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-&-

Chapter 31

"Emrie."

I jerked away with a start as a deep, rather angry voice slipped past my ears. I groaned and rubbed at my lower back that was stiff from sleeping on the ground, as my eyes blinked over to the bars of our cold, damp cage. I had no idea how long we had been down there for, but it couldn't have been more than a day. A day of misery and panic.

Bright blue eyes blinked over at me, the only light shining around the dark room. The relief that swamped my chest was short lived as the fury radiating off the wolf-borne king registered in my brain.

"North..."

His growl was followed by four others, their owners all standing behind him like giant, angry mountains in the large opening behind the bars. The ruby pressed against my chest surged.

Mae was still sleeping at my side, oblivious to the wrath that was about to rain down on us, and I gently reached over and shook her awake as the North's large hands wrapped around the thick iron bars. She groaned and swatted at my hands, but as the loud sound of tearing rock and iron rang throughout the cave, she shot up like a rabbit.

"What the hell was that-!" Her words died in her throat, and her cheeks instantly paled as she saw the four large Generals and their King streaming into the small crypt.

"North-" I tried to start again as he practically stomped over to me, his large, bare shoulders shaking in fury. He ripped me off the floor before I could speak, and started carrying me from the dark cave.

I tried not to let the fact that he was blatantly ignoring me bother me, but it still made my stomach churn uneasily. So, I just sighed and let him drag me as he pleased. And we were finally freed of the wretched place, that was relief in itself.

I hadn't had anymore visions from the stone, no matter how hard I clutched it or pressed it against my chest. But it would pulse abnormally every once in a while, and its warm heat surged through out my cold body.

I glanced behind us to see Aeyron, Terif, Eildor, and Finn following closely, Mae trapped somewhere within all their muscles and skin. They were all very shirtless, and very upset. I tried to lift my arm to wave at a glowering Aeyron, but North just carried me further down the cave.

"How did you find us?"

He simply grunted and eased us forward. I frowned. "You are my mate, Emrie. I can find you wherever." His voice was nowhere near pleasant.

He didn't say anything else after that, and I didn't want to risk poking at the anger I could practically feel strumming through him. He set me down gently just as the cave narrowed, and then had to turn sideways himself to walk towards the opening. It wasn't a cave meant for wolf-bornes.

As soon as we stepped foot back into the treacherous waste-land, he had scooped me off the floor like a sack of flour. A part of me rejoiced in the fact that he was willing carrying and holding me close to him, another feared the reasoning why.

The trip across the rough terrain and up the cliff's steps seemed a lot shorter than the first, but that was probably only because I feared the upcoming conversation with the furious man who practically carried me.

But I wasn't expecting him to unceremoniously dump me on the ground at the top of the cliff and then turn around and stalk off into the dense tree line of the Mountain. Well then... I watched him leave with a frown on my lips and a heavy heart dragging down my chest. But I refused to feel guilty.

"Oh, my lady." Aeyron sighed as he finished his climb up the stone steps, his brown eyes soft instead of that icy fortress they were from the cave. "What a little trouble maker you are."

I turned my frown to him, my stomach churning unpleasantly as he held his large hand out for me. My expression did not ease as I let him help me to my feet.

I didn't bother responding to his comment as I watched Terif carrying Mae over his shoulder as he reached the top of the stairs. My brow narrowed in confusion and Aeyron rolled his eyes as the other General tossed the unconscious girl on the ground beside us.

"The ridiculous Underling fainted the moment I grabbed her arm." He growled in answer, and let out a long, drawn out huff of air, before turning those furious gold eyes on me. I gulped. "You, my lady, have a lot of explaining to do." His growl filled the dense, cold air around us, and the anger in it actually made me flinch.

"Shove off, Terif. She already has to deal with North's temperamental self. You don't need to add onto it."

And just like the big, caring, man he was, Aeyron wrapped his arm around my shoulder and lead me gently away from the simpering General. A flash of satisfaction rang through me, but it was easy to push it aside as Aeyron led me towards the forests edge, and away from those ridiculous Cliffs.

"Don't not worry much about the King, my lady. He just needs some time to calm down."

His words did little to reassure me, and I kept my mouth shut as I turned to watch Terif pick Mae up once again and follow after us, the other two slowly trudging along. They didn't bother joining the conversation. I'm sure they thought that the bi-polar wolf would take his temper out on them.

"He's furious at me."

"It will pass, but you can not disappear like that again, Emrie. You should have realized what that would do to him."

I wanted to hang my head like a reprimanded child, but I would not. I knew leaving as I did would upset him, would make him more than furious, but I refused to let that stop me.

Even now, watching him leave as he did, I still would have left. I had a chance to figure something out on my own, and I took it. Just as I had done all those months ago at the village. But that didn't stop my heart from hurting.

The stone pulsed against my chest and I reached up to press it harder against my skin. It was so warm, so sacred, and it was mine. The one thing about this life that I knew was real. My relationship with Mae and her brother was fake, my childhood a lie, my mate bound with Eirik- a hole in my heart.

None of it was real, except for my stone.

