Forbidden Union: A Paranormal Romance (Harem of The Mindslayer Book 3)

by Willa Hart

  “My…my fated-mates,” I whisper out, and step away from Rex. Aside from my chin, King Rex hasn’t touched me, and yet I am drawn to him with the same strength that I am drawn to Sarkany and to Taraz. It’s a deep and intense power that I have no ability to deny.

  “You came to speak of decisions,” Rex says. He takes two steps back and raises an eyebrow. His gaze travels down the front of my body. The pressure of his gaze is as though he’s touched every part of my flesh. I swallow.

  “I’m going to Ninaku, with the envoy, to lead the Dregs.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Excuse me?” My hands ball into fists, and just as quickly as I was aroused, I am now angered. “You don’t get to tell me whether I can return to Ninaku. I have freedom of movement, and I must go to lead the Dreg army. You heard the envoy, they’re in need of leadership—”

  “He’s right,” Sarkany bellows from the doorway.

  I turn and meet my fated-mate’s eyes. How long as he stood in the doorway watching? Part of me worries that I’ve hurt Sarkany, while another part still rages at his inability to save my sister.

  “This may be the only time that King Rex and I ever agree, but you’re not going to Ninaku. At least not yet. It’s too dangerous for you to go.”

  I squint and turn my gaze from Sarkany to Rex. “But I must go, I’m a Dreg. The leadership knows me, they know that I grew up in Ninaku, they’ll listen to me.”

  “Perhaps,” Rex says. “While they do know you and they may acknowledge you as a Dreg and possibly even as their Queen, you can’t take a rag-tag group of untrained Dregs and turn them into a force worthy of leading into battle.”

  “That’s why I’m going,” Sarkany says.

  “They may string you up as they did the Roya guards,” Rex says.

  “They might, but they might hate Vlissimal so much that they allow me to train them into a fighting force and Taraz to help them with their technology,” Sarkany says. “While they hate our Uncle, they loved our mother and us. They’ll let us lead if we continue the changes that our mother began.”

  “Your mother ended up dead by a Ninaku assassin. How can you call her loved?” Rex asks.

  “Our mother ended up dead by someone who was opposed to her new world order. Of course, Vlissimal said it was a Dreg, but he said a great many things that we all know now to be false. At this point I’m unsure that it wasn’t Vlissimal himself that ordered the assassination of our parents.” Sarkany pulls his gaze from Rex and looks at me. His gaze softens. “You must stay here until we’ve had a chance to train a fighting force and secure Ninaku. Your value is too great to take such an enormous risk.”

  I turn away from Sarkany; as much as I want to go with him and Taraz to Ninaku now, his reasoning is sound. Rex sits in his throne again. One leg over the arm, as though watching me with my fated mate—he hasn’t a care in the world.

  I know how you really feel, my dear King.

  Careful, Princess.

  His apparent nonchalance is a ruse that he uses to either keep himself calm or those around him—possibly both, because while he may give the appearance of not caring about worldly affairs, his thoughts are very different.

  “I will need the Wolveskin’s help,” I say.

  “And what, Princess, would you offer to us, the Wolveskin, for our loyalty?” There is heat in Rex’s eyes.

  “I offer you peace,” I say. “I offer you the right to participate as much or as little as you wish in commerce within the Kingdom. I’d offer you equal protection under all laws. Not to be considered specimens to be captured and studied, but equal to all humans with regards to rights and citizenship. However, even with all that, you may decide that you prefer to remain a myth within the Kingdom.”

  “I’m unsure we have the luxury of remaining a myth any longer. You’ll stay here. We’ll send an envoy with the Roya Princes. You shall remain under my protection until we hear from Sarkany and Taraz that Ninaku is safe for your return. Then you shall take your rightful seat as the Queen of the Kingdom. I accept your terms,” Rex says.

  “Very well. We ride as soon as the others are ready.” Sarkany’s gaze lingers on me. Little Bird, I love you. It’s only your safety that I desire. His look is determined and sadness haunts his eyes. He turns from me and leaves. There is so much still unspoken between Sarkany and me. My anger. His sadness. Our confusion as to how we can ever come to terms over Huali.

