Page 120 of Fractured Fate

She wrapped her arm around him and nestled deeper into his hold as if his words settled her. He wrapped his other arm around her, tugging her closer as she drifted back to sleep. She hitched her left leg over his leg, bending it at the knee. The warmth from between her legs against his thigh made his cock twitch.

They’d had sex. He’d tasted her blood. Both were more than anyone he’d known who formed a bond did before sealing it.

Seth tasted Riley’s blood before they sealed their bond, but they didn’t have sex. Much to Aiden’s displeasure, Seth explained how more happened between them, but they never went as far as intercourse prior to sealing the bond. Seth needed answers, so Aiden didn’t fault him for oversharing.

Did having sex intensify everything?

He laid his head back against the pillows, closing his eyes.

He remembered learning that the more physical contact they shared, the stronger the bond grew. It was a reason many Korrena pairs couldn’t resist touching one another prior to awakening. The instinct to be tethered to their mate was strong long before awareness set in.

That explained why it became frustrating not to touch Charlotte after they slept together the first time. Why he would find himself wrapped around her when he woke in the night if she wasn’t thrashing about. How the urge to touch her arm or back as he moved about the kitchen when she cooked meals pushed at him.

His eyes shifted to the window as unease settled in his chest.

He said he was done refusing them what they both wanted, but how would he handle this newest development? It would be near impossible to hide their connection now that he knew she was his Korrena. The physical and emotional pain of going back to his dorm alone when her parents returned would be enough to drive him mad. He knew it. The bond between them had grown faster than it had for others he knew.

He couldn’t tell anyone about the mark. A mark that wouldn’t show at the back of her neck anymore because they weren’t a sealed pair yet.

If he told them, and Charlotte found out the truth about what he was…

One small favor, he no longer had to worry about the Blackthorn Clan wiping her memories if she discovered the truth. The Korrena bond protected her from that. Forced separation of a Korrena pair violated their laws. Wiping her memory would force them to never be together.

The problem he faced now came down to his species.

Charlotte had been so upset about what she witnessed in the alley before he came to Athens that he felt certain she would reject him as a monster.

Korrena pairs could choose separation. She could choose to break their bond. After witnessing Blaire and Lukas have their bond stolen, he knew formed bonds could break. But if the bond was never sealed, then all Charlotte had to do was walk away. She didn’t know the pain and suffering it would bring them.

Even if she knew, would she prefer it to being with a monster? Because that’s how she viewed his kind after witnessing that rogue attack. Monsters who fed on poor, unsuspecting humans in dark alleyways. Like vampires on TV.

He’d finally found her. The person made for him.

And all because of his birth species, he would lose her.

23

SICKNESS

The walk through the courtyard from the dorm to the main building did nothing to relax Aiden. The scent of daylilies and magnolias filled the air with their pleasant aroma, carried on the midday breeze that made the rising humidity of early July bearable. On a better day, he might stop and sit on the edge of the marble fountain and drink in the sounds and smells that came with the peak of summer, but today wasn’t a better day.

Charlotte left a week ago to see her grandmother Rina in Atlanta, and now he felt like he was dying.

His skin itched, and his chest ached. His head felt fuzzy and throbbed with an ever-present headache he couldn’t shake. The urge to vomit tightened his throat. His healing did nothing to ease how his body seemed to revolt against him.

Stepping from the bright sunshine of the day, he entered the main building to make his way to the cafeteria on the second floor.

He kept his head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone he passed. His eyes were bloodshot, and he probably looked like something the cat dragged in half dead. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

In the cafeteria, he slunk to the buffet bar to grab a tray. The large buffet tables that wrapped around the center of the cafeteria held the spread of the day. Each meal they served had something new. With feeding all the students living on campus and catering to a variety of different cultures from all parts of the world, the amount of food that passed through the cafeteria was considerable, yet with minimal waste.

He grabbed the first things he saw. A small bowl of garden salad and a packet of the closest dressing, a small bowl of cantaloupe, and a serving of lasagna. Stopping at the beverage bar, he grabbed a cup and filled it with iced sweet tea before getting a blood packet from the refrigerators on the back wall. He would not neglect his health like before, not when he felt like this.

“Wow. You look like death warmed over,” Seth said when Aiden approached the round table in the corner where his friends always sat at.

Riley sat between him and Blaire, who sat on the other side of Lukas. Dominic was on the other side of Lukas. Layla sat on the other side of Dominic. Three empty seats separated Seth and Layla. With Mera and Kai already gone to California, the vacancy at their table looked odd.

He placed his tray down and sat beside Seth. “Thanks, man, but death doesn’t—” He cut himself short when awareness hit him.