Page 57 of Eternally Bound
“I know, I know,” Declan said quickly. “But come on, Ronan, you must realize what she is to you.”
“I do,” Ronan admitted.
“What happened between you tonight has accelerated things for you. That is why you’re so out of control right now.”
“Ahunterfor a mate. How is this possible?”
“We don’t pick our mates. A lot of us don’t find them. But when we do—”
“I am well aware of what happens when we do.” A loss of control until the bond between them was completed, and since she was mortal, Kadence would also have to be turned. Which meant she would have to die.
“Then you know what must happen now,” Declan said.
Ronan closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Even if she would agree to such a thing, I would never allow it. She deserves better than this brutal existence.”
“She’s a hunter who lost her father to a Savage. She may have led a life of seclusion, but she is no innocent to the brutality of our world, or her own.”
“I promised her freedom, and she will have it,” he said hoarsely.
Declan exhaled sharply. “You know what will happen if she leaves here, leavesyou.”
“I will not chain her to me! What was it you said to me?‘Everyone deserves a chance to fly.’You wouldn’t clip her wings, yet you expect me to do it. It will not happen.”
Declan looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, and perhaps he had.
“It already has happened, Ronan. The more you fight it, the worse it’s going to get, until you lose all control and turn Savage, or you end up forcing the change on her. If you take her by force, you may kill her, and you will kill the trust she has in you. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you do that to her.”
Ronan’s skin felt as if it were drawing taut against him, strangling him. He resisted the urge to dig his fingers in and shred the skin from his body so he could breathe again.
“I’ve promised her the world she dreams of, and she will be leaving in mere hours. I won’t be able to hurt her, because she won’t be here. I’ll make sure Marta and Baldric know not to tell me where they are so I can’t go after her. She’ll be set free to live, instead of caged here.”
Declan gawked at him. “That’s not an option for you.”
“Itisan option for me! I know what they say about mates going crazy without each other, I’ve witnessed it, but that doesn’t mean it will happen to me. The bond is not completed between us. We have not shared blood. If anyone can control this,Ican.”
“You may be the strongest and oldest vampire to ever walk this earth, but not even you can control this. You’realreadylosing control. No one has ever come back after they’ve given into their Savage nature.Shemay not even be able to bring you back if you cross that line, and if you did encounter her again as a Savage, there is no telling what you would do to her.”
Declan gestured at the bags of blood scattered across the ground at Ronan’s feet. “If you become Savage, we won’t be able to stop you. Everything you’ve worked for will be for naught. The Savages will eventually win because, if you don’t take your own life, you will take all ofours. You will most likely rise up to become their leader and there will be no stopping that, Ronan. Are you ready to deal with that?”
“I have dealt with it for centuries. You felt it necessary to make a point about the color of my eyes before, so it is no secret to you that I’ve been battling bloodlust for centuries. It will be worse when she goes, but I will control it just as I always have.”
“You just drank six bags of blood, yet I can still feel the hunger coming off you. You’ve never had to deal with finding your mate before.”
Ronan eyed Declan as wrath burnt through him. “You knew what she was to me when she pulled that little stunt with her brother.” He stalked toward Declan as he spoke. Declan’s heel pushed open one of the doors as he backed into the gym. “You could have stopped this. She would have been gone from here before our relationship ever progressed to this point.”
He’d regretted going after Declan in the poolroom before; now he would like nothing more than to tear his friend’s arms off and beat Declan with them. If that didn’t satisfy him, he would tear Declan’s head off next.
“After what I saw with you in that alley, I did suspect it,” Declan admitted, apparently unaware of how close to death he was. “But this was going to happen no matter what. Even if she had told her brother where to find her, you never would have handed her over to be married to another man. You’re unraveling fast, Ronan, faster than I thought possible; most likely because of your age, power, and lineage.”
Declan’s gaze was sad when he stopped retreating. “You have no control over this. It will claw at you until you go mad.”
Ronan turned away from him, no longer able to meet Declan’s gaze. “Ipromisedher she could see everything she ever dreamed about seeing.Ican’t take her to see those things, I can’t give her the life she deserves, not now. The traveling we do consists of: arrive, hunt, kill, return. There’s no time for sightseeing and tourist traps. Even if there was time and I did take her with me, I would be dropping her off to go kill before returning to take her on a guided tour. What kind of fucked-up life is that?
“Not to mention, I don’t think any of us will be going anywhere anytime soon, not with Joseph here. My life revolves around death. She’s too vibrant and beautiful for hers to be the same way. She risked everything to gain freedom, and I won’t be the monster who rips it away from her.”
“You can figure all that out, and one day, maybe you will be able to take her everywhere she wants to go.”
“That’s a big maybe. She’s also frightened because of what Joseph did to her in that alley.”