  They’re all leaving you, Princess, Rex thinks. Looks like it’ll be just you and me.

  A shockwave of desire threads through my body. Alone with Rex. Thrilled by the prospect and yet terrified of what I might discover. The power of his passion and the call to my Wolveskin blood shimmers through my cells. Half of me, the part I didn’t know existed until I met Rex, desires to know my Wolveskin heritage. What will happen to me when I fully embrace the Wolveskin within me?

  “It’s an interesting thought, Meela. That perhaps your beast waits within your soul to be awakened and set free. There are so few human-Wolveskin mixes. I can only think of three, and you and Huali are two of them.”

  I drop my gaze. “I don’t believe that she’s dead,” I say. “I know it seems foolish, but I…I can’t believe that she’s gone…not yet.”

  Rex nods. “Your link with her would be strong. You are siblings who survived a great deal together.” He stands from his throne and walks toward me. “I believe you. I believe everything that you say. I believe that not only are you meant to be the Queen of the Roya Kingdom, but you are meant to be my Queen as well.”

  He stands before me and the heat of him, the size of him, all of him so close to me that it’s hard for me to pull air into my lungs. “It is you that will lead us into a time of prosperity and peace, Princess.”

  He tilts his head, and I fight to keep my gaze locked with his. Desire creeps through my body. I drop my gaze, hopeful he can’t see the desire in my eyes. Want tingles between my legs. Again he puts his fingertips beneath my chin and presses my head up to look into his eyes. “But the thing that is most important, Princess?” His voice is low, nearly a whisper. “Is that you believe as well.”

  Chapter Seven

  Meela

  The Wolveskin blade room is close to the main entrance of the lair, just beside the warrior training room. The scent of musk and oil and steel wafts to me. Sarkany sits alone on a bench with his blades lying before him on a wooden table. He picks up the knife that he wears on his calf and slides oil along the blade. He’s intensely focused on the steel, his gaze locked to the cloth he slides along the blade.

  Loli dais surmonsess luminous, traisouis, maisous, dumunious.

  Loli dais surmonsess luminous, traisouis, maisous, dumunious.

  With each stroke of the blade he whispers. The sacred words, a warrior’s prayer to the Goddess fall from his lips. His meditation as a warrior.

  “I feel your desire for him,” Sarkany says. His hand stops stroking the steel but his gaze does not leave the blade. “We are fated-mates, but you are still free. It’s your prerogative as a woman and as my Queen to take anyone that you feel is worthy of you to your bed. While I wish that I could tell you that your desire for him does not affect me”—his intense brown eyes look up and lock upon me—“for me to say those words to you would be a lie.”

  “I…I…” I shake my head. How do I speak to Sarkany about all that divides us right now, including my desires for King Rex. “I did not know any of this,” I say. I stand beside him. “I did not know that my mother was an Eliterrati, or that my father was a Wolveskin, or that my parents bound me to King Rex when we were children.”

  Sarkany nods. “I believe you. I understand. There are times when we have no control over the events that surround us.”

  “I…I’m sorry about what I said to you about Huali.” My voice shakes. “It’s only…” My bottom lip trembles. “It’s only that…she was all that I had growing up. Even our memories were stripped from us. All we had was each other, and for her to be…�
� Heat pricks my eyes, because while my heart believes she still lives, all facts and logic point to her death. “Gone.”

  Sarkany lays his blade on the table. “I would lay down my life for you and for anyone that you love.”

  “I know this to be true.”

  “Much like your feelings for Huali, I share those same feelings for my brothers. While we weren’t intentionally abandoned, we too lost our parents and were left with a monster. I know we disagree regarding Leo, but I’m uncertain that he isn’t working on our behalf—”

  “How can you say that?” I break in. My voice is loud. “Even after your argument with him? Even while he slays Dregs in the streets and rides with Lord Vlissimal with impunity?”

  “Would you have believed that Huali could’ve turned her back on you and fought against you?”

  “No, never,” I say.

  “That’s how I feel about Leo,” Sarkany says, his voice as close to a plea as I’ve ever heard from this great warrior.

  “It’s not the same.”

