Kissing Danger ✔️

EIGHTEEN

Word Count: 1849

¬Aven

An unbearable amount of thoughts flood my mind.

There is no doubting a mate bond, the spark that we just shared. Stace is my mate...This complete stranger, a man who I have just met is my mate, and there is nothing that I can do to change that. Many in my position would rejoice, would be overwhelmingly pleased that a man as powerful, as undeniably attractive is their mate. But right now, I can't feel joy, I can feel sadness or feel.

I just feel numb.

Stace watches me, careful not to speak while I process this. I can't keep up with the amount of thoughts flowing through my consciousness, all accompanied by unanswered questions. There is one thing I want to know more about that has been bothering me since it first clicked in my mind.

"You were the one who saved me, when I finished high school," I whisper numbly.

"You cannot die, Aven," he responds, surprised that of all the things I'm willing to focus on right now, this is it. I'm scared of asking delving deep into what it means to be mates with him, what he expects of me now.

I narrow my eyes, growing increasingly suspicious of his intentions. "And you just happened to be in the area?"

"Actually yes, I was in the area," he tilts his head back and forth, wincing slightly. Suddenly it makes sense...is Stace keeping me here because I'm his mate? Were all these incidents with people putting me in danger just to keep me here with him? My stomach twists uncomfortably at the thought. "It's a long story."

"How long has Eryk been stalking me?" I demand. I've felt watched for a while now, which didn't make sense until recently. Not to mention the nightmares that have been plaguing me, presumably caused by that ghost feeling of someone following me.

"There was no stalking involved," Stace replies uneasily, dark brows furrowing, as if that accusation actually offends him. "He was keeping an eye on you since after that incident. It shook me up, seeing you so close to death that I knew I needed to hire someone."

I let out a long, loose breath.

"We are mates..."

Stace edges forward in his seat, our hands close to touching again. I pull them closer against me, as if feeling that spark again will have detrimental effects. I've never thought about how it would be to find my mate, what the process of that would be. Part of me hoped it would be someone I knew, or for the most part, someone living a normal life that I could easily slip into.

"This doesn't have to mean anything, if you don't want it to," he assures me quietly, firelight flickering in his dark eyes. He appears anxious for my reaction, frightened of rejection, that I will want to run away and never see him again.

"This complicates everything," I shake my head, looking down at my hands. Suddenly more aware of what this reality means, I glare up at him. "Are lying to me about-"

"No, absolutely not. I wouldn't lie to you, Aven." I'm still suspicious of his reasons for bringing me here, but at this point, I have to believe him. I wasn't safe in that Realm. Those people were out to hurt me, and at some point, even Eryk would not have been enough to protect me.

"Why am I in danger? Why do those people want me dead?'

"Your father was a powerful man," he says slowly, gaze roving across my face. "Many people worry you inherited some of his powers, or that you are the rightful heir to his throne. Many want the land to remain vacant from rule. They are willing to kill you because of it."