"Well well well," she said, hands on her hips. "Look who finally popped a bond and didn't know what the fuck to do with it."
Vireya blinked. "Who—"
"Iska," the King said. "Cursed-blood expert. Healer. Too nosy for her own good."
Iska grinned wider. "You love it."
He didn't respond.
Iska walked straight up to the bed, looking Vireya up and down like a weapon she was considering buying.
"You're burning up," she said. "You're not fully bonded. You haven't shifted. You've got something ancient slithering under your skin and a King who looks like he's one wrong word away from snapping someone's spine."
She turned to him. "You didn't tell her?"
"She passed out."
"Excuses," Iska muttered, pulling a pouch from her belt and dumping dried herbs into a copper bowl. She moved fast pouring, crushing, whispering under her breath in a language that made the air taste like thunder.
"What is that?" Vireya asked.
"A patch. A Band-Aid. A stall tactic so you don't both die choking on your own bond before we figure out what the hell is locked inside you."
"You know I'm cursed?"
Iska didn't look up. "Oh, baby girl. You're not just cursed. You're branded. Old magic. Real magic. Not the sexy modern kind. The burn-you-at-the-stake-if-they-saw-you-flinch kind."
Vireya's mouth went dry.
Iska poured a black liquid from a hidden flask into the bowl. It hissed.
"This won't fix you," she said, turning back with the concoction. "But it'll buy you time. Keep the fever from killing you. Let you dig into your bloodline and figure out who the hell your mother really was or better yet who she pissed off enough to put a curse on her only child."
The mention of her mother hit like a punch to the ribs.
"You know something?"
"I know enough to be nervous," Iska said, holding the steaming bowl out. "Drink."
Vireya took the bowl.
It shook slightly in her hands.
She raised it to her lips—then paused.
Her eyes slid to the King. His jaw was tight. Shoulders tense. He looked fine, but there was sweat just starting to bead along his brow.
"Is it just me?" she asked.
Iska tilted her head. "Oh, no. He's cooking too. Just hiding it better."
Vireya lowered the bowl and took one long, slow drink. Just enough to cool the fire. Her muscles relaxed. Her blood didn't claw at her skin anymore.
Then she held the bowl out to him.
The King didn't move at first.
Then, without breaking eye contact, he reached out and took it—his fingers brushing hers.
The contact was electric. Not soft. Not sweet.
Loaded.
His hand lingered longer than necessary.
And when he pulled the bowl to his mouth and drank the rest, she didn't look away.
Neither did he.
The bond pulsed between them. Slower now. Waiting. Watching.
Iska snorted. "Well, that wasn't intimate or anything."
The King handed her the empty bowl; eyes still locked on Vireya.
"If you weren't the best at what you do," he muttered, "I'd have killed you by now."
"Aw," Iska grinned. "You always know just what to say... now while you two love birds figure your shit out, I am going to grab a few things so we can try and brainstorm. I'll be back; I need to talk to grams." Vireya watched with wide eyes as Iska left... "that witch is bat shit crazy" she mumbled smirking to herself as she sat on the edge of the bed, her breath steadying as the potion had worked it's way through her body completely.
The king stood near the window, arms crossed, eyes on her like she might disappear if he blinked. Or combust. Or both.
Vireya sighed and decided to break the silence. "You never told me your name," she said quietly, not looking at him.
Silence. Then, his voice—low, heavy.
"You never asked."
She looked up. Their eyes met.
"Well?" she said, throat dry. "What do I call you? Besides 'possessive psychopath' or 'Evil King of all the land?' That seems a little long, but I am your prisoner after all...."
His mouth twitched. My name is Kael and you are not my prisoner. You are my mate. I didn't think the moon goddess would ever bless me with a mate for the things I have done. I thought it was my punishment"
The name hit harder than it should've.
She tasted it. Let it settle in her chest like ash.
It fit. Sharp edges, solid weight. Dangerous in its simplicity.
"Kael," she repeated while processing the rest of what he said.. but deciding to leave it be for now and not pry.
His jaw tensed when his name fell from her lips, it did something he didn't expect. Awakening a primal instinct he had long ago believed he would never be able to fulfill. His wolf was screaming at him internally to breed her. To give into the primal need. Forcing images of her pregnant and carrying his heir into his mind. He quickly shoved his wolf back telling him to calm down internally. His wolf Drekken internally huffed but didn't push back this time.
Kael knew though that Drekken wouldn't let him off that easy much longer especially with the mate bond needing to be completed. He would soon go moon crazy if it wasn't.
"And you?" he asked, voice even softer now. "What do I call you, flame?"
She hesitated. Just for a second.
Then: "Vireya."
He inhaled once slow, sharp.
"Vireya," he echoed, and the word sounded different when he said it. Like a promise. Like a prayer.
He stepped closer.
"You know what it means?" she asked staring into his storm grey eyes.
"Yes." He said clenching his jaw as he stared into ocean green eyes.
He didn't say anything. Just looked at her like she was the only thing worth watching in the entire cursed kingdom.
"Rare," he murmured. "And venomous."
"Fitting," she said dryly.
Kael stared at her a beat longer about to close the distance between them.
But of course, Iska picked that exact moment to reenter the room, tossing a satchel onto the nearest table.
"Well, aren't you two just dripping with tension," she said, smirking. "Feel free to start dry-humping or fighting. I'm fine either way."
Vireya flushed. Kael shook his head and rubbed a finger on his for head like Iska was giving him a headache.
"What did you find?" he asked.
Iska pulled out a long scroll and a chunk of something that looked like bone. "This. we dig through blood records and ancestral curses until something screams 'murdered bloodline.' But first we sort through the logistics."
She turned to Vireya.
"You still feeling stable?"
"Define stable."
"Not on fire?"
Vireya nodded.
"Good," Iska said. "Because there's one catch with that potion."
Kael narrowed his eyes. A rumble in his chest sounding more like growl... "What kind of catch Iska!?"
Iska grinned like she'd been waiting to say it all day.
"The farther apart you two are, the faster it wears off. Sooooooo unless you, Vireya want to start seizing again, you'll need to sleep together."
Vireya blinked. "You mean—?"
"Same bed," Iska clarified with a roll of her eyes. "Keep your clothes on. Or don't. I really don't give a shit."
Kael didn't react.
Vireya did. "That's bullshit."
"Welcome to mate bonds and blood curses, sweetheart. I don't make the rules. I just keep people from dying horribly."
Kael exhaled through his nose. "Fine. What else did you figure out Iska, I am losing my patience with your witch talk. There is always a fucking catch"
Iska raised a brow. "So cranky.... If you weren't the best option for our survival, I'd have poisoned your tea years ago."
Kael's nostril flared.
Vireya dropped her head into her hands. "I hate both of you."
"You'll love me eventually," Iska said. "He's still up for debate though."
"Iska! get on with what you found out before I strangle you to death." Kael said.
Later that night, as the fire dimmed and the tension in the room settled into something heavy and quiet...
Vireya lay in the farthest corner of the massive bed, blankets bunched between them like a wall.
Kael said nothing. Didn't touch her.
But his presence was like a current in the air. And when she finally drifted off, muscles tense and heart racing...
She heard it.
A voice.
Low. Distant. Not words, exactly. Just sound.
Mine, it whispered.
Not Kael.
Something deeper.
Older.
Something that she knew belonged to her and she to it.