The subsequent days were a blur of training, tension, and relentless mental assault. Asher pushed Mia to her absolute limit, physically demanding control and mentally forcing her to build walls against the invasive probes of the bond. Her body ached, but her mind was sharper, more fiercely guarded. She was beginning to understand that the bond was less a tether and more a weapon, one she desperately needed to learn how to wield.
Yet, despite the exhausting schedule, the tension between them never broke. Every touch in training—correcting her stance, forcing her to block a move—sent a terrifying jolt through the bond, a mixture of his possessive demand and her own unwilling, escalating response. The air between them was always thick, charged with unspent desire.
One evening, after a particularly grueling session where Asher had deliberately amplified his predatory hunger through the bond to test her focus, Mia stumbled back to her chambers, exhausted and emotionally frayed. She collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the dark canopy, the mark on her wrist pulsing with a faint, angry heat.
She felt the low, simmering presence of Asher's thoughts—focused on Court matters, distant yet commanding—when a sudden, sharp intrusion shattered the calm. It wasn't Asher.
It was a cold, hostile mental probe, distinct from Asher's familiar dominance. It was ice where Asher was steel, malice where Asher was merely possessive. It pressed against the freshly built walls of her mind, seeking a breach, looking for the vulnerable human inside the Prince's claim.
Mia gasped, clutching her head, a flash of blinding pain shooting behind her eyes. Kael. She knew the signature instantly. The same rival who had challenged Asher in the Grand Hall was trying to test the strength of the Valerius bride bond in private.
She could feel the cold, sharp image of a hunting knife in her mind, a clear mental threat directed at her throat. Panic, hot and desperate, flooded her system.
No. Not allowed! She screamed the thought silently, trying to recall Asher's training, but the fear was too consuming.
Just as the mental assault intensified, a sudden, blinding rush of fury slammed into her through the bond. It wasn't a flicker; it was an explosion. Asher's presence, immense and lethal, crashed into her mind like a physical force, immediately crushing the foreign mental probe.
Mia cried out, the whiplash of emotions—her terror replaced by his volcanic rage—overwhelming her. She felt him instantly abandon whatever Court business held him. He was coming. And he was furious.
The door burst open moments later, hitting the wall with a deafening crash. Asher stood framed in the doorway, his power so immense it seemed to suck the light out of the room. He was utterly transformed: his eyes were pure, molten crimson, his features sharp, drawn into a mask of lethal, ancient vengeance.
He moved toward her in a blur, covering the distance in two soundless steps. He didn't speak. He simply lifted her, strong hands cupping her face, forcing her to look into the raw intensity of his eyes.
"He touched you," Asher hissed, his voice a low, terrifying rasp, barely controlled. "He dared breach my claim."
Mia was shaking too violently to speak, but the terror was fading, replaced by the staggering, intoxicating heat of his protective fury. Through the bond, she felt a profound surge of possessiveness—an ancient, murderous rage that anyone else would dare lay a claim to something his.
"The bond protected you," he stated, his voice tight. "But your walls failed. You need an anchor, Mia. A physical affirmation of my claim that no rival can mentally penetrate."
His eyes dropped to her mouth, dark with a sudden, devastating shift in focus. The fury was instantly channeled into raw, potent desire that hit her through the bond like a physical command. The sheer force of his passion made her head spin, and her hands instinctively clawed at the fabric of his tunic, pulling him closer.
"If they smell fear, they test," he growled, his mouth hovering just over hers. "If they smell me, they retreat."
He claimed her mouth with devastating urgency. This was not the disciplinary kiss of the previous time, this was raw, desperate necessity. It was rough, consuming, filled with the lethal promise of his protection and the crushing weight of his desire. He devoured her gasp, his tongue plunging into her mouth, claiming every inch with fierce, undeniable authority.
Mia was lost instantly. The bond was a screaming vortex, merging her desperate, shaking relief with his crushing, demanding hunger. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him down, clinging to him like he was the only source of air. His hands left her face, one burying itself possessively in her hair, tilting her head to deepen the kiss, the other gripping her waist, pulling her onto his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed.
She felt his ancient, powerful body respond to her surrender, his hard muscle pressing against her. The possessiveness surging through the bond was so absolute, so commanding, it felt like an unbreakable chain forged in fire.
Asher pulled back, eyes still blazing crimson, his chest heaving. He rested his forehead against hers, his breath ragged. The kiss had been an affirmation, a declaration of war, and an anchor all at once.
"That," he muttered, his voice thick with suppressed emotion, "is what keeps you safe. When you feel a threat, you run to this. You run to me. You accept the claim, and you use the bond to make it absolute."
He lifted her and stood, holding her close to his chest, one arm securely locked around her waist. He carried her to the heavy, carved wardrobe. He didn't set her down. He opened the doors, revealing a small, hidden safe within the back panel.
"Kael will not stop," Asher stated, his voice regaining its icy calm, though his heart still hammered with possessive intensity against her side. "But the next time he touches you, you will use the bond to tell me his location. And I will end him."
He quickly retrieved a small, ancient-looking vial from the safe. The liquid inside shimmered with a dark, oily sheen.
"Drink this," he commanded, holding the vial to her lips.
Mia looked at the strange, dark liquid, fear returning. "What is it?"
"It is an ancient serum," he explained, his eyes softening slightly, a rare flicker of tenderness visible through the bond. "It will temporarily strengthen the tether, making it an impassable wall against mental probes. It will also amplify your body's ability to heal and, most importantly, amplify your connection to my power."
She looked at him, predator and protector, captor and anchor. She knew that by drinking it, she was surrendering another piece of her free will. But Kael's touch had been a cold, stark threat of death. Asher's kiss, however terrifying, had been life.
Without hesitation, Mia lifted the vial and drank the thick, metallic-tasting serum.
The moment the liquid hit her throat, the mark on her wrist flared bright, scorching crimson. A wave of heat rushed through her entire body, and the bond exploded with dizzying force. Her senses sharpened—she could hear the faintest drip of water outside the window, smell the ancient stone of the manor, and feel Asher's heartbeat as clearly as her own.
More critically, she felt an incredible rush of his power, a vast, cold ocean of ancient energy that flowed into her, making her feel strong, untouchable, and utterly, irrevocably one with him.
Asher watched her, his expression intense. "It is done. You are tethered, mind and soul. Now, sleep. We have much to do."
He carried her back to the bed and lay her down gently. Before he could retreat, Mia reached out, clinging to the front of his tunic, her eyes wide with the potent rush of the serum and the amplified bond.
"Stay," she whispered, the request wrenched from her by the powerful, new connection. The word was not a plea; it was a demand born of the bond.
Asher hesitated, his eyes blazing, the struggle for control obvious. He knew this was the serum, the bond, and his own raw desire fighting against his ancient restraint. But her demand, amplified by the tether, was too potent to deny.
With a heavy sigh that was half submission, half raw hunger, Asher lay down beside her, pulling her close against his cold, powerful body. The serum-enhanced bond pulsed between them, merging their energy, their awareness, and their dangerously escalating desires.
Mia closed her eyes, utterly exhausted but finally, terrifyingly, safe. She was tethered to a monster, but that monster was now an inescapable fortress against a world that sought to destroy her.