger chose to let her go.

She was shaking now, hating the reaction of her body. When she'd run from Jake, she'd promised to herself that she would never be that helpless again.

It seemed gods enjoyed proving her wrong.

"Come here," Ragnar ordered.

Selena didn't move. She didn't think she could have forced her body to take action if her life depended on it. The darker part of her mind didn't rule out the idea that it did.

The harbinger held out his hand for her.

Selena stared. He couldn't possibly expect her to go along like that, like a sheep to slaughter, did he?

"No," she said.

The hand stayed.

"Please just leave me be," Selena begged, her voice no louder than a whisper.

She didn't think it mattered to the harbinger either way. Her words were nothing and as he'd already shown, it wasn't her consent he was after.

"I can't," Ragnar replied to her surprise. "You are still my fated. The gods themselves have crafted the bond between us. It's not in our powers to break it."

Selena wiped her tears away. She'd shed enough of them for several lifetimes and the gods certainly hadn't cared.

"The gods are cruel, then," she said, aware that she was saying something that might not end well for her. "My gods, yours, all the gods. It seems this galaxy is nothing but a game to them and we are pawns. I don't accept that. I never wanted any of it. I refuse."

Ragnar didn't react in any way to his gods being mocked like that. Selena's heartbeat calmed just a little when she saw the harbinger nodding pensively, to her continued surprise.

"They are cruel, yes," he said. "At least Nayanor gods are. It wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise."

Selena couldn't keep back the choked chortle.

"That is a very warrior-like thing to say," she replied. "Are your gods so benevolent that they allow you to talk like that?"

Ragnar shook his head, a small grin at the corners of his lips.

"No," he admitted. "To the best of our knowledge, they hate it. That is no reason to lie."

"They're gods," Selena said.

"Even gods have to answer for themselves," Ragnar said as if it was nothing. "The games they play with us, they're cruel, as you said. The bonds more than others. They tie us for life to another person, promising everything and threatening with the exact opposite.

"We stand to gain everything, but only at the price of risking losing it all. That is what the fated bond is."

Selena listened, her breathing calming with every passing second, seeing as Ragnar wasn't attacking her.

After what had happened before, the darkest moments of her hiding had been spent imagining the harbinger walking into the room in a wholly different way. Determined to take what is his, ripping off her clothes and forcing himself on her no matter what she said.

It seemed that, at least, wasn't going to happen. The situation was still dire for Selena, but she'd escaped the worst.

The harbinger's hand was still extended to her.

Seeing Selena's eyes flicker between that and his face, Ragnar continued:

"Come with me. I won't hurt you, but there is nowhere for us to run. You are my fated and I'm yours. There is no escaping that. The bond is like a shadow, right at our heels, never falling behind or letting go."

"Where would we go?" Selena asked fearfully.

"To finish the breakfast," Ragnar said.

It sounded so absurd that for a moment, Selena wanted to laugh. The harbinger was observing her with quiet curiosity. The expressions on her face had to be a sight to see.

"Why?" she asked.

Ragnar regarded her with his bright, stunning eyes. Even then, Selena couldn't deny how much she liked them. If she could only have seen kindness in them instead of cruelty, maybe –

There are no maybes here, she stopped herself.

"For one, because nearly a whole day has passed and I will not starve my female," Ragnar said. "I kept waiting for you to return at first, but then I realized you were not going to come unless I took you there. The second reason is directly related to that.

"I don't want you to fear me or any room in these quarters. It's not proper for a fated to be afraid. We will finish the meal to wash away the memory of the morning. It's like a wound that needs healing."

In a very odd way, it made sense. Selena considered. There were a thousand things that she found unacceptable about it all, but almost all of them were unavoidable. She had to eat at some point. She had to move around and talk. And it was very obvious that her life wouldn't pass without Ragnar's company.

Healing the wounds, she thought. Right.

"I can walk myself," Selena said at last, moving to climb off the bed.

"Come here," Ragnar repeated again, stopping her once more. "This is another wound in the bond. You must know my touch will not hurt you."

Selena looked at the hand, contemplating if she dared to take it. Seeing as she had no other option, she tried to figure out which was her best option. Selena really didn't want to test to see what would happen if she tried to run past Ragnar. There was a nagging doubt in her heart that she wasn't fit enough to outrun a Nayanor warlord.

With a thundering pulse, she made herself reach out her hand and take her fated's.

Against all sense and reason, Selena liked the feel of Ragnar’s skin against hers. It was warm and firm as she rested her hand on his big palm. The harbinger's fingers closed around hers and helped her off the bed, strong and unflinching.

It felt like the moment existed out of time. The intimacy of such a simple touch was at complete odds with what was going on between them, gentle and almost loving. The latter especially was a word Selena hadn't imagined in any connection with her new fated.

She didn't know how it was possible to feel absolutely safe with and terrified of Ragnar at the same time.

The harbinger pulled at her hand slowly, carefully, bringing her closer to him inch by inch. Selena didn't resist, although her heart was beating so fast it tried to leap out of her chest.

Ragnar's right hand came to rest on her lower back. The touch was so soft Selena barely felt it.

And then she was in the harbinger's arms again, one hand in his firm grip and her chest pressed against his. So close, Selena thought she could feel Ragnar's heart beating as loudly as hers was.

"The gods may have been cruel when they forged the bond between us, but I am not," Ragnar said, his deep voice making chills run down her body. "Not to you, at least. A fated is the most important thing to a Nayanor warrior. I would protect you with my life, if need be. I need you to know that here, in my arms, is the safest place in the galaxy for you.

"No one can touch you when I'm still drawing a breath. No warrior, no beast, no enemy. Not even the gods could rip you from my grasp unless they want to die."

Selena couldn't answer. She could barely even breathe.

It was impossible for her to believe him, yet she did. And as little as she cared for or believed in the fated bond, she could sense it between them, crackling like it was made of fire. Pulling her toward the harbinger with an invisible string tied around her, too hard for her to break or resist.

She wanted away from Ragnar so badly, to be carefree and safe again. The other part of her wanted closer instead, to stay there in his strong, firm embrace, knowing the truth of his words. That nothing in the world could touch her while she belonged to him and he to her.

A treacherous part of her wanted to kiss Ragnar, wanted to feel her blood run with liquid ecstasy again like when they'd kissed before.

I have to be losing my mind.

The moment was broken when Ragnar let go, apparently not needing a response or a comment from her. The harbinger led her to the living room, his hand still holding hers, and Selena followed.

It wasn't okay. The path her life had taken was far from okay.

Yet when Ragnar's hand slipped from her and he took the seat opposite of her, back to where they'd left off hours ago, Selena felt a tinge of regret. She put it firmly down to the bond between them, but she wasn't entirely sure that was fair.

Ragnar had been right. The bond was an opportunity and a threat all rolled into one.

For Selena, the risk was too great. The undeniable desire she felt for the harbinger had deluded her judgment once already. She was resolved not to let it happen again.

Satisfactory, she promised herself. Like he said. We can find a way to coexist. Nothing more and nothing less. It's going to be okay.