Page 89 of Veil of Shadows

“Oh Goddess, you did. You claimed me as your mate.” My fingers flew to the mark, but as before, I couldn’t feel it, but I couldseeit in my reflection. “Jax, what have you done?”

The hopeful light in his eyes dimmed. “I thought you wanted me to.”

I tried to rub it off, tried to erase it, but it was as though it was under my skin, as if it was a part of me.

A growl erupted from Jax, and he forced my fingers to stop their brutal attempts at smudging his mark away. “You can’t wipe it off, Elowen. It’s permanent. I’m mated to you, and male stag shifters mate for life, so you’re it for me.”

“What?”

“Male stag shifters mate for life, and I chose you. I can never choose another. And that has nothing to do with our mate bond. I chose you as a stag and claimed you. It’s probably why you’re so confused by this and why you don’t feel the bond since you held your magic back when we were rutting.” His eyebrows slantedtogether, and I realized he’d felt me suppressing my magic when we’d been fucking. Despite the fact that I’d suppressed our fated mate bond on my end, he’d claimed me as a male stag anyway because he thought I’d wanted that.

“You can’t undo it? Truly?”

He growled anew. “I would never undo it. Once a male stag chooses his mate, even if they’re not his fated mate, that’s it for him. His choice is made.”

“You’re telling me that no matter what, it’s permanent? But what if a male stag found his fated mate after he’d already claimed another female?”

His lips twitched in a humorless smile. “He’d be perpetually tortured. Male stags mate for life once they’ve made the claim, but if a male met his fated mateafteralready claiming another, his instincts would be perpetually torn between the two females. It’s why most male stags choose very carefully when they claim a female. There’s no undoing it.” He looked down, his aura beginning to roll. “I tried to tell you that...once.”

“When?”

“On our way to Lemos. When I told you that brommel stag shifters have extraordinary healing abilities and that we move like the wind. I was also going to tell you that males mate for life, but I stopped myself.”

“But, Jax.” I shook my head. “I didn’t want this!”

His irises burst into a myriad of blue fireworks. “But I thought you did. Youconsentedto it,” he all but growled. “Last night, when I asked if you wanted to rut, you said yes.”

“But I thought I was just consenting to sex. I thought that’s what you meant by rutting.”

He stilled, but a muscle in his jaw began to tick. “No, Elowen. That’s not what I was asking. Rutting to a male stag shifter enacts his claiming bond.”

My heart began to gallop in my chest. “But I didn’t realize a male stag can still be bonded on his own. I didn’t elicit any magic on my end, so I thought that would keep any bond from forming. I’d had no idea you can be bonded to a female just from rutting.” I ran a hand over my nape, finally understanding what the burning sensation was I’d felt after our first time.

He tore a hand through his hair. “I thought you knew. Rutting seals the claim for a male. That’s how it is with stag shifters. I thought you wanted me to.”

My breaths grew so rapid that the room began to spin. “So what does this mean now? To shifters? Since it’s obviously different in your kingdom than mine.”

His jaw ground together. “It means that I claimed you asmy own. You belong to me now. You’remine. I rutted with you, which means in the shifter kingdom, we’re as good as married, because that mark carries more meaning than any wedding ceremony.”

The realm tilted beneath my feet. Swaying, I reached a hand toward the wall to steady myself.

Married? Marked? He owns me?My mouth fell open. Then closed. Then opened again because those words chilled me to the bone.

“Belong to you?” My lips flattened, and my magic flared, then my lorafin powers swirled inside me, moving and spinning faster with every second that passed. A phantom wind billowed the towels hanging on the rack to my side, and shadows unfurled in the corners of the bathing chamber. “You said I would never again be owned by anyone.”

“Elowen,” Jax said sharply. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh, then what’s it like?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and more of my power rose, swirling the air around us. The towels began to flap wildly as the room darkened.

“It means that I’m bound to you. I consider you mine, and I’ll fucking killanyonewho tries to harm you or take you from me. But I don’t physically own you. I would never claim that or do that to you. Please, Elowen.” He cupped my upper arms. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

The breeze fluttering around us quieted, and the room brightened again as my magic calmed, but just as quickly, confusion hit me. “But when I consented to rutting with you, I thought it was only sex.” His nostrils flared again, but I pushed on. “And what we had together was the most beautiful, amazing experience that I’ve ever had. I gave you my virginity. It was a moment I’ll cherish forever, but I thought it wasonlysex, and now you’re saying it was so much more.” I canted my head, and the implications of what we’d done shook me to my core. “But that doesn’t change my lineage. You’re still expected to marry another even though you claimed me. Right? Saramel said your wedding will happen next summer to another royal or a noble.” My stomach heaved. Just thinking about it made me feel sick.

Jax’s jaw snapped closed. “No, Elowen. I can never marry another now.”

“But your parents?—”

“Are in for severe disappointment because I chose you.”

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