"Try not to worry about such matters, my lady. Let us walk awhile, there is a long day ahead." His voice was once again soft, and his arm comforting as he led me deeper into the woods.

The moon was high in the sky, and I knew it would be dark a while longer, but the heat radiating off the Generals was enough to keep away the chill in the air. We had been walking a little shorter than an hour when Aeyron finally held his hand up to stop our small ensemble.

"North wants us to stop for the night. Eildor go gather wood for a fire. Finn- go with him." The tone at the end of his voice was a warning, one Eildor didn't miss. He pouted and stomped off into the trees, a smiling Finn at his heels. Those two almost made me want to laugh.

It wasn't long before they had returned, and a roaring fire was built right in the middle of the path. I hadn't realized they had brought any bags with them until they appeared at our feet and Terif and Aeyron started building a tent a little way off to the side. Mae was still unconscious, and I sat beside her on the wet grass as my eyes watched the dancing fire.

I pulled the ruby out from my tunic and turned it over in my cold hands. The deep, dark red of the stone tore at my heart. It out shown everything around it, even the hottest embers of the fire.

It was so beautiful.

It pulsed in my palm, and the heat that surged from its depths warmed my chilled skin. I could feel the magic thrumming within. I smiled at its smooth surface.

"Emrie."

My eyes snapped up to the pair of glowing blues staring at me over the fire. I slipped the stone easily under my tunic, and rose shakily to my feet as my stomach turned uneasily. "You... You're here." Of course, he was there. What kind of idiotic statement was that?

I kept my moronic mouth shut as he let out small sigh and closed his eyes, his large hand reaching up to run through his dark, tousled hair. "Yes." His voice was a deep mutter as it reached my ears over the crackling fire.

I watched with wide, and rather frightened eyes as he walked around the flames and stopped at my side. "Walk with me." He murmured before taking my hand without waiting for my response and pulling me out of the campsite. I could practically feel the four pairs of eyes watching us as we left.

I couldn't decipher what he was feeling at the moment, not like I could in any normal situation. His eyes were still hard with anger, and his shoulders seemed tense, but his grip on my hand was soft as his thumb stroked the skin of my wrist. The simple action caused flutters to engulf my stomach as electricity shot through my entire body.

How could he not be my mate, when my body always reacted like this at the simplest of his touches? It made my head spin, and tried to bring frustrated tears to my eyes. I pushed them away. I would not cry now, not yet- not in front of him.

We didn't walk far from the others, and when he finally pulled us to a stop he let go of my hand and turned away from me completely. I frowned at the cold, empty feeling rising from my hand to my chest. I flexed my fingers before curling them into the thick excess of my cloak.

I watched as he took a step away from me, his blue eyes pointed towards the moon. We stood there silently for what felt like forever, but couldn't have been longer than a few minutes. Both of us staring silently up at the sky, ignoring the tension as thick as a blanket thrumming around us.

"Why did you leave?" He finally spoke eons later, his voice low as his gaze dropped to the thick trees. There was a certain calm ringing through him that frightened me, that suggested against pissing him off more than I already had.

"I-I had to see if the cave was real. If what Mae said was true."

"And are you satisfied with what you found?" There was an edge to his tone, one that made it seem almost rhetorically crude. I bit my lip and glanced off into the trees as he was doing.

"I guess that depends on what your definition of 'satisfied' means." I mumbled quietly, even though I knew he could hear me perfectly well.

I wouldn't say anything that took place in the cave was satisfying, except for the vision my stone had given me. Everything else was a disaster, all my thoughts and feelings during the little adventure was one, big, giant mess.

"Satisfied." He sneered, his voice rising slightly as he kept the blue of his eyes hidden from me. "As in, did you find whatever it was that was so important you got yourself imprisoned in crypt at the bottom of the Cliffs? Are you satisfied that I spent three days tearing apart the Mountain looking for you? Are you happy that I woke up to my bed smelling of you, only to find that you fucking left me!"

His voice, along with his temper rose in power with each sentence he spoke, and my eyes widened when he suddenly turned and slammed his fist into the rock fixture at our side.

I jumped and tried to push down the strangled gasp that escaped my lips, but it was no use. The punch was so powerful it cracked the rock at its edges, and caused the birds sleeping in the trees to take off in fright.

"North." Aeyron was suddenly at my side, his arm almost circling protectively around me as his eyes dragged carefully over the fuming king.

"I'm fine." Eirik snapped, his breathing coming out as staggering breaths as his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. The fire in his bright eyes slowly faded away. "I'm fine." He repeated on a much calmer note a moment later. I rung my hands together nervously.

Aeyron shout me a concerned look, which I just smiled at, before he turned back to North. "Alright." He nodded at the King, and gave me a small bow before retreating to the others. I pulled at the edge of my cloak anxiously.

"I am sorry that I made you so upset, I promise it was not my intention."

"You're sorry." He snarled the words mockingly as he turned away once again, the blue of his eyes shifting black and back.

I took a slow step towards him before ringing my hands in front of me again. It was so odd seeing him this angry- at me. The other day, when he had been deranged and covered in blood, had been a blind rage, this one was deliberate.

