ROVIAN.
I was watching her from a distance across the camp.
Daphne was standing in the center of her pack now. They'd gathered around her the moment she emerged from my tent. All of them were looking at her with worried faces and questions written all over their expressions.
She was explaining something to them. I was too far away to hear what she was actually saying but I could see her gesturing with her hands. I could see the way they all leaned in closer to listen to her words.
Most of them kept shooting looks in my direction. The Mira woman especially.
Her glares were sharp enough to draw actual blood if looks could kill. Their leader Garrick wasn't much better about it.
I wanted this entire situation over with already. I wanted to pack up camp and take her home where she actually belonged.
But I couldn't stop watching her interact with them.
A little girl broke away from the group suddenly and ran straight to Daphne. She wrapped both her small arms around Daphne's legs and wouldn't let go for anything.
Something twisted painfully in my chest at the sight of it.
I hated that I'd forced her to make a home here with these strangers.
That I'd pushed her so far away from me that she had to seek comfort in an entirely different territory with people she barely knew. She hadn't even gone back to her own family when she left me three years ago, neither had she contacted them once in all the time she was gone.
I'd checked for signs of her there, multiple times over the years.
That was just more evidence of the extreme lengths she'd gone to in order to put the entire realm between us.
Footsteps approached from behind me. Caelan came to stand beside me. He was watching Daphne too now.
"She agreed to come with us," I said without looking at him.
"What did you have to promise her to make that happen?"
I listed off all seven of her conditions one by one. Every single one of them without leaving anything out. Caelan stayed quiet while I talked and explained the terms.
When I finished speaking, he was silent for a long moment. Then he turned his head to look at me directly. "You lied to her." It wasn't phrased as a question. "You're not actually letting her leave when she's done treating your people."
"No. I'm not."
"She'll hate you even more when she finds out the truth about what you're doing."
"She already hates me more than anything." I kept my eyes locked on Daphne across the camp. "It can't get worse than it already is right now."
"It can always get worse, brother."
Maybe he was right about that. Maybe it really could get worse somehow. But I had to try this plan anyway.
I knew exactly what I was doing.
I'd thought this through from every angle.
I would keep her in the North long enough to prove I'd changed from who I used to be. Show her I wasn't the same man who destroyed her so completely. Make her fall for me again slowly over time without her realizing it was happening.
But watching her rigid spine right now, the way she held her entire body like she was ready to bolt at any second, the way she'd actually flinched when I grabbed her wrist earlier in the tent... doubt was starting to creep in around the edges of my certainty about this plan.
What if she never forgave me no matter what I did?
What if I kept her there in the North for months and she still hated me just as much at the end of it all?
What if this entire plan backfired on me and I lost her permanently instead of winning her back?
Daphne was walking toward me now with purpose in her steps. The Mira woman was following close behind her like a protective shadow that wouldn't leave her side.
They stopped walking about ten feet away from where Caelan and I were standing together.
Mira planted both her hands firmly on her hips.
Then she lifted her chin in open defiance. "I'm coming with you to the North."
I almost laughed at her bravery.
Honestly, having the Mira woman there might actually work in my favor anyway. Daphne would be more comfortable with a familiar face around. She'd be less likely to try something desperate or stupid if she had someone she trusted nearby.
"We leave at dawn tomorrow," I said to both of them. "Be ready to travel."
––•––
That night we made camp for the journey north that would start tomorrow.
My soldiers set up tents in organized rows across the clearing. Daphne and the Mira woman were given one of the better tents toward the center of the camp. It was protected on all sides by my warriors standing guard.
I told myself it was purely for their safety and protection.
Really it was so I'd know exactly where she was at all times during the night.
Hours passed slowly. The camp settled down for the night around me. Most of my men were already asleep in their tents by now.
I should've been sleeping too. Tomorrow would be a long day of hard travel ahead of us.
But I couldn't stop thinking about her. I couldn't stop the pull of the mate bond drawing me toward her tent like a magnet I couldn't resist.
I knew she'd probably throw something hard at my head the moment she saw me standing there. But I just needed to lay my eyes on her one more time or I wouldn't get any sleep at all tonight.
I walked quietly across the camp toward her tent. The guards posted nearby nodded at me in acknowledgment but didn't say anything out loud.
I stopped just outside the tent flap.
Then I heard voices coming from inside. Daphne and the Mira woman were talking to each other.
I heard the Mira woman's voice, carrying a level of seriousness that made me strain my ears, "If you had sex with him when you were married before, that means you're going to go into heat soon now that you're officially mates."
My blood ran completely cold in my veins.
They were talking about Daphne's potential heat?
Fuck.
Female heat.
I'd heard about it obviously over the years. But what I actually understood about the specifics was incredibly vague.
It was a periodic biological change that made a mated female desperate for her male. That was basically all I knew about how it actually worked.
I stayed frozen outside the tent, but I kept listening.
"I know," Daphne said quietly.
"When do you think it'll happen?" Mira asked. "When will your heat start?"
"I don't know exactly. It could be weeks from now. It could be days. The bond is new so it's completely unpredictable."
"Are you going to tell him about it?"
"No." Daphne's voice was firm and absolute. "Absolutely not. I'll handle it when it happens."
"Daphne, you can't just handle female heat on your own. That's not how any of this works. Your body will be demanding your mate. The pain alone could kill you if you try to fight it without him."
"I'll figure something out. I always do."
"This is different. This is pure biology. You can't just willpower your way through something like this."
"Watch me try."
Silence fell between them again.
I stepped back from the entrance quietly.
I moved away before they could realize I'd been standing there listening to their entire private conversation.
My mind was racing frantically as I walked back toward my own tent on the other side of camp.
She was going to go into heat.
It would likely happen soon if it was something they felt needed to be discussed now with such seriousness and concern in their voices.
But instead of the elation I expected to feel at the thought of my mate's body preparing itself to mate with me properly...
All I felt was absolute dread spreading through my chest.
This was the exact type of situation that would make Daphne... run from me.
If she was pushed before she was ready... she would bolt.
Fuck.