Page 42 of Stolen Thorn Bride

Kasia felt her own smile grow as she reached out and took it. She was forced to acknowledge that the shivery feeling of attraction had not lessened—if anything, it had grown.

And as her hand remained in his, both of them seemingly unwilling to pull away, it slowly dawned on Kasia that she'd been mistaken about her heart.

The danger was not that shecouldfall in love with Dechlan. The real problem was that she already had.

Chapter 12

It was not how this was supposed to go. Not how this inconvenient and unlooked-for bond with a human was supposed to feel.

Dechlan hadn’t expected to feel anything at all, other than obligation. His bondmate was just another responsibility, after all.

But it was not too many days after their startling encounter in the training yard that he realized she was something completely different.

Kasia was… unexpected. Unpredictable. A bright, unquenchable spark in the darkness of his existence.

Her smile did something to his heart. Chipped away at the ice that encased it, perhaps. Whatever it was, it drew him, like a starving man to a feast, or a frozen wanderer to the fireside.

He found himself looking for her at odd moments, wondering what she might be doing, or seeking her out to reassure himself that all was well. It seemed important to ensure that she was settling in and not falling into melancholy.

And somehow, he could always find her, even when her emotions were not strong enough for him to feel. He managed not to question that too deeply, or to let himself wonderwhyhe felt lighter when she was near.

But he did, so it was not terribly surprising that his footsteps would wander in her direction after he received the news that reinforcements from the Eastwatch would be delayed once again.

Lost in bleak thoughts of what this blow would mean to the elves now holding the front, he was caught entirely off guard when Kasia’s emotions suddenly flared—sharp and urgent.

Dechlan didn’t think, he just ran. Didn’t stop to consider what he was feeling until he found himself in the stables, looking in on Aral’s den.

Aral’s former den.

The wolf was gone, and Kasia was on her knees in the empty den, arms wrapped around her chest, shaking with sobs.

How could he have forgotten?

He’d made arrangements right after their return to have their mounts be returned to Miach’s stables. Once he realized how much Aral meant to Kasia, he’d decided to negotiate for the silver wolf to stay. But with everything else that had happened, he’d forgotten, and one more thing his bondmate loved had been taken away. Was there no end to the number of ways they could hurt her?

“Kasia,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

She turned and looked up, tears shimmering in her eyes. “He’s gone,” she said, her voice ragged and hoarse from crying. “Dechlan, he’s gone.”

He wanted so much to ease her heartache. To remove the devastation from her eyes, but nothing he could do would ever be enough. Not when he could see that this was about so much more than just the wolf she’d grown to love.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, helplessly. “Kasia, I will bring him back. Miach will be happy to allow us to keep him. I simply forgot to ask, but I will fix this, I swear to you.”

She rose to her feet, crossed the space between them, and threw her arms around his waist. Buried her face in his shirt and whispered, “Thank you.”

Something happened in his heart. Something deep and unstoppable, like the rise and fall of the mountains themselves—a crack in the very foundation of his world.

He wanted… so much more for her than this. He wanted to make her happy. Wanted to see her find her place and thrive. Wanted to protect her from everything bleak and hopeless, everything that weighed on her shoulders and kept her awake at night.

And he wanted her exactly where she was—in his arms—for as long as she was willing to stay.

Perhaps it was the bond talking—the bond he’d never meant to feel. But he did feel it now, and the strength of it moved him near to tears himself.

And her next words only cracked his heart open wider.

“I miss them, Dechlan,” she said into his chest. “I miss them so much. And I’m so afraid for them. What if no one will help them? What if they’re split up? What if my father never comes back, or he comes back and believes I abandoned them?” Her hands gripped his shirt with desperate strength. “I can do nothing,” she whispered, “and it’s tearing me apart.”

It was like hearing an echo of his own grim, oft-repeated thoughts.