Chapter Eleven

Nyla

I stood with my head up as the Council walked into the cave, Secor right smack in the middle of them. My mother stepped in front of me, her terrified eyes on mine, playing the role of translator as she’d done a million times before.

“Nyla MacDonald, you are charged with risking the secret of the MacDonald clan by allowing your mating call to continue unchecked. The power bleed associated with this event has left you unable to tell reality from delusion, endangering the secret and the clan as a whole. As you have been unable to locate your true mate, we offer you the option of joining with a secondary mate to quell the psychic storm brought on by the Tallan. Elder Secor has volunteered to take responsibility for you and your power, no matter the cost to his personal standing. Speaking as a father, it is an offer you should definitely consider.”

My mother’s hands hovered, waiting to translate more from the leader of the Council. I eyed him, heart pounding in my chest, but he stood silent. Still. Waiting on me. Expecting me to be so happy to accept Secor’s offer that I didn’t need to hear the other option. The option of death.

I raised my hands to sign my response, and his face curled into a frown of pity. One I’d seen him make for most of my life. Shaky but refusing to let his disdain change my mind, I signed, knowing my words would break my mother’s heart.

“I refuse the secondary mating option.”

I waited for my mother to speak, for her to say what I’d signed, but she didn’t. She stayed quiet as she began to reply as if I’d spoken directly to her.

“No.” Her anger apparent, my mother signed her refusal with a single, forceful pinch. “Nyla, no. I won’t watch you die.”

I glanced from her to the Council, unable to avoid their heavy stares. Keeping my hands low, trying to hide our conversation from Secor, I signed, “I die either way. At least let me choose how I go.”

“Nyla, no. Please.”

She spun to face the leader of the Council, though I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I watched as the two went back and forth, not able to read their lips as they weren’t looking at me. But Secor was, and his face grew angrier with every second.

“Stop this,” Secor signed, glaring. “Accept my offer or die, Nyla. It’s that simple.”

I grabbed my mother’s arm, demanding her attention so she could see my words.

“Tell them what I say, Mom. Tell them I refuse Elder Secor’s offer to be my secondary mate.”

“Nyla, don’t—“

“I found my true mate,” I signed, making sure Secor could see this time. “I will not accept your offer because you can never have me. I have found my true mate and have given my heart and body to him. No substitute will do.”

My mother stepped in front of me, arms out, protective. Elder Secor’s face went flat, emotionless, though I knew it was a mask. He was more dangerous when he appeared calm, more deadly when quiet than when he was shouting.

“I withdraw my offer,” Secor signed, saying the words as well. “The subject has obviously lost all control of reality, and I fear even a claiming by a secondary mate as strong as I wouldn’t help her. I fear she must be destroyed.”

“Bring out the executioner,” the leader of the Council said, eyes finally meeting mine, words clear as they passed his lips. My mother turned to grab me, her mouth open in what I had to assume was a scream, but I was ready. My head was clear, my thoughts my own. I would tread the path of my destiny with open eyes.

“Last chance, child,” Secor signed, his motions choppy and agitated, his eyes filled with fury. “Accept me as your mate or die. Do not think there is another option for you.”

“I choose my fate,” I signed, harsh and staccato. Showing my strength, making my point. “Not you, not them. Me.” Keeping my eyes locked with his, I placed my hands parallel to the ground, one palm up, one palm down. And then I rolled and reversed them, making the sign for death, staring at him as I did. He was no Kian, and I would not settle for less than my true mate.

“Kill her,” Secor said, signing as well, as if it was some kind of threat. But it wasn’t; I would rather be dead than trapped with him, forever bonded through the mating ritual. No, that would be my definition of hell: remembering the joy of Kian’s touch as another man forced himself on me.

Secor turned as if to leave, but before he could move out of my sight, all of the Council spun toward the cave entrance. Two animals, huge and white and—oh my God, were they polar bears?—raced into the cave. Mouths open, air vibrating with the force of the sounds they made. The floor shook with their weight as they bolted into the crowd at the door to my cell. One knocked Secor to the ground, mauling him, shoving his body into the wall like a rag doll when he was done. My mother grabbed my arm and yanked me deeper into the small space, her eyes wide with terror. But I knew no fear. All I felt was completion, hope, and affection. I felt him.

Kian.

The smaller of the two bears ran into my cell, turning his back to me, weaving and shaking his head at the Council members. The other, the one who’d attacked Secor, crept closer to the rest of the men in the hall, herding them deeper into the cave. A woman followed him, one I’d never seen in MacDonald territory. She walked behind the polar bear until he had the Council members backed into the cell at the far end of the hallway, then she rushed forward to swing the door closed, locking them all inside.

She hurried back in my direction, tucking herself against the wall opposite my cell. Waiting. Watching the bear in front of me with a proud look on her face. When the bear from the hallway came back to my cell entrance, he shook his head, his mouth open, making the air vibrate again with what I assumed was his roar. The bear in front of me hurried out into the hall, standing between the woman and the cave entrance, guarding her. Guarding all of us. Her bear paced the hallway, looking aggressive and ready to pounce on anyone who dared cross him. But I wasn’t afraid. Not yet. Not of either of them.

I wasn’t sure, had no way to be certain, but I thought…I hoped…

The other bear walked into my cell, head down, gait slow and steady. When he was only a few feet away, he lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting mine. I felt the tingle of magic deep inside me. Welcomed it, pushed for more. The vision that came to me made my heart soar. Through my mate’s eyes I saw a picture of a dirty, exhausted me, as if I was looking in a mirror. Or through the bear’s eyes.

And I knew.