Page 19 of Shifting Desire
Chapter Eight
Malichai
She Feels Me Now
The moment it happens, I nearly fall to my knees.
I’m in my office, at the top of the Veythronn building, going over territory dispute files from the North Borough clans, my mind on politics and blood, when it hits me.
The last sliver of the bond breaking free from beneath the spell.It doesn’t come in soft or slow.It erupts.Like lightning cracking through steel.Like fire igniting in a soul that didn’t know it was dry kindling until the blaze started.
My hands slam onto the desk.The wood groans beneath the force.My dragon surges beneath my skin, pushing to be set free, a guttural growl vibrating through my chest as a shudder rolls down my spine.
She feels me now.The way I have always felt her.
I thought I had control over the bond after bearing it for three years, but I was wrong.Now it all slams into me at once.Her heartbeat.Her confusion.The chaotic rush of need tangled in fear.The wild spike of magic that flared when her eyes met mine across that alley last night amplified by a hundred.
She knows.Maybe not everything.Not yet.But she knows I’m not just a man who makes her nervous.She knows I’m the one who makes her burn.
My hands tremble.
I’ve waited three years for this, and I’ve never been more terrified.
Because this isn’t just a rush of instinct and hunger.This is the part where she starts putting the puzzle pieces together.The bond.The way I always seem to know what she needs before she says it.The timing.The silence.The lies I let her believe.
And when she finally uncovers the truth, about the spell, about what I asked Serephine to do, will she ever be able to forgive me?
What if she walks away?What if she refuses me and dragon?
The thought makes my stomach twist.My dragon snarls in rebellion.
She won’t.He denies my thoughts.
But she could.She has every right.
I run a hand through my hair and pace the edge of the room, cursing under my breath in every language I’ve learned in the last thousand years.
I should go to her.No, I should fucking run to her.But I can’t.Not like this.Not until I figure out how to tell her the truth without making her hate me.
A knock on the door drags me out of my spiral.My most trusted enforcer and my second in command, Tavian, steps in, sharp eyes taking in my frayed composure.
“She felt it, didn’t she?”he says.
Tavian has known about Ari since the beginning, helping me keep her safe and watch over her.The gargoyle shifter has long made his opinion known about my plan and how I should have claimed my mate regardless the moment I found her.
I nod once, not yet able to speak.
He whistles low.“About damn time.”
I glare.“Not now.”
“She’s stronger than you think, Mal,” he says, using the nickname only those closest to me are allowed.“You’re not giving her enough credit.”
“I’m giving her space.”
“Which she won’t need if you wait too long and Ravik finds her first.”
