Page 12 of Fated Exile

"I'll let you," he concedes.

As I approach him, I keep my movements slow and non-threatening, uncertain which Bastian I'm going to get. Overwhelmingly, he's been sweet, docile, naive, and non-threatening. But I can't forget the wild, red-eyed, vicious Bastian I've seen.

Or the primal and feral man who grabbed hold of my body and thrust his hips down towards me, his arousal clear even through the clothing that separated us.

As I reach behind him to grab onto the knots holding his wrists together, I brush up against his strained, muscular arms. And I wonder, with a low-simmering heat deep between my thighs, if he's evertrulyhad sex. I know that there are things that happened in his time in captivity; the depraved scenes the vampires hinted at, and the fang marks in his upper thighs, hinted at as much. But he was a young teenager when the vampires took him, and as far as I know, he's neverreallyhad sex.

Which explains the dry humping like a teenager who hasn't felt the warm embrace of a willing vagina.

No one dry humps unless it's theironlyoption.

Thoroughly distracted, my fingers slip at the knots for a moment, and Bastian hisses in through his teeth. Going slower, I tug at a particularly tight knot and hold in a growl of anger. The rope has dug into the skin of his wrists, slicing at and burning it. A sudden image of Niall's face rises in my mind, slashed through bymyclaws. The primal wolf inside me growls with a surprising possessiveness at the thought of someone hurtingmyBastian.

"These knots are too tight," I grumble as I pull the last loop away from his skin. "You would've lost your hands if these had been left on you."

"I didn't mind," Bastian says placidly, pulling his hands forward into his lap. The tight curl of his fingers makes it clear that he's lost all feeling, and most of the blood, to his extremities. "Niall tried making them loose, but I didn't want to shift and get free. He and the others wouldn't have been able to fight me off."

I open my mouth to contradict him, then pause. Truthfully, I can't really say that Bastian is wrong. I've seen him in the midst of a fight, and faced off with him in the arena. Niall may have been one of Glass Pack's best warriors in his prime, but now he's older, hardened by the painful loss of his mate and weakened by the pack's decline. A young warrior like Bastian would've sliced through him like butter.

"As long as it wasyourchoice," I tell him, grumbling as I draw his wrists together and tie them up again, forcing myself to pull the knots tight enough to bind, though not so tight they'll hurt him. "I don't like it, but I guess until we know what's going on with you... I mean, maybe it won't happen again—"

"It isn't safe." He cuts me off before I can suggest that his attacks in the woods were a one-off. "I hear this—this voice in my head, Delilah. It tells me terrible things. I've tried to fight it off, but I'm afraid. I think the voice is going to take me over entirely."

Biting my lower lip, I reach out my awareness, and feel his fear. "I didn't know that you hear a voice. You never told me that."

"And sound insane? I couldn't do it." He looks down and away. "Besides, I always hoped that it would go away once I left the vampires behind. Then, I thought, maybe if I became a part of the pack... but I know you and your pack members would never welcome me in. I understand why. I don't belong here."

"You do." I grab his bound hands and squeeze them, curling my fingers between his. "I promise you, Bastian, we'll figure out what's happening to you. I'll make the voice go away—if I can."

"I hope you can."

"And once I do, you'll become a member of the pack," I vow. "If they cast you out, if they don't accept you, then we'll fight to change their minds. Glass Pack is my birthright, and I won't give up on that, or on you. We're going to go forward together."

"How, though?"

"I need to go into your mind." Chewing on my lower lip, I consider my next words carefully. "There's darkness inside you, Bastian. I've felt the edges of its shadow. But the only way to fight it off is if you let me in entirely, without reservation."

His bright amber eyes are on me, shadows playing in their depths. I feel a torrent of emotions from him, passing too quickly to pick one out and tease at it. After a long, silent moment, he nods and closes his eyes.

"Do whatever you need to do. I trust you, Delilah."

I inhale sharply, overcome with gratitude that he'll let me in so easily. I know that it's hard for him, especially after everything he's been through. Bastian has experienced so much loss, torture, abuse, and loneliness. If I can give him even a little bit of light in that darkness, it'll be worth the pain and effort.

Curling out a piece of my awareness, I wrap it like a ribbon around Bastian's mind. Like this, I can feel the edges of him: strong emotions that leak out of his center, stray thoughts that fly like arrows from a bow, and the occasional snatch of memory. But the only way to reach further in is with his cooperation, and right now there's still resistance when I probe further in.

"Let me in," I tell him, pitching my voice low. I press my fingers into his and look up into his face. His brows are furrowed, his mouth creased with tension. "I promise that I won't hurt you, Bastian."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he says, voice low and tremulous.

"What, then? Why are you keeping me out?"

He hesitates for a beat before saying, "I'm worried thatI'llhurt you. Or that—that you'll see things in my mind, things you... won't like."

My heart twists into a thousand jagged pieces for him, and I wish for nothing more than to heal the pain I feel inside him. "I promise that whatever it is, I've seen worse. I'll accept you for who you are, good and bad. I know you only did what you had to in order to survive."

His mouth turns down. "My sister..."

"Would be glad that you're alive," I point out. "And sad that she wasn't able to be here for you. I swear, Bastian, I'm not going to judge you, or force my way in. All I want is to make it all better so you can live the life you deserve."

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