"I am, but I had to know. You never tell me anything, and I finally had the opportunity to figure something out for myself. I am sorry for upsetting you, but I would do it all over again if I had the choice."

He didn't say anything for a few long, seconds, and I was starting to fear that he never would, but then he let out a long sigh and turned back towards me. "You are right. I should have realized keeping you in the dark for so long would have its consequences."

"Its consequences..." I hated how he did that. How he made it sound like I was some agreement that had its ups and downs.

"Yes, you would not have ran away if I did not hide so much from you."

I rolled my eyes and let out a strangled sigh as the blue of his turned to the night sky. "I did not run away. I was going to come back after I saw the cave."

"And yet, you never would have made it if I did not save you."

Well, that part was true.

The anger seemed to slowly leave him once again, and his body eased as he leaned back against the rock. The ruby thrummed slightly against my chest, and I let its warmth seep into my heart as I watched him.

Everything I felt for him I knew to be real. Mate bond or not, the Elders did not fake my emotions for him. But oh, how I wished the mate bond between us was real. I could continue to go on like how we were, to pretend that the connection between us was destiny and not part of Adranus' soul. But that would be beyond cruel.

If I was not his true mate, then he must have one out there. One he would not have a problem sharing his secrets with, with opening his thoughts and emotions to. One he would love with his entire heart.

I rubbed my hands down my face to hide the anguish there as I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. It made my jaw ache. Yes, yes it would be very cruel to not tell him the truth. He deserved to happy.

"Adranus is real, Eirik." I said softly a silent moment later, even though my heart constricted in my chest with each word that passed my lips. "He found me in the cave. I saw him there."

"I found you in the cave, even though I shouldn't have had to." His voice was back to that unpleasant snap, his blue eyes icy as I shuffled in front of him.

"As you've mentioned many times already."

He growled, but made no comment as I reached up to rub the ruby hidden behind my tunic in comfort. "I think... I think I really am his star." I murmured more to myself than him, even though the tension that zapped between the two of us was thick as the fog at the bottom of the Cliffs.

I wasn't sure if he could sense the uneasiness boiling inside me, or the remorse I was trying to fight, because his eyes slowly softened, and he let out a long sigh.

"This doesn't change anything between us, Emrie." He eased some, and he spoke as if he knew the exact thoughts that tumbled around inside my mind. I shook my head and resisted the urge to pull at my hair in frustration.

"This changes everything, Eirik! Adranus is real, and if I truly am the star- then we can't be mates. We are not real." I could feel the words choking my throat, but I tried to hide it as I gripped tightly onto the warm stone through my cloak.

"It's just his soul inside of you that binds us together." My voice was tight in my chest, and the words were hard to believe, especially with the way my body reacted at being so near to him.

My heart ached at the simple sight of him, at one look at those bright blue eyes. Everything inside of me screamed that I loved him, but that man in my vision, the one with the ruby red eyes, Adranus- I knew he owned my entire being. There was once a time I would have given my soul to him if he had asked.

Why was this happening? Why couldn't my life be as simple as I once believed it to be? These thoughts, this turmoil, was going to drive me insane.

He growled, and the soft look in his eyes disappeared as he stepped towards me. A sliver of panic racked through my body, but I held my ground. I wouldn't back down from him, from this, especially if this was the conversation that decided our fate.

"This is real, Emrie." He snarled as his arm wrapped around my waist and drew me hard against his chest. I gasped, both at the action and at the electricity shooting up my spine from his touch.

"This feeling every time I touch you, every time I see you, courses throughout my entire being. Not just some part of my fucking heart."

My own seemed to beat a thousand miles a minute in my chest. My fingers curled against the bare skin of his chest, and it took all I had in me not to throw my arms around his neck and cuddle into the warmth of his skin.

"Don't you dare deny that you feel it too." He growled into my ear, his voice hard as his arm tightened around me.

I immediately shook my hand and let my palms lie flat against his firm skin. "I do feel it. Which just makes this all the more confusing. How can I be your mate, and his star? How can this all be possible? It's driving me mad."

My breathing was turning hard in my chest, and I was disappointed at the frustrated tears trying to cloud my eyes. I could almost feel him ease against me, his hard arm loosening around my lower back until it felt like he was giving me an endearing hug.

"Try not to worry over such things, you will only upset yourself if you do. Just know, that you are mine, and you will always be mine."

I wanted to frown at his words, even though they reassured me a little. That didn't solve anything, it only made my anxiety worse. But I let my arms curl around his waist in a hug I had wanted to give him for months anyways. I didn't know what our future held, but I knew at that moment, I only wanted him.

He sighed into my hair, his breath hot as it brushed against my skin. His other arm reached up and curled around my back until I was pinned as tightly to him as he was to me.

"I am happy you are okay, my little Emrie."

The feeling was surreal. His strong, huge arms wrapped around me, his beautiful face buried into the crook of my shoulder as he held my body nearly off the ground and against him. It was better than I had ever imagined, and I never wanted it to end.

The stone thrummed against me in agreement, but that was something from my little adventure I wanted to keep a secret. Eirik had a part of his god, and now so did I. I would tell him one day, eventually. But, for now, the stone was mine.

-&-