Page 62 of Immortal Bastard

“It weakens me to guard my thoughts so diligently.” She feared letting down her guard for even a second, unsure how close Cerberus was to her at any moment. “If he finds that mental thread, he’ll find me.” Perhaps he already had. Dane was of her mate’s seed and the boy never lived more than ninety miles from the farm.

“The Order will protect you,” Eleazar reminded, but she’d heard similar promises before.

“If he finds me, I can only hope he kills me once and for all. I’ll never live through that again.” She couldn’t.

“He won’t find you.” More empty promises.

Two centuries older than Eleazar, Cer had abilities far beyond any other immortal of that time. Matings were not so organized in those days. There were no ledgers of record, no ceremonies of commitment. Once males were called, they hunted and took what was rightfully theirs without question.

Adriel dreamt of her mate years before he laid claim to her life. The dreams were clear but sporadic. Sometimes months would pass without a single vision. She’d resented the time it took him to find her, but looking back she wished it had taken longer.

Once Cerberus claimed her, she never saw her family again. She’d give anything to have those final moments back, but they were long gone, lost in time, and faded beyond recognition from her memory.

Recalling Cerberus’s long wavy hair and piercing amber eyes, she shivered. Adriel had been such an idealistic and gullible girl, so naive to the oppression of claimed females during those times.

She’d anticipated her mate’s arrival with great hope. Foolishly fluttering about the village, woolgathering, she anxiously waited for her true mate to arrive, thinking she was better than the other females, privileged beyond measure because God had chosen her for such a fine-looking male. He was to be her greatest love, her savior, and her purpose until the end of time.

“Adriel, come down from there and help me with your brothers,” the echo of her mother’s call brought a faded vision of the woman who raised her.

Though she couldn’t recall the color of her mother’s hair or the shape of her face, Adriel remembered the impatience in her voice and the cries of the squalling babes perched on each hip. The children were her siblings, but she had no memories of their names. She was lucky to recall her own name after all she’d endured during that time.

She looked once more toward the open horizon and sighed. “Coming, Mommá.”

Lowering from the crossbeam of the thatched roof where she’d been knotting hay into the straw gable, Adriel’s feet landed on the dirt ground with barely a sound. She’d been mending the roof since the dreams began, expecting the sight of her mate any day.

Often, she’d imagine him riding into their village on horseback, hair wild and windblown. He’d dismount and come to her, relieved and pleased as he claimed what was his with a passionate kiss.

But it had been a fortnight and there was still no sign of him. She feared for his life, worrying he’d run into some ill-fated trouble on his journey to reach her.

Two winters passed, and the dreams continued. But her hope had withered into worry. Perhaps he’d been displeased or detained. God would not be so cruel as to tease her with an unfulfillable fate. After waiting more than a century for the call, those years had been slow and torturous. She became obsessed with meeting her destiny. If only she’d known…

Then one night, he jerked her from sleep. “Get up, girl.”

She woke with a startled gasp “Is it you?” She rose from her pallet, sweeping the mass of red curls from her face.

“Dress and so we may be gone.”

She glanced beyond the clay wall where her parents slept soundly. Her two brothers curled together like puppies beside her, peacefully, and her five sisters scattered about the floor on makeshift cots made of hay and horse hair. “I must wake my family. They’ve waited for you—”

Her grabbed her roughly, as if shaking sense into her. “Are you daft, girl? I said make haste.” He shoved her toward the door.

Not used to being spoken to in such an abrupt manner, Adriel dressed, deliberately trying to wake the others without speaking. Surely, he did not mean for her to leave her family without a proper goodbye.

After tying her shift, she reached for a basket of items she’d packed months ago and he smacked the belongings out of her hand, knocking the contents to the floor. “You’ll have no need for such trappings.”

A horrible weight settled in her stomach as he led her from the cottage, the dark shadows of night obscuring their path as her home disappeared from view. She had yet to even braid her hair. He’d given her too much time and then no time at all.

Wanting to cry out to her family to wake them, she looked back as he yanked her toward his horse. She was his to claim, and she did not wish to anger him before even learning his name.

He was her future now. They could visit her family once they completed the bond and settled into a life of their own. But the abrupt exit from the only life she’d ever known was an emotional one.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them back, not wanting him to think her the kind of girl to give in to nonsense. But she was innocent, and her young heart had filled her head with promises that were destined to be broken.

How foolish she’d been to think they might return to the cliffs after mating to celebrate their union. How naive to believe the bonding of two souls would be pleasant.

The heavy vapor from the snout of his steed cut through the cold and she shivered, but her mate offered no comfort as he hoisted her onto the horse. The dark inky sky offered little light as he held her body to his, absconding her into the endless night.

Clouds crossed the moon in silence, tossing eerie shadows over the unfamiliar landscape. After countless miles, they stopped. She assumed they’d rest, but he only made a quick adjustment to the packs, relieved himself and ordered her to do the same, then commanded her to get back on the horse.

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