  “No, not to you, because the two of you don’t get on, but for me and for Taraz, we know our brother at a deep level, much like you know your sister. You must give me this until Leo proves me wrong. Until I speak to him and hear otherwise, I ask that you trust me.”

  Heaviness lodges in my heart and anger slides through my belly.

  “I trust you,” Sarkany says. “Even while I may not wish to, I trust that no matter who you pledge yourself to, that you’ll always be my fated-mate and the Roya Queen. All I ask is that you trust me in return.”

  “These seem like very different requests,” I say. My tone is ice-cold.

  “And yet, somehow they’re equally hard for each of us. Are they not?” Sarkany stands. One by one he slides his knives into their awaiting sheathes. My warrior Prince is ready to go into the world and fight for me, our future, and the future of an entire kingdom.

  He walks to me and stands in front of me. I look into his eyes.

  “I go to prepare your army,” he whispers. “I go as your warrior, representative of you, my Roya Queen. I shall call for you when your army is ready.” And with those words, my fated-mate, my warrior, my Prince who shall one day be my King takes to one knee before me.

  My heart nearly breaks. A chord deep within me is struck. We are equal in every way, and yet Sarkany is so much physically stronger than I am. Still, he kneels before me.

  “I am your warrior, you are my liege. I pledge my loyalty to you. You are my Queen and my fated-mate.”

  “Rise,” I say, unable to know or understand what it is that I should say or do. Me, a girl raised as a laundress and a Dreg. What do I know of sending princes and warriors out to battle on my behalf?

  You know plenty, my little bird, Sarkany thinks, and slips me his smile.

  My emotions are raw within me. Sarkany’s loyalty to me is unquestionable, but Leo’s loyalty to Sarkany could be a fatal error.

  “It is not a fatal error,” Sarkany says. “I shall prove to you, one way another, that Prince Leo shall not be the death of me.” He pulls on a bodysuit made of leather and detriallia, the hardest and most protective armor in the world. “We depart within the hour,” he says. “Once we are within Ninaku and have spoken with the leaders of the uprising, I’ll send you my thoughts. I don’t want to be overheard while we travel.”

  It’s understandable, as we both fear that Leo can eavesdrop on our fated-mate link, especially now that Taraz and I are fated as well.

  “I believe Taraz waits for you,” Sarkany says. I nod. I press a gentle kiss to Sarkany’s lips. Then I turn and walk out of the blade room leaving behind the scents of metal, oil, and man.

  Taraz scurries about Dr. Atta’s lab carefully placing different tools into several boxes. He lifts a round tool with a glass at the end, and Dr. Atta nods. Taraz hands the instrument to Jix who wraps it in gauze and linen and places the tool into an open bag.

  “Meela!” Taraz smiles at me even while his eyes dart about the room. “You know we’re leaving in less than an hour.”

  “You’re taking those packs?”

  “I don’t know what they have in Ninaku for me to use. Jix is helping me secure what we might need while we’re there. He knows about the Engineers Guild of Ninaku, and Dr. Atta is being very generous. Once this discord is finished I must send her anything that she might want from my lab.” Taraz grasps both my hands and takes a deep breath. His dark brown eyes look into mine. “I’m not a warrior”—he glances down at our hands—“but I do have a fierce heart, and I do love you. What I have to give to you is my mind, my knowledge, and my loyalty. I deeply wish we could’ve had our ceremony before I left, but we do need a Wishing Tree and I haven’t come across one in the Dark Forest, and Dr. Atta has no knowledge of one nearby. So will you take my pledge?”

  “I already have,” I say. “I…I want to come with you.”

  “That’s already settled. It’s impossible.” Taraz turns toward Jix. They exchange a look, and Taraz returns his gaze to me. “It’s not safe for you to come to Ninaku yet. But soon. We’ll need you there, with us, to lead the Dreg army that we train and outfit. We’ll need to embrace this new future, or I fear we’ll be destroyed.”

  “I don’t want to stay here and be protected,” I say.

  “It’s not that you can’t help. Your value is so high, we need to know you’re safe from Vlissimal. He’ll do anything to destroy you, because by destroying you, he destroys the possibility of an alliance and New Order.”

