Page 32 of Eternally Bound
Her blank eyes met his as she spoke in a dull monotone. “Of course. It is why I was born. It will be a privilege to carry on the legacy of my heritage.”
He didn’t understand this complacent person who had taken the place of the spirited woman he believed her to be, but he wanted to shake her to reveal the woman she truly was. The woman he wanted for himself alone.
The irrational urge to possess her was back again, but this time it refused to be buried in the cold recesses of his heart once more. Unthinkingly, he stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers. She didn’t nuzzle him like she had before, but at least she didn’t turn away from him.
Crouching before her, he grasped her chin so she had to look him in the eye. “Do you really accept this?”
Something flickered in her eyes, but her mask didn’t change. “I have no choice. What else am I to do?”
He had no answer for her, no solutions. There was nothing he could give her, nothing he could say that would help. “You could tell them you are not ready to be married.”
She let out a harsh laugh. He winced inwardly, hating the bitterness of the sound. “I can no more fight who I am and what is expected of me than you can. My turn has come. I have known since I was a child it would happen. There’s nothing I can do to change it, and Logan is a good man. We’ve been friends since childhood. I know he won’t abuse me, and he will make a fine father for our children.”
Not only would another man know her body, but he would also get to share the bond of raising their children with her. Ronan stilled at the realization, even as he wanted to tear the room apart.
He released her chin and rocked back on his heels. “What happens if Logan dies?”
“Then I will become an instructor. I will show the young our heritage, teach them our ways, and I will guard over our ancestry.”
“What if he dies before you have a child, or six months from now?”
“If I am still at a good breeding age, and a hunter loses his wife, then I may be considered to fill the role.”
No wonder she’d rebelled against her life, there was no hope within it, he realized.
Removing his hand from her cheek, he rose to pace across the floor. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being locked away for the rest of her life. Couldn’t stand the idea of someone so beautiful and alive being caged so remorselessly and used like cattle.
He turned back to gaze at her as she remained sitting rigidly on the bed. He couldn’t begin to imagine what she faced when she returned. Spinning on his heel, he paced back and forth once more. He couldn’t help her. If they didn’t return her, the hunters would go on a rampage, slaughtering every vampire they came across. Many innocents could become caught in the crossfire of the sudden onslaught. Many of his kind could die.
He couldn’t allow that. For his entire life, it had been his duty to protect them.
Being married was her destiny, her fate. Who was he to go against the ways of the hunters, even if he didn’t approve of it?
Stalking back, he stopped before her. “I can’t help you.”
She showed no reaction to his callous words. “I didn’t ask you to.”
Ronan ignored the fierce pounding of his heart as he pushed aside the clamoring in his head telling him to keep her, that she belonged to him.
“Maybe your brother can stop it—”
“It is my fate. It is who I am, who my people are. No one can stop that,” she cut in.
“Shit,” Ronan mumbled. He ran his hand through his hair as he started pacing again. A solid rap on the door drew him to an abrupt stop. “What?” he barked.
“It’s time, Ronan,” Declan replied in a subdued tone.
“We’ll be right there.”
Kadence rose from the bed with her hands still held demurely before her. Slowly, she met his gaze. “I will tell Nathan to come alone. He may believe it’s a trap, but he’ll do whatever he believes is necessary to get me back.”
“He loves you,” Ronan realized.
“Yes.”
“And you him?”
“He’s my twin and my best friend. Twins are very rare amongst our kind so we were exceptionally close.”
