Page 3 of Hunted By the Fae Warden

KAIDEN

Impossible.How could my mate be a human? I’m a highborn lord and a distant relation of the royal Brossnin family. I’d always expected to match with a fae female who possesses at least as much royal blood as myself, a female whose powers are comparable to mine.

I place a hand over my aching heart and wish I could rip out the unbreakable tether the gods have placed between us.

My chest hurts. Being away from Mira is painful.

I replay the words she spoke earlier in the castle.Mira Ambrose, last of my household. Twenty-Six Sunflower Lane. I offer ten pieces of silver.

She’s alone. She’s an enchantingly beautiful female alone in a war-torn city filled with lusty fae males, most of whom would probably like nothing more than to make sport of her.

Fucking gods, she’s alone and I left her unprotected. I returned to the castle without placing any wards around her house.

Shame courses through me, and I leave my place on the dais and exit the castle. Watching the defeated humans offer their tributes is boring business anyway, and I’m not certain my ears can take any more of the high-pitched screams and pitiful sobbing. If they didn’t want to be conquered by my people, perhaps they should’ve refrained from attacking us first.

It's nearly dark when I emerge from the castle, and I shoot into the sky and head for Sunflower Lane. Mira’s house is easy to spot, as it rests at the end of a long, wide road, and it also happens to be one of the largest properties within the walls of the human kingdom. I land quietly just inside the gate, vanish my wings, then rush to the only illuminated window in the cottage. I place an invisibility shield around myself just before I press my face to the glass.

There she is. Seated on a plush chair in front of a crackling fire… sharpening a set of knives. How very interesting. Her methods are clumsy, however, making me suspect she’s not skilled with knives. But I’m further intrigued when she sets the knives aside, reaches for an ax, and drags the smooth piece of sandstone across the blade.

Firelight dances over her features, making her appear as an ethereal being. I muse that she looks like a forest nymph. Her long and gloriously wavy auburn hair hangs loose, reaching her lower back, and though she’s peering down right now, I recall her eyes are the most vivid green I’ve ever glimpsed. The white nightdress she’s wearing is perhaps only a shade or two lighter than her porcelain skin. Her face is beautifully flushed, and though I know it’s due to her exertions sharpening the ax, my groin tightens as I imagine she’s blushingfor me.

I imagine she’s trembling beneath me on the forest floor, her wild hair spread out on the moss and leaves as she stares up at me with those pretty green eyes of hers. Heat pummels throughme, all the blood in my body rushing southward as my pants become uncomfortably snug.

She glances up from her work, then sets the ax and sandstone aside. She rises to her feet and casts a cautious glance at the window. My heart thunders in my chest as she walks closer. She’s staring straight at me with a suspicious look, though I remind myself that the invisibility shield is still in place. She won’t see me unless I allow it.

Longing courses through me, though I try my best to push it away. She’s a human. A creature who doesn’t possess any power. It’s rare for a fae to be fated to a human.

I try to convince myself that perhaps she’s not my mate, perhaps I’m only imagining the pull between us, but there’s no denying the immense warmth that surrounds me when she steps directly up to the window, so close I can easily count the dark brown flecks in her eyes.

My scalp prickles and I get the sense that I’m floating. The urge to keep her safe surges within me, along with a murderous jolt of possessiveness. I want to slaughter every male who’s ever looked at her with lust before, and I want to keep her locked away from all other males until we have consummated our mating union.

But…a human. Could the gods be mistaken?

I give my head a shake, trying to banish the intense desire that’s threatening to burn me alive. I remind myself of the divination a head priestess once told my father regarding my future. He’d taken me to the temple not long before I began training as a soldier, intent to learn the name of my fated mate. Many of my people learn the identities of our mates this way, but sometimes the priestesses cannot provide a name. Sometimes they can only offer clues.

The words of the priestess echo in my head.

Lord Kaiden Valloc will take a mate from the far reaches of the realm, a female of great beauty and even greater power. It will be so.

I gaze at Mira, torn between hope and despair. She’s a great beauty, and yes we’re at the far reaches of the known realm, but she’s human and therefore has no power. Even if she were a witch, her powers wouldn’t come close to that of a fae.

She places a hand on her chest and peers out the window with a questioning look, and in my surprise, I nearly allow my invisibility shield to slip.

She detects my presence.

Wanting to verify her ability to sense me, I draw in a huge breath and flash into her living room, appearing directly behind her. Immediately, I fortify the shield, not wanting her to see me if she turns.

To my astonishment, she whips around and peers straight at me, her hand still over her heart.

“Hello?” She steps closer, and her sweet floral scent fills my nostrils and invigorates my senses.

Need clutches me. I want to touch her. I want to tangle my fingers in her long tresses. I want to kiss her and make her mine forever.

But I can’t. Each time she takes a step toward me, I back away.

No good could come from our mating union. To help protect my family’s holdings, I need a female whose power rivals my own. A fae female.

If I stay away and refuse to consummate our union, will the bond fade?

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