  Pain slices through my head, and I clasp my hand to my forehead. Blinding white light pulses behind my eyelids.

  “Meela?” Taraz’s voice sounds far away from me.

  I shake my head. “It’s…it’s nothing.”

  Taraz stares into my eyes, and Jix moves closer to me.

  “I…I’m fine.” But am I? I don’t know for certain. There’s so much going on, so many images, so many voices in my mind…and the death of Huali? I don’t know if I’m actually okay.

  “Meela?” Dr. Atta places her hand on my shoulder. “Are you unwell?”

  “No, I just—” My gaze goes from Taraz to Jix. “My two fated-mates and my closest friend are leaving me, and I don’t know when they’ll return.”

  Fear pulses in my chest.

  Meela, we shall be back, Taraz thinks.

  Jix’s gaze tells me he feels what I’m feeling and is very aware of my confusion and upset.

  “We must go,” Jix says. “And here, with King Rex, is the safest place for you until we know that there is order in Ninaku.”

  I nod. He’s right, of course. They all are, but them being right doesn’t change how I feel.

  “Sarkany waits for you,” I say.

  A soft smile crosses Taraz’s face. “And we all know just how patient he is.”

  I nod. I love these three men: Sarkany, Taraz, and even Jix—thought not in the same way. I do not wish to see them leave without me, not now, not ever. My gaze lingers on Jix—while I can never be with him and return the love he has for me in the way he wants me, I shall always love him.

  “That’s much better,” Jix whispers, and packs a triangular-shaped instrument into a bag.

  “Thank you,” I say. I grasp his arm and block my mind but not before I see the image of Jix kissing me, and for the first time in my life, the image does not feel unpleasant within my mind.

  “Ready?” Taraz asks, interrupting my thoughts.

  “I think it’s all we can carry,” Jix says.

  The three of us thank Dr. Atta and leave her lab. I prepare myself for this inevitable goodbye.

  Chapter Eight

  Meela

  Wind whips my exposed flesh. I shiver. The trees are bare and dark clouds hover low in the sky. Taraz ties down a bag filled with tools to his saddle. Jix does the same on his horse. Sarkany stands beside the lead horse next to one of the three Dreg envoys.

  Ache cracks my heart.

  With Huali gone, Sarkany, Taraz, and Jix are my en
tire world. My two fated-mates and my friend from my childhood.

  We’ll be right here, Taraz thinks.

  My bird, I will be here with you, even while I am away from your side.

  “You’ll be okay, right?” Jix’s gaze travels over the group of Wolveskin that stand in human form beside Rex. Jix’s gaze remains a beat longer on Arianna, the female Alpha. He lowers his head. “Not sure that one is very happy that you’re here.”

  “Anything is better than Dribble,” I say, and then immediately guilt crests through my body for my comment. Dribble was mindslayed by Vlissimal and no one deserves such a horrid fate. “I’ll be fine. I’ll stay safe and I’ll anxiously wait for you to send for me.”

  “I feel it,” Jix says, “your anxiousness.” A sheepish smile creeps over his lips. “I’m sorry I never told you about that. I was afraid the ability to feel your feelings would get us both killed.”

  “I kept my share of secrets too,” I say.

  “So you can read anything in a person’s mind?” he asks.

  “If they don’t put up a block,” I say.

  Red unfurls up Jix’s neck. He rips his gaze from me and busies himself with his saddlebags.

  “But I don’t,” I say hurriedly, “I don’t read peoples’ thoughts. It’s a rule I had in Ninaku…I…it felt rude in a way. As though I was peering into the most private part of a person. It’s different with the Eliterrati, because they know to block off the parts of their mind they want to keep private.”

  “Oh, right!” Jix says, and relief floods his face. “Those are good rules, then. I’m not surprised you’d be so polite about it.” A smile spreads over his face.

  I don’t have the heart to tell him that his thoughts and feelings for me were so loud and so insistent that they are what caused me to learn how to keep others’ thoughts from my mind. Poor Jix, he’d be horrified if he knew all the things I’d seen in his mind about me ever since he was thirteen.